It is fixed at the wide end to a metal frame that is approximately 30 cm or 12 in in length that possesses rubber beater or wooden beaters at the lower end, attached to rods. The player will wave the flexatone instrument around so that the beaters are made to hit the plate, and the player is also responsible for changing his thumb pressure on the plate so that the pitch is changed when the sounds are made by the beaters. There is a limited pitch range offered by this instrument, but it has been known to play some truly melodic parts such as in the Piano Concerto of 1936 by Aram Khatchaturian.
Now let's transition from metal instruments into another type of unique instruments: Glass musical instruments. Understanding how friction can be used in order to produce sounds in the glass is a concept that goes back to the 1500s and 1600s, especially when it comes to Galileo Galilei, who discussed the singing effect that is achieved when a moistened finger is run around the rim of a glass vessel.
In the year 1743, a Irish musician known as Richard Puckeridge created a seraphim or angelic organ that was made out of glasses that were rubbed using wet fingers. These glasses were filled with different levels of water and used to produce a wide variety of different pitches as a result. A composer that went by the name of Gluck created and was known for playing a similar musical instrument as well.
The Glass Armonica - The idea of an armonica, or a glass armonica for that matter, was first created and adapted by Benjamin Franklin in the year 1761. He uses nested bowls with different diameters and mounted them on a horizontal spindle which in turn was turned using a foot operated treadle. The sound that he produced was created when the rims of the bowls were rubbed using moistened fingers. His glass armonica allowed performers to play as many as 10 notes at a single time, which allowed the capabilities of the original instrument to be greatly increased especially in terms of scope and range. In the past, this instrument was only capable of producing two notes at a time, but never ten.
The glass armonica, or musical glasses, enjoyed a resurfacing in the 18th century and the 19th century when composers began to add musical glasses into their compositions because of the unique sounds that were capable of being created. Rumors began to spread, however, that playing this instrument was capable of making people go insane, and unfortunately these rumors allowed this intriguing instrument to wane significantly in popularity for many years. It is said that this may have come about as a result of Mesmer's use of the instrument, as he used it in some of his demonstrations of mesmerism.
Photo Credits: Fire Monkey Fish
Originally posted 2009-08-25 03:06:23. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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