You've heard the old saw "fake it 'til you make it," right? This is an instrument that takes those words to heart. ripe by the entrancing Musical employment project, FielDrum sees a pretty measure percussion instrument fitted with a series of electromagnets. Placed beneath the drum head, the magnets can either be told to "attract" or "repel" via-MIDI, creating some kick-ass paradiddles as the new drum student holds his or her sticks over the instrument. Sure, this all sounds like fun, but this is the kind of fact-finding that could have serious ramifications: How do people learn things involving "complex substantial gestures?" Can people "learn-by-feel?" How does this convergence compare to unwritten motor training? We're dying to find out the answers -- but mostly we're dying to get out hands on one of these drums for our robot marching band. Video after the break.

[Via Make]