The oomphalapompatronium. That’s the name Len Solomon offered to the instrument that he began developing roughly 15 years back. It still vexes him to this day.
” It took control of part of my work bench and it’s still there,” Solomon states, “and I have long-range strategies to refine it and make it portable which may never ever occur.”
Solomon has been developing instruments like the oomphalapompatronium for more than 30 years. He’s performed with them across the country and around the globe. He’s visited schools to explain how they work. He tapes quirky efficiencies and demos for his YouTube channel(named for the very first instrument he ever constructed, the Bellowphone). And they belong to displays in science museums in Vermont and Massachusetts
Solomon’s instruments are based on a surprisingly solemn source: the pipe organ. An intricate instrument with a storied past, the pipeline organ makes for a versatile base for Solomon’s numerous designs. “I have actually simply always really liked them,” he says. “I believe they’re terrific instruments and I like the noise of them.”
Each instrument is made with unconventional materials. He uses found objects like old vacuum tubes and plastic bottles, hardware materials like PVC pipelines and copper tees, and specialized products he makes himself like rubber squeeze balls and fipples
While his spirited technique to instrument-making might be described as Wonka-esque (or Seussian), it’s tough to question his originality. He states the oomphalapompatronium “does not advise me of Oompa Loompas due to the fact that I didn’t even understand that word when I comprised the name.” The mark of a real creator.
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