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VOLUME
1 #1, JUNE 1985
"What
This Is About: Our Purpose and Our Plans" by Bart Hopkin.
1/2 page; no photos.
A brief statement of the goals and purview of Experimental
Musical Instruments by its the author and publisher.
[Additional keywords: EMI, newsletter, sound
sources]
"Lyra"
by Bart Hopkin. 1 page; 1 drawing
French designer and builder Pierre-Jean Croset¹s
eighteen-string instrument is made of clear plastic and
played entirely in harmonics. Conventional strings lack
sufficiently exact tolerances for Croset's just tuning
because of irregularities in diameter and mass.
[Additional Keywords: open strings, nodes, just
intonation, resonant materials, guitar pickups, intervals,
just intonation]
"Steel
Cello and Bow Chimes" by Bart Hopkin. 2 pages; 2
drawings.
Designed by and built by Berlin-born Painter and sculptor
Robert Rutman, the Single-String Steel Cello uses a
suspended and flexible steel sheet that projects pitches
ranging from low pitches to high, sounding harmonics and
fundamental equally. The curved steel resonator of the Bow
Chimes imparts an ethereal to the attached steel rods.
[Additional Keywords: thunder, bowed metal, Tibetan
chants, U.S. Steel Cello Ensemble]
"Tools
and Techniques" by Bart Hopkin. 4+ pages; 5 drawings.
Tuning Devices: gives a rundown of the different types of
tuning aids available, how they are used, what they cost,
and where to purchase them. [Additional Keywords: pitch
pipes, tuning forks, electronic audio tuners, strobe tuners,
cycles per second, frequency, tonometers, overtones,
beating.]
"Organizations
& Periodicals". 2 pages
A Reference Guide to 17 useful associations, foundations,
journals, festivals, and societies relating to new
instruments, their performance, history, and
research.
"Books".
1 page; 2 drawings.
Tony Pizzo of Vermont writes about his forthcoming book of
instrument designs tentatively titled The Maker-Played
Instrument. (Note: This book was later cancelled by the
publisher and never published.) The designs are primarily
adaptations of South American, African, and Asian string and
percussion instruments.
British organologist Hugh Davies of London reports that the
three volumes of The New Grove Dictionary of Musical
Instruments includes over 300 entries on 20th century
instruments, mostly written by himself. [Additional
Keywords: materials, koras, gopichands, stick zithers,
bulbul tarangs.]
"Voice
Modifiers":. 1/2 page.
A call for information on instruments that alter or enhance
human vocal sounds, such as mirlitons, kazoos, zobos,
face-masks, or Eskimo children¹s games using the oral
cavities.]
"A
New Instrument at the Exploratorium--The Pentaphone": by
Bart Hopkin. 1/2 page.
A brief description of Jonathan Glasier's new instrument
using five sets of tuned bars, made of paduk, bamboo,
magnesium, aluminum, and travertine marble. Similar to Harry
Partch's instruments for its geometric beauty, it is tuned
to a pentatonic scale, uses a symbolic system of shapes and
colors to express pitch relationships, and is housed in a
Pagoda-like structure in San Francisco's Exploratorium
science center. [Additional Keywords: marimbas,
exhibits, museums]
VOLUME
1 #2, AUGUST 1985
"Letters"
2 pages; 2 diagrams.
Dagen Julty describes his technique for amplifying
low-volume sound in a high volume stage environment with his
invention named the "Micro-Sensitive Sound Chamber."
References are made to a Lief Brush interview in Musicworks
magazine and the work of Tom Nunn and Prent Rodgers in
California. A diagram details how the sound string and
turnbuckle are anchored to the sheet metal resonator of
Robert Rutman's Steel Cello. Jordan Hemphill describes a
voice modifier in his discovery of a Chinese flute with rice
paper mirliton. [Additional Keywords: string tensioning,
buzztones, microsonics]
"Sharon
Rowell¹s Clay Ocarinas" by Sharon Rowell. 4 pages; 12
drawings and diagrams.
An introduction by Bart Hopkin precedes Rowell's article
describing the principles and personal benefits of playing
ceramic ocarinas, also known as vessel flutes. Rowell
explains her construction methods. Her detailed article is a
step-by-step demonstration of how she constructs and fits a
fipple mouthpiece so that three chambers can be played at
once. Noting that clay shrinks in drying and firing, it is
difficult to have perfectly pitched instruments. She
describes how the toneholes are sized and placed. Scales and
tuning employ a pennywhistle fingering system. A sidebar
lists other vessel flute makers. [Additional Keywords:
ceramics, chambers, fingering charts, globular flutes,
recorders, edge tones]
"The
Long String Instrument": by Bart Hopkin. 2 pages; 2 photos,
1 table, 2 diagrams.
An explanation of the physics of longitudinal vibrations in
strings, which are operative in the sound of Ellen Fullman's
Long String Instrument. A table gives formulas for
determining the velocity of waves traveling through wires of
various lengths and metals. The design of the soundboard and
attached string, as well as the tuning mechanism are
described and illustrated in the diagrams. Playing
techniques, tuning, and timbre, and resulting music are also
described. [Additional Keywords: frequency, frequencies,
velocities, iron, bronze, brass, installations, tunings,
intervals, harmonies, overtones,
fundamentals]
"Ellen
Fullman Writes About the Evolution of the Long String
Instrument" by Ellen Fullman. 1 page.
Ms. Fullman's personal account describes a chance discovery
and the ensuing process of research and experimentation.
Several years of development involved self-directed study in
the science of musical acoustics. Engineers showed her how
to amplify the sound without a contact microphone and
electronics, to lower the frequency, and to increase sustain
hrough the use of brass wire and a resonating box. David
Weinstein taught her about just intonation and she
eventually developed charts for seeing the mathematical
relationships in her tunings.[Additional Keywords:
ancient tunings, chromatic, scales,
installations]
"Recent
Events". 1+ pages, 2 drawings.
Sound Wave Festival: a review of this outdoor sound festival
held at Candlestick Point State Recreation Area near San
Francisco, in May 1985. Bill and Mary Buchen led students in
the creation of many types of instruments that were played.
"The Wind Antenna," an aeolian harp built by the Buchens,
was one permanent installation. Also performing were Chris
Brown, Tom Nunn, and William Wynant. [Additional
Keywords: community, Environmental Sculpture Project, wind
harps, Fish Marimba, Gazamba, Wavicle,
Crustacean]
"Voice
Modifiers Follow-up". 1/4 page.
Members of Logos Foundation in Belgium described a metal
voice resonator they built in an interview in Musicworks.
Tom Nunn,s Crustacean, a balloon-mounted instrument with
bowed metal rods, also responds to the voice.
[Additional Keywords: coil springs, mirlitons,
vocals]
Book
Reviews. 1/2 page.
Two books by Emil Richards catalogue his varied and
wonderful collection of fascinating percussion instruments
and effects: Emil Richards "World of Percussion," and
Range Finder For the Percussion Seeker: A List of Six
Hundred Percussion Instruments. [Additional
Keywords: sound tracks, drums]
Organizations
and Periodicals. 1/2 page.
The American Musical Instrument Society (AMIS) is an
"international organization founded in 1971 to promote the
study of the history, design and use of musical instruments
in all cultures and from all periods." The society also
produces a scholarly journal and a smaller newsletter.
[Additional Keywords: Galpin Society]
VOLUME
I #3, OCTOBER 1985
"Letters"
1 & 1/2 pages.
A short note by Arthur H. Sanders from The Musical Museum
offers information on the Reed Organ Society. Bill Colvig,
in response to the June 1985 article on tuning devices,
tells where he found WW II surplus oscilloscopes and kits.
Bill and Mary Buchen give an update on recent activities.
[Additional keywords: relative tuning,
frequency-to-cents charts, Lou Harrison, Heathkit, flea
markets, Marie Osmond, Skip La Plante, Bow Gamelan Ensemble,
Ripley's Believe It Or Not]
"The
Puget Sound Wind Harp" by Bart Hopkin. 3 pages. 3
drawings.
Ron Konzak's massive aeolian harp is described, with
attention to exceptional requirements of its design,
construction and tuning: fundamental tones are subsonic and
the acoustic behaviors of flat stainless steel banding
versus round strings are discussed. Contact for Konzak, his
recording of the instrument, and his own written account are
provided along with information about other wind harps.
[Additional keywords: overtones, resonating chambers,
torsional waves, flat ribbons, ribbon
strings]
"Glenn
Branca and The Third Bridge" by Bart Hopkin. 1 1/2 pages. 1
diagram.
New York composer noted for his electric guitar symphonies,
Branca's harmonics guitar is designed to selectively produce
the tones of the harmonic series, enabling the series to be
used for scale material. The article details how the
strings, the pickup and a central bridge are uniquely
positioned to bring out the string harmonics. A sidebar
compares conventional harmonics playing to Branca's extended
technique. [Additional keywords: nodes, octaves, guitar
pickups, sliding bridges]
"Meet
Mothra" by Tom Nunn. 2 pages; 2 photos.
Nunn's electroacoustic percussion board is made from birch
plywood, steel rods, combs, springs, glass, and
self-adhesive sidewalk safety surfaces, which are amplified
with a contact microphone. This San Francisco composer and
builder's basic playing techniques on Mothra are striking,
strumming, plucking, scraping, rubbing, and bowing. He
describes the construction materials, its visual aesthetic,
and possibilities for future exploration; his concepts and
history in free improvisation, spontaneous interactive
processes, teaching, and the Bay Area Improvisational
Project. [Additional keywords: Sound Wave Festival,
found objects, non-musicians, Earwarg, ]
"Some
Thoughts on Sound Art Exhibits" by Peter Williams Brown. 1
& 1/4 pages; 1 photo.
Brown shares some of his findings and solutions to the
problems of presenting gallery-based sound exhibitions:
continuous background noise levels, displaying hands-on
installations, dividing space into small rooms, "tokenism,"
audience interaction, volume control mechanisms, his "music
box" approach, and their advantages and drawbacks.
[Additional keywords: audio arts, participation,
curating, sound sculptures, baffles, All
Ears]
"Organizations
and Periodicals". 3/4 page.
Information on The Guild of American Luthiers: journal,
history, membership, convention and contact. Over 200 Data
Sheets of their quarterly journal provide an utterly unique
library of practical and esoteric information.
[Additional keywords: associations, string instruments,
guitars, Tacoma]
"Books".
1 page.
Marlin Halverson's Sonic Art exhibition catalog was
published for the Sonic Art Exhibition at the Art Gallery at
California State College in San Bernardino, 1982. The
usefulness and difficulty in acquiring catalogs of
contemporary sound art exhibits is discussed. The Sonic Art
exhibit is described. [Additional keywords: catalogues,
audio arts, curating, sound sculptures]
"Events".
1 page.
Review of performances by Totem, a group led by Richard
Waters, inventor of the Waterphone, and Nazim Ozel, a
classically trained Turkish master of the Ney flute, who
performs on his Semi-Civilized Tree. These were part of a
concert series at the Theater Artaud, sponsored by the
Maitreya Institute of San Francisco. [Additional
keywords: tree branches, water, Turkish music, natural
materials]
VOLUME
1 #4, DECEMBER 1985
"Letters"
3/4 page.
Additional information on making the rectangular soundboard
used in Ellen Fulman's Long String Instrument described in
EMI Volume 1 #2. [Additional keywords: soundboards,
resonators]
"The
Bi-Level Guitar" by David F. Marriott, Intro. by Bart
Hopkin. 3 pages; 3 photos, 1 diagram.
New curved soundboard design for the acoustic guitar results
in louder sound with more evenly distributed overtones. A
Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) Spectral Analysis Program shows
how the increased partials produce a sensation of
brilliancy. Lab tests and modification of the guitar's
conventional structural properties to improve its
articulation, timbre, sustain, and balance are described.
[Additional keywords: classical guitars, envelopes, heat
bending machines, struts, bracing, necks, fretboards, La
Jolla Luthiers]
"Slit
Drums and Boos" by Bart Hopkin. 2 pages, 2 drawings.
Wooden drums and their tuning problems: destructive
communication between vibrations, e.g., "conflicting" notes,
is addressed with various solutions provided. Jon Scoville
and Reinhold Banek's book, Sound Designs, is cited for other
simple and practical variations of the slit drum. (Note:
this article overstates the difficulties in tuning
many-tongued tongue drums -- take its pronouncements with a
grain of salt.) [Additional keywords: log drums, wooden
tongues, nail violins, tongue drums]
"Holy
Crustacean, Batman, That Beast Sings!" by Tom Nunn. 1 1/2
pages; 1 photo.
Nunn's Crustacean is a stainless steel disk with curved
bronze rods brazed to its surface, and is supported on three
inflated balloons. It is also effective for resonating a
player's own voice. Nunn briefly describes his playing
technique, its construction and use in performances with
Chris Brown in San Francisco. [Additional keywords:
bowed metal, bowed idiophones, sympathetic
vibrations]
"Musical
Instrument Classification Systems" by Bart Hopkin. 3 pages;
1 diagram.
A brief history and overview of a system devised by Curt
Sachs and Erich M. von Hornbostel in 1914 to address the
inconsistencies in criteria for classifying instruments. A
full-page chart illustrates the Sachs-Hornbostel System
which is divided into four basic categories. A sidebar
mentions three other more recent systems, reference titles,
and also the classical Chinese system. [Additional
keywords: museum curators, collectors, taxonomies, theory,
organology]
"Books:
A Selected Guide for Reference Works Related to New
Instruments" by Bart Hopkin. 1 & 1/2 pages.
Listing of thirteen books in four categories: General, New
Instruments, Musical Acoustics, and Tuning Systems.
[Additional keywords: research, publications, libraries,
dictionaries, education, encyclopedia, surveys, how-to,
theory]
VOLUME
1 #5, FEBRUARY 1985
"Letters"
1 & 1/4 pages
Charles R. Adams on Hugo Zemp's musical instrument
classification system (Volume I #4) based in the meaning of
ancient Greek, Roman, and Indian words, with reference list
of books by Ernest G. McClain. A counterpoint from Stephen
Smith to Bart Hopkin's article (Volume I #4) on the tuning
problems of wooden slit drums. [Additional keywords:
Sanskrit, tuning systems, tongues, tongue drums, organology,
ethnomusicology, Pythagorean, Plato]
"Wind,
Breath and strings Round and Flat" by Charles R. Adams. 3
& 1/2 pages; 4 photos, 4 drawings.
Discussion of the Lesiba of southern Africa, an
air-activated zither variously know as the gora, ugwala, or
makwindi, and its culture. The article details and
illustrates its construction: a stick, string, and quill;
similar to bullroarers and aeolian harps, and its playing
technique. A bibliography and discography is provided.
[Additional keywords: John Blacking, Ron Konzak's wind
harp, feathers, ribbon-reed aerophones, mouth bows, mouth
harps, jews-harps, somatophones]
"Organizations
and Periodicals: Conference of Intervallic Music". 1
page.
Interval Foundation was founded by Jonathon Glasier in San
Diego. Interval: Journal of Music Research and Development
is a quarterly publication concerned with intonational
systems and creative work in the field of microtonal music.
(Interval Magazine has since ceased publication.)
[Additional keywords: Harry Partch, microtonality, new
instrument resources]
"Disorderly
Tumbling Forth" by Bart Hopkin. 4 pages; 2 photos, 6
drawings.
Tuned idiophone designed and built by Bart Hopkin uses
copper tube chimes. Versions include a keyboard action
design similar to a harmonium, and a tabletop model. Tuning
and materials are detailed in text and illustrations.
"Tools
and Techniques: Calculating Frequencies for Equal Tempered
Scales" by Bart Hopkin. 1/2 page.
Introduction to Christopher Banta's article described below.
[Additional keywords: twelve-tone equal temperament,
scales, mathematics, psycho-acoustics, pitch, logarithms,
logarithmic, equations]
"Scales
and Their Mathematical Factors" by Christopher Banta. 1
& 1/2 pages. 5 tables.
Systematic explanation on how to use mathematical equations
for determining frequencies for equal tempered scales,
applied to twelve and non-twelve tone scales.
[Additional keywords: twelve-tone equal temperament,
scales, mathematics, psycho-acoustics, pitch,
logarithms]
VOLUME
1 #6, APRIL 1986
"The
Semi Civilized Tree: Designed and played by Nazim Ozel" by
Bart Hopkin. 4 and 1/2 pages; 3 photos.
The Semi-Civilized Tree is a stringed instrument using the
natural form of a tree branch. Its construction, playing
techniques with a performance review and its future
possibilities are described. It uses over four hundred
strings. Harp, cello, violin, guitar, mandolin, and banjo
strings work best. Ozel uses a Frap Flat Response Audio
Pickup transducer (contact mike) to amplify it for
performance. Guitar and harp tuning pegs are used, and
several tuning arrangements coexist: some are deliberate,
some random. Ozel is a Turkish-born musician and visual
artist who studied the Ney flute with master musician, Aka
Gunduz. [Additional keywords: driftwood,
trees].
"Letters"
2 pages; 1 photo.
Tom Baker's photo of an 8-string guitar. Bob Flower provides
tuning and construction tips. [Additional keywords: tone
holes]
"The
Ceramic Whistles, Flutes, Ocarinas and Mirlitons of Susan
Rawcliffe" by Bart Hopkin. 2 pages; 6 photos, 3
drawings.
A photo spread with brief text descriptions of the acoustic
and harmonic characteristics of these hand-built clay
instruments. Many are based on pre-Columbian, Olmec, and
Mayan designs. Some have multiple chambers and exotic
shapes. The timbre of her single, double, and triple
cylindrical fipple flutes is manipulated by varying the bore
shape. Background and contact information about the builder
herself is also included. [Additional keywords:
mouthpieces, fish skin, kazoos, tone holes]
"The
Melophone, the Harmoniphone, and the Melo-Harmoniphone:
Names for Invented Instruments" by Bart Hopkin. 1 page.
An essay on the aesthetics of naming unique musical
instruments that takes into consideration how they are
categorized and recognized, as well as how the nature of
language plays its role in recognition and aesthetic
thought.
Books
Reviews. 1 page.
Review of the Sound/Art Exhibition catalog, with an
essay by Don Goddard. The exhibit was curated by William
Hellerman and sponsored by the Sound Art Foundation in 1983;
held at The Sculpture Center and BACA/DCC Gallery in New
York. Many of the artist are mainly visual artists.
Contributors include Vito Acconci, Connie Beckley, Bill
& Mary Buchen, Nicolas Collins, Sari Dienes &
Pauline Oliveros, Richard Dunlap, Terry Fox, William
Hellerman, Jim Hobart, Richard Lerman, Les Levine, Joe
Lewis, Tom Marioni, Jim Pomeroy, Alan Scarritt, Carolee
Schneemann, Bonnie Sherk, Keith Sonnier, Norman Tuck, Hannah
Wilke, and Yom Gagatzi.
Kitchen
Bands. 1/2 page.
A brief observation about the number of bands that play
old-time popular music with household utensils. Among the
questions are whether this is an isolated happening or a
uniquely American tradition. The article cites four bands;
primarily made up of seniors and all having a good time: The
Maple Manor Cuties; The Jolly Dozen Band; Shearer's Kitchen
Band; The Women's Club of Hawthorne. [Additional
keywords: folk music, nursing homes, percussion, kazoos,
washboards]
The
Galpin Society. 1/2 page.
Named after pioneer organologist and researcher Canon
Francis W. Galpin, this British scholarly organization is
devoted to the cultural and historical study of primarily
European musical instruments. Founded in England, it has a
longer history than its American counterpart, the American
Musical Instrument Society, and many prominent musicologists
have served as its officers. Contact, journal, and
membership information is supplied. [Additional
keywords: periodicals, scholarship]
************************************
VOLUME
2, #1, JUNE 1986
Letters.
1 1/2 pages; 2 drawings.
Ivor Darreg and Tony Pizzo respond to the article in issue
#6, Volume 1, on creating interesting names for new
instruments. Ward Hartenstein provides two drawings of his
own bamboo instruments: the Tonquiro and the Devil Stick.
[Additional keywords: Theremin, Megalyra, kazoo,
Kosmolyra, Spoils of War, Harry Partch, Susan Rawcliffe,
scrapers, strikers, shakers]
"Stephen
Smith's Conduit Marimbas and Glass Marimbas" by Bart Hopkin.
6 pages; 2 photos, 7 drawings and diagrams.
The design and construction of these microtonal instruments
was inspired by Bill Colvig, Lou Harrison, Harry Partch, and
Erv Wilson. Resonators of the glass marimba were made from
plastic ABS pipe. The Conduit Marimba uses EMT, or
electrical metal tubing, for sounding bars. The detailed
explanation and illustrations show how to find nodes and how
the sounding bars are mounted and suspended over tuned
cylindrical resonators tubes, among other tuning and
construction techniques. H.R. Bosanquet, the 19th-century
designer who devised a keyboard for 53 tones per octave,
provided a logical layout for the pitches. A sidebar briefly
explains Smith's interest in alternatives to twelve-tone
equal temperament and his 31-tone equal temperament system.
Smith also builds instruments on commission. [Additional
keywords: diatonic scales, Tubalongs, tubulons, intonational
systems, xylophones, esoteric tunings, just
intonations]
"Teaching
with Homemade Instruments: The Work of Robin Goodfellow" by
Bart Hopkin. 3 1/2 pages; 6 drawings.
This Oakland-based artist conducts classes for children and
adults. Students are taken through many and varied
music-making activities. She also works several genres of
arts and crafts, and incorporates this into her music
teachings. She has made a set of six illustrated books, each
devoted to one category of instruments: drums, idiophones,
strings, reeds, horns, and flutes. Each book is subtitled
"Recognition, Construction, and Performance," contains a
description of its instrument type and its principles, plus
several instruments that children can make and play, using
readily available materials, and a complement of pieces and
games. Some of the simple instruments her students make and
play are soda straw oboes and clarinets. Companion books are
in preparation, and they can be ordered directly from
Goodfellow. Contact information is provided. [Additional
keywords: pedagogy, Mandala Fluteworks, schools,
workshops]
"A
Bibliography for Available-Material Instrument Making: With
an Emphasis on Children's books and Teaching Materials" by
Tony Pizzo. 2 pages.
A bibliographic overview of resources relating to homemade
instruments for young students. [Additional keywords:
pedagogy, schools, workshops]
VOLUME
2, #2, AUGUST 1986
"Daniel
Schmidt's American Gamelan Instruments" by Bart Hopkin. 6
1/2 pages; 5 photos, 6 drawings.
Schmidt builds instruments rooted in but independent of the
traditional Indonesian types. [Additional keywords:
sounding bars, metallophones]
Letters.
2 pages.
William Holden, Bill Minor, Tom Baker, and Ivor Darreg offer
their knowledge and thoughts on what scope EMI should have;
a question raised in an editorial from an earlier
issue.
"The
Megalyra Family of Instruments" by Bart Hopkin. 1 page; 1
photo.
An introduction to Ivor Darreg's article on the design and
construction of his Megalyra family of string instruments.
Two characteristics are noteworthy: they possess multiple
tuning systems, and the visual guides in the form of
fret-lines which make for ease of playing in any number
intonational systems; both just and equal. [Additional
keywords: slide guitars, steel guitars]
"Megalyra,
Drone, and Newel Post" by Ivor Darreg. 4 pages. 1 photos, 1
drawing.
Darreg presents vital design and construction information
for making this group of stringed instruments; to explore
the advantages of flexible pitch offered by the Hawaiian or
Steel Guitar The instruments are like giant four-sided
guitar necks. Each side has a different tuning system
combining equal or just intonation. The author traces the
process of experimentation with materials: wood, strings,
and piano wires. General rules of thumb regarding tuning,
tension, and string length are given. The instruments use
magnetic pickups for amplification. On each side, a visual
pattern of fret-lines serves as a guide for the player.
Figures are given for wire sizes and corresponding pitches,
and for tuning pin sizes. [Additional keywords: bridges,
microtonality, fretting, harmonics, sitar]
The
American Gamelan Institute. 1 page.
The American Gamelan Institute was originally based in
Oakland, California [relocated to Hanover, New Hampshire
after publication of this article], serves an
international networkfor people interested in gamelan music
in Indonesa and abroad. The article gives general background
and information on the organization's journal,
Balungan. It includes articles on scores, schools,
building techniques, tuning systems, concerts, and
interviews. [Additional keywords: Java, Bali, Sunda,
Indonesia, gongs]
"Six
Un-Invented instruments" by Tim Olsen. 2 pages; 6
drawings.
The author describes six fanciful instruments. Though
whimsical they are not entirely impractical. The Sticcolo is
a tiny transverse flute. The Selpreg or Selective Preference
Guitar adapts a sansa made of saw blades to its body, and
offers an alternative to sympathetic strings. The Great
Pedal Clapichord and the String Carillon are extrapolations
of a clavichord action. The name of the Teepeegurdie refers
to the shape of this motorized hurdy-gurdy possessing 50 or
more long-strings. The Stompano can be visualized as an
inside-out zither. [Additional keywords: hammers,
soundbox]
"Instruments
Without History: The Difficulty of Gaining Acceptance For
Instruments Without Existing Repertoire, Established
Technique or Trained Players" by Bart Hopkin. 2 pages.
An easy-to-read speculation, supported with some anecdotal
evidence, on why some new instruments are more acceptable to
musicians and the public than others. [Additional
keywords: techniques, traditions, patents.]
VOLUME
2, #3, OCTOBER 1986
"The
Waterphone" by Bart Hopkin. 4 pages. 1 drawing; 1 photo.
The Waterphone was invented and patented by Richard Waters.
This article's narrative describes how he applied his
abilities as a sculptor to an idea inspired by the kalimba
(also known as a sanza or mbira) and the Tibetan water drum.
A family of instruments developed around this simple
construction of bronze rods welded to steel bowls, with an
upright metal tube in its center. While this article gives a
detailed description of the instrument's tuning and acoustic
behavior, it is noted that Waters has gone to great lengths
to prevent imitators from copying his ideas and methods.
This instrument has been used widely in recordings,
performances, and in movie and TV sound scores, and is sold
commercially. Each instrument is individually tuned, but not
to a standard chromatic or diatonic scale. Water movement
inside it alters the resonating frequency of the body,
resulting in its peculiar pitch bending and timbral shifts.
Contact information is also provided. [Additional
keywords: metallophones, whale songs, sound
effects.]
Letters.
1 page.
In reference to the EMI recordings, Ross Mohn comments on
the difference between imagining a sound described verbally,
versus hearing it.
"Gourd
Instruments Made and Played by Minnie Black" by Bart Hopkin.
3 pages; 8 photos.
Nearing age 90, this Kentucky folk artist has made many
harps, mandolins, guitars, lutes, drums, and hybrid
instruments from dried gourds. This natural material has
been used in many cultures since ancient time and grows in
an immense variety of sizes and shapes. Photos and captions
illustrate their construction and decoration, along with a
picture of her group, the Gourd Band, in performance.
[Additional keywords: The American Gourd
Society]
"Principles
of Mallet Design: Approaches to Mallet Making for Various
Types of Percussion Instruments" by Rick Sanford. 3 pages; 4
photos; 2 drawings.
This article details homebuildable mallet designs for
maximizing tone production instead of producing odd effects.
It provides basic theory and practices and explains their
purposes, as well as tools and sources, and mallet care.
[Additional keywords: sticks, drums]
"The
Mallet Kalimba" by Robert Rich. 1 1/2 pages. 2 diagrams.
Conceived and built by Darell Devore; the version described
here was built by the author. A perfect beginner's project,
it can be built with inexpensive materials (under $10 at
1986 prices): aluminum or steel rod; wooden dowel rod;
particle board or pressboard; styrofoam ice chest; adhesive
foam rubber strips; 1" wood screws. The making of ping pong
ball mallets is described, along with its bright sound;
sounding similar to an African mbira and Balinese
metallophone or gamelan instrument. [Additional
keywords: resonators]
Books:
Prior's Reference Handbook of Music Math, by Glen A.
Prior. 3/4 pages.
Review of a book on scale theory and related topics
published in 1985 by Moustache Blue. Main topics in this
concise, no-nonsense book: logarithms; nomenclature;
derivation of the Pythagorean comma; beats per second;
finding the guide tone; string lengths and stopping points;
difference tones and summation tones; keyboard layout and
interval names for 31-tone tuning; Greek modes.
VOLUME
2 #4, DECEMBER 1986
"Polychord
1 and Microtonal Steel Guitar Fretboards" by Sieman
Terpstra. 3 pages; 2 photos.
The author describes his system of fretboard markings for
instruments inspired by Ivor Darreg's Megalyra family. Based
on the lap-steel guitar, Terpstra plays his instruments with
a sliding metal bar rather than pressing against frets.
Siemen's fingerboard overlays serve as guides to placement
of the bar as well as conceptual organizers of harmonic
relationships, which can be perceived either musically or
mathematically. He details how color sequences are related
to tuning of the pitches and chords, measurements for string
lengths; and various Hindu, Chinese, and Greek scales.
[Additional keywords: just intonation, equal
temperament]
"The
Glass Harmonica" by Vera Meyer. 4 pages; 3 photos, 1
drawing.
Opens with a brief history of the 18th-century instrument
redesigned by Benjamin Franklin, now being built by Gerhard
Finkenbeiner. Healing powers were attributed to its haunting
and ethereal sound. Its past and current construction and
mechanics are detailed. It is a friction idiophone: many
sizes of cup-shaped quartz glasses spin on a motorized
treadle, sounded by rubbing the rims with fingers. Meyer
also performs on the instrument and is a member of the
organization Glass Music International. Available recordings
are also listed. [Additional keywords: glass blowing,
armonicas, musical glasses, carillons]
"New
Sounds From Old Sources: Musical Signal Processing with
Microcomputers" by David Courtney. 6 pages; 5 diagrams.
Introduced by Bart Hopkin, Courtney gives an overview of
analog and digital audio fundamentals, a history of
electronic sound modification, a simple hardware setup, some
of the most musically useful DSP effects, synthesis and
digital sampling. [Additional keywords: microprocessors,
software, programs, samples, synthesizers]
The
Just Intonation Network. 1 1/4 pages.
Formed by a network of Bay Area composers in 1984, this
organization based in San Francisco, California is devoted
to the spread and development of music based in just
intonation. They publish a journal and hold lectures and
discussions. Membership and contact information provided.
[Additional keywords: associations, intervals,
microtonality, musical scales and scale
theory]
"Some
Introductory Words on Just Intonation" by Bart Hopkin. 1 1/4
pages.
This article explains some of the audible and practical
differences between music made with intonational systems
other than twelve-tone equal temperament. While there is
continuum of pitch between any two notes an octave apart,
just intervals or pitch relationships use selected frequency
ratios. After Harry Partch, a considerable increase in the
number of people who explore tonal possibilities outside of
12-equal occurred, represented in a number of organizations
that are listed in this text. [Additional keywords:
associations, Ivor Darreg, microtonal, non-western tuning
systems, societies, society]
Recordings:
Parallel Galaxy by Emmet Chapman. 1 page.
This review of a record featuring Chapman on the Stick, also
describes the fretted string instrument's design and
construction. It has no body because of electronic
amplification. It is not plucked or bowed, but rather
sounded by a playing technique guitarists call hammering-on,
with eight fingers available for tapping as in a
keyboard-like fingering. Well known musicians have brought
the stick to recognition: Tony Levin; Peter Gabriel;
Alphonso Johnson. [Additional keywords: guitars, jazz,
Stanley Jordan, commercial enterprise, patents]
"Lark
In The Morning Search and Sell Services." 1/4 page.
Side bar announcing a way for builders of unusual
instruments to sell through a retail outlet. Their services
are described and contact information provided.
[Additional keywords: commercial, consignment,
enterprise, marketing, patents]
VOLUME
2 #5, FEBRUARY 1987
Letters.
1 page.
Anita T. Sullivan announces her book, The Seventh Dragon:
The Riddle Of Equal Temperament, which was winner of the
Western States Book Award. In reference to an article on
destructive communication in Volume 1 #4, Michael Meadows
comments on nail-violins. In reference to the Sticcolo
described in the "Un-Invented Instruments" article in Volume
2, #2, Susan Rawcliffe notes that pre-Columbian Americans
invented one 1,000 years ago
"Keyboard
Alternatives: Some Opening Thoughts and Background" by Bart
Hopkin. 4 pages; 1 diagram.
Discusses ergonomically designed layouts for the pitches of
diatonic and chromatic keys and levers of the standard
European keyboards, which evolved from organs, pianos,
harpsichords. Graphics show several new spatial arrangements
or patterns for pitch relationships as reflected in keyboard
design: Limbaclav by Bob Phillips, modeled after the African
kalimba (mbira) emphasizes interchangeable or modular
designs. The 6-6 keyboard reduces the tonal bias to C major.
Harry Partch's Chromelodeans were harmoniums, as well as the
Diamond Marimba and Quadrangulis Reversum; rebuilt to his
preferred scales. Articles that address this topic in EMI
and other publications are listed. [Additional keywords:
clavinet, claviers, ebony, intervals, ivory, mechanisms,
Ivor Darreg, Erv Wilson]
"The
Sohler Keyboard System" by Mel Sohler. 1 1/2 pages. 1 photo;
1 diagram.
A logical and practical arrangement of keys with fewer
fingering patterns to be learned for playing in different
keys. Coupled with his notation system, Sohler's keyboard
design accelerates learning and eliminates confusion in
sight reading. It incorporates symmetrical arrangements of
key groups. It is an ideal alternative controller for
electronic instruments. [Additional keywords: clavinet,
claviers, ebony, ergonomics, intervals, ivory, organs,
pianos, harpsichords, patterns]
"Piano
On the Half Shell: Comments by Ivor Darreg" by Ivor Darreg.
1/2 page.
With a reprint of a 1965 Time Magazine article about a
curved piano keyboard design proposed by Monique de la
Bruchollerie, the author observes that musical developments
make traditional pitch arrangements obsolete, yet practical
innovations remain suppressed. [Additional keywords:
clavinet, clavichords, ebony, ergonomics, intervals, ivory,
organs, pianoforte, harpsichords, patterns]
Book
review: Percussion Notes Research Edition, Vol. 24 #3/6:
Deagan Catalogs. 1 1/2 pages. 2 drawings.
Percussive Arts Society occasionally publishes special
issues of its journal Percussive Notes devoted to topics of
scholarly and historical interest. This issue reprints five
early catalogues from the 1920s by the J.C. Deagan Company,
manufacturer of percussion instruments. Their finely
detailed illustrations present thoughts on possible sound
sources; reminders of a time when people spent less time
with passive entertainment. Unusual and innovative items
appearing in the catalogs include bells with resonators;
marimbaphones with bars played with mallets, rosined gloves
or bows; organ chimes made in metal but otherwise identical
to traditional bamboo anklungs, a friction-rod instrument
called aluminum harp, and tuned sets musical coins and
rattles.[Additional keywords: marimbas, glockenspiels,
metallophones, tubes, xylophones]
"A
Set of Aluminum Just-Intonation Tuning Forks" by Warren
Burt. 2 pages; 1 drawing.
Begins with the author's background experiences leading to
the making of a set of tuning forks tuned to a 19-tone per
octave scale. He notes published sources for his research
into ancient Greek modes, including theories of Ptolemy and
Harry Partch. Construction details and playing techniques
are provided. The appeal of community music-making is
discussed, and how the ease of learning to play the tuning
forks facilitates this. Their sound properties are
described: clear timbres; sine waves with long decay time;
Doppler and phase shift effects, deep bass tones.
[Additional keywords: mallets, percussion,
resonators]
"The
Fipple Pipe" by Denny Genovese. 2 notation examples.
Begins with the author's background experiences leading to
the making of aluminum flutes that would play the scale of
the harmonic series without finger holes. The absence of
tone holes makes for distortion-free nodes. A family of
instruments evolved using mouthpieces of the standard
recorder style, which function differently from recorders in
length and diameter. The playing techniques, maintenance,
musical notation, and ensemble methods are briefly
described. Ordering information for his book and tape
provided. [Additional keywords: just
intonation]
Periodicals:
Vierundzwangzigsteljahrsschrift Der Internationalen
Maultrommelvirtuosengenossenschaft, and Sawing News
of the World. 1 1/2 pages.
VIM and SNW are organizations and periodicals devoted to the
Jew's Harp and the musical saw. Their content and activities
are described. SNW is a publication of the manufacturer,
Mussehl and Westphal in Wisconsin. VIM from Iowa City is a
scholarly journal with a humorous character. Information on
festivals for saw enthusiasts are also listed.
[Additional keywords: Kazoophony]
"Notes
Gleaned From Recent Writings by Pierre Jean Croset" by Bart
Hopkin. 1 1/2 pages.
Croset is a French designer and builder of new musical
instruments who wrote and article about his travel in the
U.S. to study activities of his American counterparts.
Cultural differences were examined. The broad categories of
activity were sound sculpture, sound architecture, new
instruments for conventional music, and instruments for new
and avant garde forms. The article lists some of the new
instrument designers in France. Croset's remarks on the
past, present, and future of musical exploration are also
reprinted. Historical and practical concerns impacting
communication, research, learning and innovation are
discussed.
"Great
Instruments #9: The Medica Musica" by Enoch Helm, aka
Michael Gowan. 1 page; 2 drawings.
(Humor) Reprint of an article on little-known instruments
from The Swallowtail Jig, a newsletter of the Columbine
Hammer Dulcimer Society. The brief stories tell of stone
bells played by Egyptian pharaohs and pipes with healing
powers.
VOLUME
2 #6, APRIL 1987
Letters.
2 pages.
Further comments by Ivor Darreg describing his experiences
and writings on developing curved keyboard layouts for piano
and stringed instruments. He also discusses and the
constraints of established practices, with reference to the
Clutsam Keyboard discussed in his earlier short article (EMI
Volume 2 #5) "Piano On the Half Shell". [Additional
keywords: ergonomics, intervals, Megalyra,
patents]
"The
Musical-Acoustical Development of the Violin Octet" by
Carleen M. Hutchins. 4 pages; 1 photo; 1 graph.
The author describes the impetus, research, design, and
construction of a set of violin-type instruments capable of
carrying the timbre and tone of the violin family into seven
other pitch ranges -- one at approximately each half octave
from the double bass to an octave above the violin. Hutchins
is a central figure in the Catgut Acoustical Society and
began this project in 1956. Among many people who helped are
composer Henry Brant at Bennington College, and the violin
maker Fred Dautrich. Issues of wood resonance and air
resonance; f-holes; string and body length relative to
fingering patterns are explained and also charted in the
graph, along with descriptions of the instruments' sound
properties. [Additional keywords: cellos, double bass,
consort, fiddles, soundboards, violas]
"More
Gourds" by Bart Hopkin. 7 pages. 11 photos; 5 drawings.
Introduction to articles on gourd-resonated instruments
written by Tony Pizzo, Matthew Finstrom, Lucinda Ellison,
and Larry Sherman. This is a follow-up to the article on
Minnie Black (Volume 2 #3). Contact information for each
builder-writer is also provided. [Additional keywords:
The American Gourd Society, resonators, natural
materials]
"Mbiras"
by Lucinda Ellison. 1 1/2 pages. 3 photos; 1 drawing.
The author makes finely crafted and decorated kalimbas,
shakeres, drums, and bamboo flutes. Her main focus is the
African thumb piano, also known as the kalimba or mbira. The
gourd resonators have soundboards made of African woods:
Mahogany, Padauk, or Ebony. A drawing diagrams the various
and flexible tuning arrangements of the nickel plated keys,
or tines. [Additional keywords: The American Gourd
Society, resonators, natural materials]
"Four
Gourd Resonated Instruments" by Tony Pizzo. 1 1/2 pages. 4
photos; 2 drawings.
The author specializes in the design of available-material
world instruments. Design and construction of the Indian
Tamboura, Double Strung Bow, Berimbau, and the Giant Bow
inspired by Bill and Mary Buchen, is described. Drawings
diagram the design of the tamboura bridge and the double
string bow. The latter is traditionally mouth-resonated.
[Additional keywords: The American Gourd Society, mouth
bows, javari, resonators, natural materials]
"Balafon,
Vina & Mvet" by Matthew Finstrom. 2 1/2 pages. 4 photos;
2 drawings.
The author is a performer and builder of traditional
instruments inspired by Minnie Black's folk instruments. The
Mvet is type of stick zither or harp found in Cameroon.
Design and construction of the Harp Vina is similar to the
sitar. It has tuning pegs for five double strings and the
gourd resonators are part of the original design in this
ancient Asian Indian instrument. [Additional keywords:
The American Gourd Society, natural
materials]
"The
Oxford Gourd Ensemble: A Dispersed and Continuing Conceptual
Piece with Occasional Site-Specific performances" by Larry
Sherman. 3 pages. 3 photos.
The author is a performer, educator, and builder interested
in cognitive theory. The article describes the theoretical
sources and conceptual basis for his performance group. The
group rarely functions literally as a performance ensemble,
but rather is a kind of social and conceptual extension of
the ensemble concept. [Additional keywords: Minnie
Black, The American Gourd Society, resonators, natural
materials]
Book
review: Leonardo Da Vinci As a Musician, by Emanuel
Winternitz. 1 1/2 pages.
Review of the first scholarly book on the musical side of Da
Vinci's work. It examines the times he lived in, accounts of
his contemporaries, his personal notebooks, and sketches;
some predate instruments and methods that were realized
centuries later. These are full of ideas, theories on
acoustics, performance, and instrument designs. Much of his
attention was devoted to designing the mechanics of the
Viola Organista, a bowed string keyboard instrument,
apparently never realized. [Additional keywords:
drawings, mechanisms, organology]
Recording
review: The Way I See It and You've Got the
Option by Ernie Altohff & Rainer Linz. 1/2 page.
Review of a cassette recording by Australian artists Ernie
Althoff and Rainer Linz. The recording combines spoken text
with a random music machine, an automatic, motorized
percussion device that sounds kitchen utensils, and toy
instruments, among other non-musical objects.
*******************************
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