the comic opera

This video provides a wonderful description of an early sampling based instrument. Every sound was recorded on a tape track and played in sync with the other track. The keys appear to control the tape heads. The instrument has since appeared on an impressive list of popular recordings for such a novel instrument.

          

Yes, what you see in this video is a violin, viola, cello, and bass glued together. It was created by Diego Stocco(twitter) and is featured in Guy Richie’s film Sherlock Holmes.
Enjoy.