This work celebrates composers and creators such as Harry Partch, Raymond Scott, Leon Theremin, and George Ives, who had to invent new instruments to capture the music heard in their ""mind's ear"". It's subject is the artist's dilemma - how to deliver a new idea through existing media.

Janet Holmes is the author of three volumes of poetry. Holmes has won numerous awards for her poems, which have appeared in a wide range of publications, including two editions of The Best American Poetry and journals such as American Poetry Review, The Georgia Review, and Notre Dame Review. She teaches in the MFA program at Boise State University.