Leon Dewan and nephew Brian Dewan are makers of instruments they call Dewanatrons — solid state analog synthesizers possessing unpredictable playing tendencies and behaviors. With backgrounds as furniture designers as well as musicians, the pair have created instruments that are equally at home in art gallery exhibits and in live performances. Trent Reznor used the Swarmatron (only 9 of which have been sold so far) in music he composed for the soundtrack of “The Social Network.” Below are descriptions of the instruments from the website.

Melody Gin — a quartet of oscillators, each of which can influence the others and create idiosyncratic contours, yielding melody and rhythm patterns. Sound sample

Swarmatron — produces eight tones tuned approximately to one note, each tone slightly different in pitch to produce a complex and natural choral effect. Swarms of sine waves evoke swarms of angels congregating. Swarms of sawtooth waves evoke the swarming of bees. The sound of a host of voices, earthly or unearthly, has a unique character recognized by the ear even when they are folded together in unison. (The Swarmatron retails for $3,250 and is available exclusively through Big City Music in Los Angeles.) Sound sample

Wall Gin — The village clock chimes the hour, but the wall gin keeps irregular hours. The ever-changing length of respite between sounds is determined by the wall gin’s built-in electronic arbitration system. Sound sample

For more information, check out the Dewanatron website.