Crystallophone
Encyclopedia
A crystallophone is a musical instrument
that produces sound
from glass
.
One of the best known crystallophones is the glass harmonica
, a set of rotating glass bowls which produce eerie, clear tones when rubbed with a wet finger.
The glasschord
(or glasscord) resembles the celesta
but uses keyboard
-driven hammers to strike glass bars instead of metal bars.
The glass marimba
is similar to the marimba
, but has bars of glass instead of wood
. The bars, which the performer strikes with padded sticks, are perched on a glass box to provide the necessary resonance.
A rare Thai
instrument called ranat kaeo
(ระนาดแก้ว; literally "glass xylophone") has been used by the Thai music ensemble Fong Naam; it appears on their 1992 CD The Sleeping Angel: Thai Classical Music.
Musical instrument
A musical instrument is a device created or adapted for the purpose of making musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. The history of musical instruments dates back to the...
that produces sound
Sound
Sound is a mechanical wave that is an oscillation of pressure transmitted through a solid, liquid, or gas, composed of frequencies within the range of hearing and of a level sufficiently strong to be heard, or the sensation stimulated in organs of hearing by such vibrations.-Propagation of...
from glass
Glass
Glass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica plus Na2O, CaO, and several minor additives...
.
One of the best known crystallophones is the glass harmonica
Glass harmonica
The glass harmonica, also known as the glass armonica, bowl organ, hydrocrystalophone, or simply the armonica , is a type of musical instrument that uses a series of glass bowls or goblets graduated in size to produce musical tones by means of friction The glass harmonica, also known as the glass...
, a set of rotating glass bowls which produce eerie, clear tones when rubbed with a wet finger.
The glasschord
Glasschord
The glasschord is a crystallophone that resembles the celesta but uses keyboard-driven hammers to strike glass bars instead of metal bars.-External links:** at The Metropolitan Museum of Art*...
(or glasscord) resembles the celesta
Celesta
The celesta or celeste is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. Its appearance is similar to that of an upright piano or of a large wooden music box . The keys are connected to hammers which strike a graduated set of metal plates suspended over wooden resonators...
but uses keyboard
Musical keyboard
A musical keyboard is the set of adjacent depressible levers or keys on a musical instrument, particularly the piano. Keyboards typically contain keys for playing the twelve notes of the Western musical scale, with a combination of larger, longer keys and smaller, shorter keys that repeats at the...
-driven hammers to strike glass bars instead of metal bars.
The glass marimba
Glass marimba
The glass marimba is a type of idiophone also known as a vitrephone or crystallophone.Marimba translates to "a xylophone like instrument" from an African language, probably Bantu. The glass keys are made of either hard glass or soft glass...
is similar to the marimba
Marimba
The marimba is a musical instrument in the percussion family. It consists of a set of wooden keys or bars with resonators. The bars are struck with mallets to produce musical tones. The keys are arranged as those of a piano, with the accidentals raised vertically and overlapping the natural keys ...
, but has bars of glass instead of wood
Wood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...
. The bars, which the performer strikes with padded sticks, are perched on a glass box to provide the necessary resonance.
A rare Thai
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
instrument called ranat kaeo
Ranat kaeo
The ranad kaeo is a crystallophone consisting of struck glass bars of varying length, used in the classical music of Thailand. It is usually played with a soft padded mallet.-Related instruments:...
(ระนาดแก้ว; literally "glass xylophone") has been used by the Thai music ensemble Fong Naam; it appears on their 1992 CD The Sleeping Angel: Thai Classical Music.
See also
- GlassGlassGlass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica plus Na2O, CaO, and several minor additives...
- Glass harmonicaGlass harmonicaThe glass harmonica, also known as the glass armonica, bowl organ, hydrocrystalophone, or simply the armonica , is a type of musical instrument that uses a series of glass bowls or goblets graduated in size to produce musical tones by means of friction The glass harmonica, also known as the glass...
- Glass harpGlass harpA glass harp is an instrument made of upright wine glasses....
- Glass marimbaGlass marimbaThe glass marimba is a type of idiophone also known as a vitrephone or crystallophone.Marimba translates to "a xylophone like instrument" from an African language, probably Bantu. The glass keys are made of either hard glass or soft glass...
- Glass Violin
- Glass-Winds
- GlasschordGlasschordThe glasschord is a crystallophone that resembles the celesta but uses keyboard-driven hammers to strike glass bars instead of metal bars.-External links:** at The Metropolitan Museum of Art*...
- Musical glasses
- Musical instrumentMusical instrumentA musical instrument is a device created or adapted for the purpose of making musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. The history of musical instruments dates back to the...
- VerrophoneVerrophoneA verrophone is a musical instrument, invented in 1983, by Reckert, in which open-ended glass tubes are arranged in various sizes . The sound is made by rubbing one end of one or more of the glass tubes, or also by striking them or rubbing them with a special mallet...
External links
- Glass Music (link is broken)
- Oddmusic A website dedicated to unique, odd, ethnic, experimental and unusual musical instruments and resources.