February 1, 2016
A rare musical instrument will be coming to Nanango next month as part of the inaugural Nanango Healthy Life Expo.
The crystal armonica consists of a series of rotating crystal bowls which are played with wet fingers.
It works in a similar way to a European “glass harp”, which is made up of a series of wine glasses filled with different levels of liquid to produce different tones when rubbed.
In the case of the armonica, it is the different bowl sizes that produce the different tones.
The unusual instrument was invented by American Benjamin Franklin in 1761 after he saw water-filled wine glasses being played by Edmund Delaval in Cambridge, England.
Franklin improved on the glass harp model by getting a London glass blower to mount 37 glass bowls of different sizes on an iron spindle, which could be rotated using a foot treadle.
The crystal armonica had its world premiere in early 1762 and created a sensation.
Its slightly disorienting, ethereal sound is usually in the range of 1-4 kHz, which modern science now knows is the range where listener’s brains are not quite sure where the sound is coming from or what its source is.
Mozart, Beethoven, Strauss and more than 100 other composers wrote works for it.
However, the instrument’s popularity steadily dwindled as musical tastes changed, and new music for crystal armonicas was all but unknown from 1820 until the 20th century.
The instrument enjoyed a modern revival in the early 1980s when musician Gerhard Finkenbeiner released an updated version of Franklin’s original design.
The factory Finkenbeiner set up in Massachusetts continues to produce them to this day.
Some people say the music produced by the crystal armonica has special healing qualities.
They claim the music activates the pineal gland (known as the 6th chakra), elevating listeners to a deeper level of consciousness.
But it hasn’t always had such good press; in Germany during the early 1800s, the crystal armonica was rumoured to cause musicians and their listeners to go mad or develop “melancholia”.
However, no evidence of this was ever found and many players – including Ben Franklin – lived long and healthy lives.
In either case, South Burnett residents will get the opportunity to judge a crystal armonica for themselves on Saturday, March 19.
The Nanango Healthy Life Expo has invited Armonica Sound Healing to perform in concert with their Finkenbeiner armonica inside the Rapid Fitness Gymnasium adjoining Pioneer Park at 6:30pm.
While entry to the Expo is free, entry to the concert will be $20 per head if pre-paid, or $25 at the door.
Tickets can be obtained from the Rapid Fitness Gymnasium, Orchys Fruit and Vegetable, Reel Pizzas Mobile Food Van and Amethyst Moon, Kingaroy.
Sound Armonica will also be selling tickets at their stall during the Expo, and tickets can also be bought online.
- External link: Nanango Healthy Life Expo
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Composer William Zeitler plays a crystal armonica and discusses the instrument’s properties
