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A musical instrument created in Guelph, Ontario, has entered the international arena, or rather, the screen.
An instrument called Fron2 is featured prominently in the soundtrack of a Chinese arthouse film called Resurrection famous director Bi Gan.
The soundtrack was created by French electronic rock band M83 after one of its members, Joe Berry, became interested in the unique instrument.
Berry first saw the Fron2 after its creator, Guelph's Fron Reilly, uploaded a video of himself playing the instrument on YouTube. The video went viral and now has over two million views.
Fron2 consists of ropes held between two wheels located just over a meter apart. To play the instrument, you place it on a flat surface, such as a table, and use a pedal to turn the wheels. The sound it makes comes from the movement of the bow across the strings.
Berry is one of dozens of fans from around the world who have asked Reilly to create a version of the unique acoustic instrument for them.
“When you hear something like Fron2, [you're just] like, 'Wow, all this sound is coming from this instrument and it's so cool it's spinning,'” Berry said.
“It’s so mystical and wonderful.”
WATCH | Spinning Fury Part 1 by M83:
Berry was inspired by the various ways the Fron2 could be used to create sound.
“You and I could walk up to Fron2 and play the same note, and we'd hear the same note. But then once you or I take the bow and you start to rotate, the way I rotate and hold the bow is different from the way you rotate and hold the bow. And the way you rotate and hold the bow is completely unique to you.”
Resurrection is a sci-fi drama film about a world where most people have forgotten how to dream. It had its world premiere at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival in May, where it won a Special Award or Special Prize.. The film also won the Artistic Contribution Award at the Busan International Film Festival.
It is currently showing in select cinemas and will screening at Princess Cinemas in Waterloo starting next month.
“I was very excited”
Reilly says he was very pleased when he first heard Berry's interpretation of the instrument.
“I really praised them for that. I was very interested to see the film and hear the soundtrack and how it was used,” he said.
“There are two main tracks where my instrument features prominently, and one of them is called Spinning Fury … [which] of course it applies to my instrument.”
Fron Reilly loves to create things from wood. One day he was tasked with making six medieval wooden instruments called “Hurdy-Gurdis”, and he successfully completed it. And now he has invented new wooden instruments called Fron and Fron2. Unique instruments captivate music lovers around the world.
Reilly says he enjoyed listening to Fron2 on another track called Ghost Also.
“He plays completely differently there. He plays single notes back and forth and all over the place. It was very creative. And I was very pleased to hear it, because it sounded different than anything I had heard on the instrument.”
Reilly says he's excited to see his creation evolve in the hands of other artists around the world.
“This is very interesting. This is what I planned from the very beginning. I wanted people to own it and do interesting things with it that I would never have thought of. [Berry] did it,” Reilly said.
“He’s one of the first, but he’s certainly not the last.”
So far Reilly has made several Fron2s for people all over the world, from Africa and the USA to Stratford Film Festival Goblin: Oedipus theatrical production.
Reilly said he's already thinking about what kind of instrument he'd like to create next.
“I have a couple of ideas. I'm not going to discuss them, but yeah, stay tuned. Let's see”.
