What's That Sound: Yaybahar

by Beth Dolinar, Luminari Coordinator

In each issue of LUMOS!, we offer a regular series about the unique and unusual (and sometimes downright strange) instruments we’ve never heard. And since we can’t really understand an instrument until we’ve heard it being played, we’ll offer links to sites where you can hear and see a performance.

And so we offer our sixth in a series of unusual instruments: YAYBAHAR

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As scientists continue to unravel the mysteries of the universe, they are learning some strange and wonderful things about what it’s like “out there.” For example, they have begun to record some of the sounds of outer space.

Have you heard them, these sounds that bounce off and between planets and their moons? They sound much like what we’ve been told in all those space-alien movies: eerie, otherworldly, warped.

Those adjectives can be used to describe the “music” produced by the yaybahar, and I used the quotes because even the inventor of the instrument isn’t quite sure it’s really music.

The yaybahar was invented in 2009 by Gorkem Sen, who is based in Istanbul. His instrument uses drums, coiled springs and only two strings to create the otherworldly sound.

Two framed drums are connected to a long spring, which in turn is connected to a tall neck with two strings. As the strings are plucked or bowed, the vibrations travel along the coil to the drums. The sound is produced as the vibrations move back and forth along the coiled spring.

Mr. Sen has said he would like the yaybahar to be as common as the violin or the cello. But considering the instrument takes up all the space in a room, it’s unlikely we will see a yaybahar section on the symphony stage anytime soon.

And that’s a shame. This is one weird and beautiful instrument. Listen for yourself. 

http://www.pri.org/stories/2015-08-19/its-not-space-odyssey-its-yaybahar

What's That Sound? Hydraulophone

By Beth Dolinar

We at Luminari love music of all kinds: folk, symphony, hip hop, jazz, blues, country, marches, gospel, rock and roll—we enjoy all of it.

Because our mission is to broaden minds and promote innovation, we think it’s important—and fun—to open our minds to the possibilities of the world beyond our own doorstep. And what better way to do that than to learn about the music of other lands.

In each issue of LUMOS!, we offer a regular series about the unique and unusual (and sometimes downright strange) instruments we’ve never heard. And since we can’t really understand an instrument until we’ve heard it being played, we’ll offer links to sites where you can hear and see a performance.

And so we offer our fifth in a series of unusual instruments: Hydraulophone

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Ryan Janzen, playing with Hart House Symphonic Band

If you’re the kind of person whose bucket list includes “Playing a Chopin etude while relaxing in a bubbly hot tub”, then the hydraulophone is for you.

A hydraulophone is an instrument that produces music through direct physical contact with water. Think of a flute with water running through the holes instead of air. Versions of the hydraulophone have been around for centuries, but the most recent versions were perfected—and named—by Steve Mann.

Most versions of the hydraulophone have twelve holes which correspond to as many water jets that produce the notes; most have a range of an octave and a half. Before exiting the holes, the water passes through reeds, valves or disks, creating notes. The water is directed through the selected holes by the player’s fingers. Some versions of the instrument are connected to electrical amplifiers. and some even use fluids other than water. Vodka with your Wagner, anyone?

Now, about the hot tub.  On cold days, in Canada for example, musicians give hydraulophone performances while seated in hot tubs; in some cases the instrument is built right into the tub, allowing the player to make music while bubbling away the stresses of the day.

You’ll also find versions of the hydraulophone at theme parks and museums, where standing versions invite children and their parents to tickle the “keyboard” of little fountains to create music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWmiBVndVMY

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulophone#/media/File:Balnaphone_base7.jpg

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Luminari Coordinator, Beth Dolinar brings her talents and experience as a writer, Emmy-award producer, public speaker and deadline driven multi-tasker to our team. She writes a popular column for the Washington "Observer-Reporter." She is a contributing producer of documentary length programming for WQED-TV on a wide range of topics and currently teaches as an adjunct faculty member at Robert Morris University. Beth has a son and a daughter. She is an avid yoga devotee, cyclist and reader. Beth says she types like lightning but reads slowly -- because she likes a really good sentence.

What's That Sound? The Octobass

By Beth Dolinar

We at Luminari love music of all kinds: folk, symphony, hip hop, jazz, blues, country, marches, gospel, rock and roll—we enjoy all of it.

Because our mission is to broaden minds and promote innovation, we think it’s important—and fun—to open our minds to the possibilities of the world beyond our own doorstep. And what better way to do that than to learn about the music of other lands.

In each issue of LUMOS!, we offer a regular series about the unique and unusual (and sometimes downright strange) instruments we’ve never heard. And since we can’t really understand an instrument until we’ve heard it being played, we’ll offer links to sites where you can hear and see a performance.

And so we offer our fourth in a series of unusual instruments: the Octobass

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If the tallest football player you know were also a musical instrument, he would be an octobass.

The instrument, an extreme version of the double bass, was invented around 1850 in Paris. Like a double bass, it has three strings. But unlike the more conventional versions of the bass, the octobass also has a set of levers and foot pedals.

The instrument is too large for just one player; most performances require two musicians: one to bow or pluck the strings and the other to work the levers and pedals. This makes the octobass unwieldy for most performances. That, along with its size, has limited the number of octobasses in use. There are only a handful of them in existence.

Still, the octobass has had its fans, including composer Hector Berlioz, who suggested the mighty stringed behemoth should become more mainstream. Berlioz also loved the sound of tubas, so it makes sense that he championed the octobass.

The instrument stands six and a half feet tall, and its sound reaches the lowest vibrational frequencies detectable by the human ear. Think very large, croaking frog. Or maybe that string riff in the theme from “Jaws.”

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Luminari Coordinator, Beth Dolinar brings her talents and experience as a writer, Emmy-award producer, public speaker and deadline driven multi-tasker to our team. She writes a popular column for the Washington "Observer-Reporter." She is a contributing producer of documentary length programming for WQED-TV on a wide range of topics and currently teaches as an adjunct faculty member at Robert Morris University. Beth has a son and a daughter. She is an avid yoga devotee, cyclist and reader. Beth says she types like lightning but reads slowly -- because she likes a really good sentence.

What's That Sound? The Sharpsichord

by Katie Smith

We at Luminari love music of all kinds: folk, symphony, hip hop, jazz, blues, country, marches, gospel, rock and roll—we enjoy all of it.

Because our mission is to broaden minds and promote innovation, we think it’s important—and fun—to open our minds to the possibilities of the world beyond our own doorstep.  And what better way to do that than to learn about the music of other lands.

In each issue of LUMOS!, we offer a regular series about the unique and unusual (and sometimes downright strange) instruments we’ve never heard. And since we can’t really understand an instrument until we’ve heard it being played, we’ll offer links to sites where you can hear and see a performance.

And so we offer our third in a series of unusual instruments: the Sharpsichord

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Sharpsichord photo credit from
http://www.clashmusic.com/feature/the-sharpsichord-created-by-henry-dagg

As a collector of music boxes, I was thrilled to learn that there is an instrument that is basically a giant, glorified music box. This instrument is called a Sharpsichord. It’s also known as a pin-barrel harp, and was invented by a sound sculptor named Henry Dagg.

The Sharpsichord is a 46-string, automatic, acoustic harp that, much like a music box, contains a rotating cylinder with many pins that can be programmed to pluck specific strings to produce a sound. The instrument features a keyboard for real-time playing; it includes two large horns for amplification and is entirely powered by a solar-charged battery.

The Sharpsichord recently was brought to light by Iceland musician Bjork. On her latest album, Biophilia, she partnered with Henry Dagg to feature the instrument in several of the songs. The two artists managed to transport the 2.5 ton music box to seven concert venues around Great Britain. Sadly, the logistics of maneuvering and maintaining the Sharpsichord for live performance became too difficult, and the instrument has been retired.

You can still hear it, though, on Bjorks album or in the following video.

https://vimeo.com/26301139


Björk Biophilia instruments - Henry Dagg's 'Sharpsichord' pin-barrel harp from Andy McCreeth on Vimeo.

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Author: Katie Smith is a journalism student at Robert Morris University

What's That Sound? The Sistrum

by Beth Dolinar

We at Luminari love music of all kinds: folk, symphony, hip hop, jazz, blues, country, marches, gospel, rock and roll—we enjoy all of it.

Because our mission is to broaden minds and promote innovation, we think it’s important—and fun—to open our minds to the possibilities of the world beyond our own doorstep.  And what better way to do that than to learn about the music of other lands.

In each issue of LUMOS!, we offer a regular series about the unique and unusual (and sometimes downright strange) instruments we’ve never heard. And since we can’t really understand an instrument until we’ve heard it being played, we’ll offer links to sites where you can hear and see a performance.

And so we offer our second in a series of unusual instruments: the sistrum.

Do you remember that box of rhythm instruments you played in grade school music class? If you had been an ancient Egyptian grade schooler, you would have found a sistrum in that box.

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If a tambourine and an abacus were to procreate, the offspring might look like the sistrum.

The sistrum is a musical instrument dating back to the ancient Egyptians. As with much of what was built or invented during those times, the sistrum was meant to placate a diety—in this case, Hathor, the horned cow-goddess of love. Hieroglyphs from that time often depict women holding sistrums.

The instrument is typically made of wood or metal, shaped in an oval and spanned by thin bars on which slide thin metal discs. When shaken the sistrum creates a soft jangling that resembles breeze blowing through papyrus reeds, a sound which, apparently, the cow-goddess enjoyed.

The closest cousin to a sistrum would be the modern tambourine, whose noisemakers orbit a skin drum. The sistrum has no such drum, and therefore the player does not strike it.

To play the sistrum correctly, you hold it upright and shake it in a forward-back motion. Centuries ago, the sistrum was played at fertility rituals. Today, you might hear it played in a Berlioz opera or, more likely, in worship music at an Ethiopian Orthodox Church. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sistrum

Here is a link to a group of Ethopian men playing sistrums in worship music:

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Luminari Coordinator, Beth Dolinar brings her talents and experience as a writer, Emmy-award producer, public speaker and deadline driven multi-tasker to our team. She writes a popular column for the Washington "Observer-Reporter." She is a contributing producer of documentary length programming for WQED-TV on a wide range of topics and currently teaches as an adjunct faculty member at Robert Morris University. Beth has a son and a daughter. She is an avid yoga devotee, cyclist and reader. Beth says she types like lightning but reads slowly -- because she likes a really good sentence.

What's That Sound? The Valiha

by Beth Dolinar


We at Luminari love music of all kinds: folk, symphony, hip hop, jazz, blues, country, marches, gospel, rock and roll—we enjoy all of it.

Because our mission is to broaden minds and promote innovation, we think it’s important—and fun—to open our minds to the possibilities of the world beyond our own doorstep.  And what better way to do that than to learn about the music of other lands.

Starting in this edition of Lumos, we will be offering regular features about the unique and unusual (and sometimes downright strange) instruments we’ve never heard. And since we can’t really understand an instrument until we’ve heard it being played, we’ll offer links to sites where you can hear and see a performance.

We’ll step off into our musical venture with the story of the valiha, the national instrument of Madagascar.

Does it strike anyone else as interesting that this instrument is made from bicycle parts?

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At first glance, the man looks like he’s holding a bassoon. The valiha is a long, thick tube the player holds vertically.

Valiha

But look again and you see there’s no mouthpiece. The valiha is not a wind instrument, but a kind of zither.  The sound comes from plucking and stroking the strings.

The valiha is ancient, and long considered the national instrument of Madagascar. For centuries, the valiha was played solely for ritual performances, and only by men. In recent decades, the valiha has entered the realm of popular music, and women now play it.

The valiha is a long tube, usually made of bamboo or a light wood. There are 21 to 24 strings, which in modern times have been fashioned from bicycle brake cords. When the cables no longer stop your bike, they move on to their next lives in the arts.

For centuries, the valiha was played to summon kind spirits to the Madagascar island. Now, the valiha is played for equally life-affirming reasons—to make lovely music.

Listen for yourself:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHTnIC-BYcI

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Luminari Coordinator, Beth Dolinar brings her talents and experience as a writer, Emmy-award producer, public speaker and deadline driven multi-tasker to our team. She writes a popular column for the Washington "Observer-Reporter." She is a contributing producer of documentary length programming for WQED-TV on a wide range of topics and currently teaches as an adjunct faculty member at Robert Morris University. Beth has a son and a daughter. She is an avid yoga devotee, cyclist and reader. Beth says she types like lightning but reads slowly -- because she likes a really good sentence.