Some links on glass instruments
Thomas Bloch is a glass performer performing in films, music and concerts. The reason his website is here is due to my working title, being “Glass instruments in modern media”. This is a great source for some examples of glass instruments in modern media. http://www.thomasbloch.net/en_home.html
Glass Armonica
This instrument, designed by benjamin franklin in 1761, consists of many glass bowls inside each other spinning on a central rod. You play the instrument by wetting the instrument and your hands which generates sound. This instrument was large in the 18th century but since has faded into obscurity until recently with lots of articles, documents and other forms of journalism bringing light to this forgotten instrument.
Dædalus is a journal founded by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, drawing from the enormous American library for article sources. This article goes into depth about Benjamin Franklin’s armonica how it was conceived, made and its entire history going back to 1760. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20026409?Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&searchText=glass%20armonica&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dglass%2Barmonica%26so%3Drel&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search_gsv2%2Fcontrol&refreqid=fastly-default%3A27d91c0df60d76b9febf861f4ce88d29
The book “The Glass Armonica: The Music and the Madness”, also about the armonica, goes more into detail about the instrument and its players. After its invention, the instrument caught lots of attraction, with many famous composers at the time composing for this, such as Mozart and Beethoven. but nearly immediately, it developed a reputation for both good and bad. apparently causing mental disorders and occasionally being lethal from its sound. Many were drawn to the armonica due to its reputation to cause “divine madness”. These people are known as “divine lunatics” which this book goes into. https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Glass_Armonica.html?id=KSRYnwEACAAJ&source=kp_book_description&redir_esc=y
Alasdair Malloy is a glass harmonica player with lots of experience in concerts, solo performances, film soundtracks and music. The reason why I like this link links to my current title, “Glass instruments in modern media” this is a great source to find some examples of media with glass instruments. https://www.alasdairmalloy.com/glass-harmonica/
This website is a timeline for the glass harmonica from when it was conceived to the current day. This timeline shows niche events that are not documented too well and goes into depth about the armonica all over the world. http://www.glassarmonica.com/armonica/index.php
Cristal Baschet
This is the official site of the association Structures Sonores Baschet, a company that specialises in glass and metallic instruments. Founded by the Baschet brothers in 1950, these two created experimental instruments using metal, bending it into weird shapes and forms to create sonic structures. One instrument they created is the Cristal Baschet, using glass to resonate metal with large plastic and metal cones on the front. This extremely niche instrument is now one of the most well-known glass instruments, along with the glass harp and armonica.
Official site of the association Structures Sonores Baschet, which perpetuates the heritage as well as the research of the brothers Baschet. http://www.baschet.org
This post goes into depth on how to create a cristal baschet. Unfortunately, due to its niche market, there are no producers for this instrument, causing performers to create their own cristal baschet. There are some individuals that create this but only when specified, leading to tutorials online on how to create this instrument. https://www.dylancrismani.com.au/post/how-to-build-a-cristal-baschet?fbclid=IwAR2xUCfQvCGLyb80JUxqA70TkiUl_uLF-TDdwn4pvjRFZ4U1R_yuqua0IUk