themelancholyhill:

• Leonardo Da Vinci’s wacky piano is heard for the first time, after 500 years:

A bizarre instrument combining a piano and cello has finally been played to an audience more than 500 years after it was dreamt up Leonardo da Vinci.

Da Vinci, the Italian Renaissance genius who painted the Mona Lisa, invented the ‘‘viola organista’’ - which looks like a baby grand piano – but never built it, experts say.

The viola organista has now come to life, thanks to a Polish concert pianist with a flair for instrument-making and the patience and passion to interpret da Vinci’s plans.

Full of steel strings and spinning wheels, Slawomir Zubrzycki’s creation is a musical and mechanical work of art.

‘‘This instrument has the characteristics of three we know: the harpsichord, the organ and the viola da gamba,’’ Zubrzycki said as he debuted the instrument at the Academy of Music in the southern Polish city of Krakow.

The instrument’s exterior is painted in a rich midnight blue, adorned with golden swirls painted on the side. The inside of its lid is a deep raspberry inscribed with a Latin quote in gold leaf by 12th-century German nun, mystic and philosopher, Saint Hildegard.

‘‘Holy prophets and scholars immersed in the sea of arts both human and divine, dreamt up a multitude of instruments to delight the soul,’’ it says.

The flat bed of its interior is lined with golden spruce. Sixty-one gleaming steel strings run across it, similar to the inside of a baby grand.

Each is connected to the keyboard, complete with smaller black keys for sharp and flat notes. But unlike a piano, it has no hammered dulcimers. Instead, there are four spinning wheels wrapped in horse-tail hair, like violin bows.

To turn them, Zubrzycki pumps a pedal below the keyboard connected to a crankshaft. As he tinkles the keys, they press the strings down onto the wheels, emitting rich, sonorous tones reminiscent of a cello, an organ and even an accordion.

The effect is a sound that da Vinci dreamt of, but never heard; there are no historical records suggesting he or anyone else of his time built the instrument he designed.

A sketch and notes in da Vinci’s characteristic inverted script is found in his Codex Atlanticus, a 12-volume collection of his manuscripts and designs for everything from weaponry to flight.

‘‘I have no idea what Leonardo da Vinci might think of the instrument I’ve made, but I’d hope he’d be pleased,’’ said Zubrzycki, who spend three years and 5000 hours bringing da Vinci’s creation to life.

ezios-fine-ass:

yourassassinscreedfix:

Although we are yet to find out how long Rogue has been in development, here is a timeline I put together to easily show each game’s development time. 

Starting with the first entry, which was originally set to be a fourth entry in the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time series, and ending with Unity, we can see that ACU is truly a reboot for the series, being the first to be developed for four years since the first game.

We can also see that Ubisoft has slowly moved toward a triple team development on the series; the AC1/AC2/AC3 team, the ACB/ACU team, and the ACR/AC4 team. This could lead to a constant 3 year development life for each game.

Since Rogue is being developed by the same team that developed Liberation, we could assume it has been in development for about two years, but we’ll find out soon.

What do you guys think? Do you like the way the series is heading development-wise? 

Stay synchronized, assassins. 

Explains so much about ACR

no-puppy-eyes:

O T H E R   P L A C E S  [x]

“In this city, all men are not created equal. For centuries, my countrymen have suffered under the oppression of an ignorant and decadent aristocracy. The common people cry out for food, for liberty, for justice. But they shall have no justice without someone to fight in their name. So I will wage my silent war in the shadows. The time has come for revolution, for those to unite and make history.“ —ARNO VICTOR DORIAN

gonna-change-the-world:

We are her

grumpychangeling:

evemoneypenny-deactivated201609:

Government agents from A Vague Yet Menacing Agency were in the back, watching. (x)

this is — yes

lilyrosecrisstheklainer:

draco-do-you-mind-if-i-slytherin:

riddlemetom:

Never rebloged faster

http-val:

i wouldn’t mind going back to school if i were going to starfleet academy

ballvvasher:

ballvvasher:

sebastian_stan_gently_scooting_a_poster_across_a_table.gif

sebastian_stan_trying_to_gently_scoot_another_pooster_but_cannot_get_it_from_underneath_chris_evans_arm.gif

connorkawaii:

reblog if you LIKE video games, if you LOVE video games, or if you have ALIENATED everyone you KNOW because you REFUSE to talk about ANYTHING ELSE

rahgot:

Assassin's Creed Unity

 - Concept art

theheirsofdurin:

_{Mirkwood trio + faceless}