I have always thought 曲 looks like this Roland SPD sampler. It has six pads on the front like the kanji and it’s Japanese designed musical instrument so I wonder if it was influenced by 曲.
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Back when the ancient Chinese masters invented Kanji they were all jamming out to some monster tunes created on their Roland SPD Samplers.
I’m guessing “曲” is a Koto, from the Chinese Guzheng, kinda looks like one… but then why is the kanji for a Koto “箏” 
I’d be interested in learning why, hopefully a wise master in Kanji will answer 
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Try here
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Well, the kanji also means “bend” so the ideogram comes from a bent object:
Not sure how the meaning “music” got attached to it…
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The meaning “music” is attached to 曲 after the release of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon with the cover of a prism bending a beam of light and dispersing it into various colours.
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This is funny.
Comments on the MPC60?
This one seems key to understanding the “music” aspect, as it’s tied to a specific composition, or tune, or even melody. That is much closer to what the original meaning is, with the ups and downs of a melody, the bending of a string, or even the sheet of music (that’s a personal way I like reading it in).
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