One of my favorite movie soundtracks is Jerry Goldsmith's Star Trek, the Motion Picture (big shock, I'm sure). However, I've always been puzzled by the great "BONG!" sounds in several of the music sequences. Whatever was making them seemed to sometimes be plucked, sometimes struck, and sometimes used with some sort of slide. But I could never figure out what it was, and eventually chalked it up to some sort of bizzare 70s synthesizer. Boy, was I wrong:

It's a monster: 18 feet of machined aluminium, with numerous strings and moveable (sometimes motorised) pickups. Japanese new-ager Kitaro plays his with a bow (like in the picture), or you can use an old artillery shell as a slide.

Yup, includes a picture of the thing. I think I may have found a new instrument for Nina's band!

The site also includes an intrueging story of "The Blaster's" other potential use as a way to make women... rmm... "extremely happy?"