by Loughridge, Deirdre Music reviews & criticismPublished 13/04/2026 by REAKTION BOOKS in the United Kingdom. Hardback | 200 pages, 88 illustrations, 42 in colour215 x 164 x 21mm | 574gThe Museum of Imaginary Musical Instruments is a guided tour through centuries of instruments that never existed. From ancient myths to futuristic media, these imagined devices appear in literature, theory, video games and art, at times echoing real instruments, other times pushing far beyond the bounds of technology. This book presents a wide-ranging collection of such creations, showing how they reflect changing ideas about sound, invention and the limits of the possible. At once a cultural history and a study of creative thought, it uncovers unexpected links between music, design and the human urge to make meaning through sound. These are not just fictional artefacts – they are windows into what music might mean, even when it cannot be played.
