THE GREAT STALACPIPE ORGAN
Wikipedia says “The Great Stalacpipe
Organ is an electrically actuated
lithophone located in Luray Caverns,
Virginia, USA. It is operated by a custom
console that produces the tapping of
ancient stalactites of varying sizes with
solenoid-actuated rubber mallets in
order to produce tones.” It is an organ set
inside a cave where instead of pipes, it is
wired to soft rubber mallets that are able
to strike the stalactites of varying size,
shape and density. Essentially, when this
instrument is played, it utilises the entire
geological structure into its strings and
cymbals. Try imagining that – playing a
note and having the earth reverberate it
back to you.
MORSKE ORGULJE (SEA ORGAN)
In another bid to turn the earth into a
musical instrument, architect Nikola
Basic devised a way to make the sea
sing. On the surface, it looks like a
series of marble steps dropping into the
Adriatic Sea. Underneath, a number of
narrow channels connect to thirty five
organ pipes. Each set of steps contains
within it five organ pipes and is tuned
to a different chord. Wind and waves
stimulate passage of air through the
pipes and onto the steps, leading to the
emergence of sounds.
Unsurprisingly, people flock to the sea
organ’s location ( Zadar, Croatia ) to
catch a whiff of these sounds describes
as haunting and harrowing in equal
measure.
THE SINGING RINGING TREE
A musical sculpture near Burnley
designed by the architects Tonkin Liu.
Composed out of stacked pipes of various
lengths which are aligned and structured
to lean into the directions of the wind,
however it may prevail. When the wind
flows through the differently shaped
pipes, it is transformed into different
chords. Anyone sitting under the tree
will hear a different songs, predicated
upon the direction of the wind relative to
their position.
In 2007, The tree won an award for
architectural excellence from the Royal
Institute of British Architects. No
surprises there.
PYROPHONE ORGAN HYDRAULOPHONE LOOPHONIUM
Another curious device that utilises
wind to create tone, the pyrophone organ
uses combustion to create explosive
compositions. Powered by propane gas
supplied to the base of glass resonant
chambers which is set aflame by a flame
generator, the instruments utilises the
detonations and its creation of hydrogen
flames that are channelled by the pipes
and manipulated to generate specific tone
and timbre. The variations are caused
in accordance with the diameter and
heights of the resonant chambers. Invented by Steve Mann, this device
creates music by contact with water or
other fluids. Fundamentally, you press
with your fingers on narrow jets on water
spurting out of the usually curve shaped
device and it results in sound. Know
the technicalities of the contraption
and you’ll be able to generate actual
songs – all out of water and your fingers.
Far-fetched, I agree. But entirely real, I
assure you. (Youtube for proof) One day Royal Liverpool Philharmonic
Orchestra’s principal flautist Fritz
Spiegl. woke up and decided that he
would combine the euphonium with a
lavatory pan. No, I did not make that
up. The Loophonium was invented to be
played at a concert of the Royal Liverpool
Philharmonic Orchestra on April Fools’
Day 1960. In 2003, the original item
designed by Spiegl was auctioned by
Sotheby’s for 500 – 1000 pounds.
While the original model of construction
from the 19th century is no longer
followed, the early designs have
been modified to work with smaller
proportions. These days, pyrophones are
quite amenable to being transported and
much safer to use on account of resonant
chambers being cooled by liquid nitrogen
between notes.
While I’m choosing to end the list here, the number of bizzare instrumentation
that musicians, engineers and inventors have pursued number by the hundreds.
There’s the pipe organ sculpted out of ice and the Earth harp which is the world’s
largest stringed instrument which has the resonating chamber on one side of a
valley and the strings stretched out nearly 1,000 ft to the other side. Feel free to look
further and I promise you, you will revel in the magnificent oddities of our minds.
The
Score Magazine
highonscore.com
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