ThomasBlochHandsGlassharmonica low notes on left and high notes on right

A crystallophone is a

musical instrument A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who pl ...

that produces

sound In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...

from

glass Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling (quenching) of ...

. One of the best known crystallophones is the

glass harmonica The glass harmonica, also known as the glass armonica, glass harmonium, bowl organ, hydrocrystalophone, or simply the armonica or harmonica (derived from , ''harmonia'', the Greek word for harmony), is a type of musical instrument that uses a ...

, a set of rotating glass bowls which produce eerie, clear tones when rubbed with a wet finger. Musical glasses, the

glass harp A glass harp (also called musical glasses, singing glasses, angelic organ, verrillon or ghost fiddle) is a musical instrument made of upright wine glasses. It is played by running moistened or chalked fingers around the rim of the glasses. Each ...

, were documented in

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

in the 14th century. Apel, Willi (1969).
Harvard Dictionary of Music
', p.347. Harvard. . The "ethereal" quality of instruments such as the glass harmonica exemplified the '' Empfindsamkeit'' and for a while, "the instrument was extraordinarily popular... utAbout 1830 the instrument fell into oblivion." The

glasschord The glasschord ( French: fortepiano à cordes de verre) is a struck crystallophone resembling the celesta, invented circa 1785 by physicist M. Beyer of Paris. It creates sound by using cloth covered wooden hammers to strike glass tubes laid on a ...

(or glasscord) resembles the

celesta The celesta or celeste , also called a bell-piano, is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. It looks similar to an upright piano (four- or five-octave), albeit with smaller keys and a much smaller cabinet, or a large wooden music box ( ...

(a struck plaque

idiophone An idiophone is any musical instrument that creates sound primarily by the vibration of the instrument itself, without the use of air flow (as with aerophones), strings (chordophones), membranes (membranophones) or electricity ( electrophones) ...

operated by a

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

) but uses

-driven hammers to strike glass bars instead of metal bars. The

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 (plate glass) or soft ...

is similar to the

marimba The marimba () is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the timbre ...

(a stick percussion instrument with a keyboard layout), but has bars of glass instead of

wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin th ...

. The bars, which the performer strikes with padded sticks, are perched on a glass box to provide the necessary resonance. A rare

Thai Thai or THAI may refer to: * Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia ** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand ** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand *** Thai script *** Thai (Unicode block ...

instrument called ''

ranat kaeo The ''ranat kaeo'' ( th, ระนาดแก้ว, ) 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 *Xylophone ...

'' (ระนาดแก้ว; literally "glass xylophone") has been used by the

Thai music The music of Thailand reflects its geographic position at the intersection of China and India, and reflects trade routes that have historically included Africa, Greece and Rome. Traditional Thai musical instruments are varied and reflect ancient ...

ensemble Fong Naam; it appears on their 1992 CD ''The Sleeping Angel: Thai Classical Music''.

In popular culture

In Lydia Syson's biography, ''Doctor of Love: James Graham and his Celestial Bed'' (), sexologist James Graham uses the glass harmonica for musical therapy purposes.

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

was inspired to create his glass harmonica in 1763 after attending a recital performed on musical glasses in London in 1761.

References

External links

Glass MusicOddmusic
A website dedicated to unique, odd, ethnic, experimental and unusual musical instruments and resources. {{Percussion-instrument-stub

In popular culture

See also

References

External links