I first heard of Harry Partch when I was in high school, and I've been keeping track ever since. You hafta spend some time exploring this amazing page of examples and explanations. Partch's Genesis of a music; an account of a creative work, its roots and its fulfillments (ML1400 .P3 1974) and Bitter music : collected journals, essays, introductions, and librettos (ML410.P176 A3 1991) are really worth a look if you're interested in experimental music... or maybe that ought to EXPERIMENTAL.
Seeing this page makes me realize that I need to spend some more class time on instruments and the building of musical sound affordances. After the flamenco stuff, I think...