- Waterphone
A waterphone is a unique type of atonal acoustic
musical instrument constructed largely of astainless steel resonator "bowl" with a cylindrical "neck", containing a small amount of water, and with brass rods around the rim of the bowl. The waterphone produces a vibrant ethereal type of music sometimes classified as "ambient music ."Several sizes and design variants of the instrument are available. It is generally played in a seated position by a soloist and played by bowing or drumming and movement so as to affect the water inside, and thus the resonant characteristics of the bowl and rods. The waterphone is recognized as a true musical instrument and appears in movie sound tracks, record albums, and is used in live performance. As in the "ambient music" genre, there is no established formal notation for scribing compositions.
The waterphone is a modern invention inspired by the "
Tibetan Water Drum , a round, slightly flattened, bronze, drum with an aperture in the center top," according to the inventor of the waterphone, Richard A. Waters. The waterphone in part revives the sound-producing principle of an earlier instrument called anail violin , which also used a resonator and rods (nails), and was struck or bowed. [E. Heron-Allen/Hugh Davies: ' [http://165.173.10.10:2105/shared/views/article.html?from=search&session_search_id=283844503&hitnum=1§ion=music.19539 Nail violin] ', [http://www.grovemusic.com Grove Music Online] ed. L. Macy (Accessed 3 April 2008)]Contemporary classical composers who have written parts for waterphone in compositions include
Sofia Gubaidulina ,Tan Dun ,Christopher Rouse ,Carson Cooman ,Andi Spicer , Andrew Carter andTodd Barton . It has also been used prominently by rock musiciansRichard Barone and Alex Wong (when playing withVienna Teng ) and can be heard in music by The Harmonica Pocket.The waterphone has been featured in the soundtracks to many movies, including "
The Matrix ", "Poltergeist", "Star Trek ", "Dark Water (2002 film) ", and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon " as well as inTan Dun 's opera "The First Emperor " (2006). A sound sample can be found at the [http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/samplesViewSingle.php?id=14310 Freesound Project] .Related instruments
*
Armonica (glass harmonica), uses water (wet hands) on glass, invented byBenjamin Franklin (inspired by Franklin's love of water);
*Nail violin ;
*Water organ and hydraulis;
*Hydraulophone , an instrument that's like a woodwind instrument but uses water instead of air, and is played by blocking water jets emerging from a water fountain.References
External links
* [http://www.richardawaters.com/instruments.html Richard A. Waters site on waterphone]
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