...is not a spell from the Potterverse. Wonderful link via Janet at Humanophone:Harry Partch's Instruments--and you can play (with) them online.
From the site: By 1969, the year he recorded "Delusion of the Fury," Harry Partch had designed 27 new instruments, all to be played on stage at the same time in a spatial ritual theater. These instruments were made to be beautiful in sound, vision, and "magical purpose." They were tuned according to the natural overtone series, "Just Intonation". Some, like the Chromelodeon, had as many as 43 tones in a single "octave." He made particular instruments for specific needs in his compositions, not the other way around. But, more than this, he designed the instruments to be "corporeal." To Partch, corporeal meant to involve the whole body, the whole person in the art.
Hallelujah. Pictured above are the Cloud Chamber Bowls. My favorite to bang on is the Spoils of War, but I haven't even made it out of the percussion section yet...oh fun.
PS--Tip: using keyboard instead of mouse will allow you to play more than one note/key/instrument part at a time--one doesn't shut off when you strike another. This allows you to compose, a little, something that flows (should you find flow desirable). Try it on the Crychord.
1 comment:
This is so cool!
I bought a (vinyl) copy of The World of Harry Partch when I was in high school. Switched on Bach came with a little promotional record for other recordings in the Columbia Masterworks catalog—things like Partch, Subotnick, Nancarrow, and Riley that were 1) wonderful and 2) drove my father nuts.
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