Reading the thread about the world's largest piano, I started wondering about the worlds smallest instrument. I came across the story of the Nanoharp.




Here is a link to the story:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/309522.stm

I guess it would be appropriate to mention the worlds "largest" instrument which would be the carillon. It is a series of bells either located in a tower structure or built into a cage. The keyboard (baton) is hit with the fists and there are also keys that are operated with your foot.

The Riverside Church in NYC is regarded as having the largest carillon with its largest bell (called a bourdon) measuring over 10 feet across and weighing 41000 lbs. It must have been quite a feat to cast that without any cracking. The largest carillon in regards to the number of bells is located in South Eastern Michigan at Kirk in the Hills Presbyterian and it has 77 bells.

I think about how much it can bug us when we have to linger longer than the normal few seconds to tune a problem note on a piano. I imagine the factory tuner for these largest bells was probably equipped with a grinder and a chisel and spent a couple days whittling a couple hundred pounds of material down to get the right tone. "You want HOW MUCH to tune just one note?"