A verrophone ("glass-euphonium") is a musical instrument, invented in 1983 by Sascha Reckert, which, "uses tuned glass tubes,"Rossing, Thomas D. (2000). ''Science of Percussion Instruments'', p.187-8. World Scientific. . open at one end and arranged in various sizes (usually in a chromatic scale, arranged from large to small, like the pipes of a

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks' ...

). The sound is made by rubbing one end of one or more of the glass tubes, or also by striking them or rubbing them with a special

mallet A mallet is a tool used for imparting force on another object, often made of rubber or sometimes wood, that is smaller than a maul or beetle, and usually has a relatively large head. The term is descriptive of the overall size and propor ...

. The tubes are close together so that chords can be played by rubbing more than one at the same time. The instrument carries more acoustical volume than the glass harmonica and some other glass instruments and generally has a range from G3 to F6 (which can be extended in the higher register with wine glasses, giving it a range up to D7). Every piece composed originally for glass harmonica can be played on the verrophone.

Predecessors

The term ''verrophone'' originally referred to a

glass harp A glass harp (also called musical glasses, singing glasses, angelic organ, verrillon or ghost fiddle) is a musical instrument made of upright wine glasses. It is played by running moistened or chalked fingers around the rim of the glasses. Each ...

.Kling, Henri (1905).
Prof. H. Kling's Modern Orchestration and Instrumentation
', p.199. Trans. by Gustav Saenger. C. Fischer. . Previous glass instruments include the

glass harmonica The glass harmonica, also known as the glass armonica, glass harmonium, bowl organ, hydrocrystalophone, or simply the armonica or harmonica (derived from , ''harmonia'', the Greek word for harmony), is a type of musical instrument that uses a ...

and arrangements of ordinary drinking glasses (approximately glass tubes closed at one end). The verrophone is capable of louder dynamics than the glass harp due to its larger radiating surfaces.

Related instruments

Modern artists such as Barry Prophet of the Music Gallery have produced glass instruments that work similarly to a

glockenspiel The glockenspiel ( or , : bells and : set) or bells is a percussion instrument consisting of pitched aluminum or steel bars arranged in a Musical keyboard, keyboard layout. This makes the glockenspiel a type of metallophone, similar to the vibra ...

lithophone A lithophone is a musical instrument consisting of a rock or pieces of rock which are struck to produce musical notes. Notes may be sounded in combination (producing harmony) or in succession (melody). It is an idiophone comparable to instrumen ...

, i.e. by striking various glass tubes. An example can be heard in a work entitled "Crystal Bones" composed and played on Prophet's microtonally tuned glass instruments.

Notable players

Friedrich Heinrich Kern Friedrich Heinrich Kern (born March 19, 1980 in Ludwigshafen) is a German composer, pianist, and glass harmonica player. Kern began his studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Mannheim where he graduated with a Diplom in Musi ...

*Philipp Alexander Marguerre *Sascha Reckert *Sebastian Reckert

References

External links

Verrophone
, ''GlasHarmonika.com''.
Video of a verrophone being played
Crystallophones Sets of friction vessels {{Mallet-stub