Developer: Soniccouture
Website: soniccouture.com
Format: Kontakt (.nki, .nkx, .nkc)
Quality: 24Bit / 44.1Khz stereo .nkx-libraries
Description:
“Glass / Works” features 3 highly unusual and rare musical instruments that use glass to generate sound: Le Cristal Baschet, a glass harmonica, and a set of Cloud Chamber Bowls.
Thomas Bloch, a virtuoso musician specializing in rare classical musical instruments, who worked with many big names – Radiohead, Gorrilaz, John Cage, Tom Waits, Milos Forman and many others was directly involved in the recording of the library. He is the most famous performer on three instruments – Ondes Martenot, Cristal Baschet and Glass Armonica.
“Cristal Baschet” or “Le Cristal” was designed in 1952 by Bernard and François Baschet. The instrument consists of approximately 4 octaves of chromatically tuned glass rods, which are rubbed with wet fingers. The vibration of the glass is transmitted to the metal block, which is self-tuned and actually determines the final tone. The whole mechanism is reinforced by a large plate called “Flame”. There are also three small fiberglass cones that amplify the high frequencies.
“Glass Armonica”, also known as “Glass Harmonica”, “hydrocrystalophone”, or simply “armonica” – glass harmonica, is a type of musical instrument that uses a series of glass saucers or glasses, matched to the size and reproducing a certain musical tone by rubbing wet fingers along the edge of the glass.
The instrument acquired its finished form thanks to Benjamin Franklin, who combined separate glass containers, which were not very convenient for playing before, into a single mechanism, calling his invention “armonica”. In Franklin’s pedal version, 37 bowls were mounted horizontally on an iron spindle. The spindle was rotated using a foot pedal drive. (The modern version uses a “silent” electric motor.)
“Cloud Chamber Bowls” is a reconstruction of an instrument made in 1950 by the American composer Harry Partch. It consists of hanging “bowls” – parts of 12 gallon glass bottles. Bottle tops and bottoms are used. Partch hung 14 (later 13) bowls on a large wooden frame, which he named “Tory” …
