The Cristal Baschet Is A Unique Instrument That Has Blown The World Away With Its Surreal Sound

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20 mar 2020 14:27

Tags: cristal-baschet instrument music rare sound surreal

While music lovers probably have some kind of affinity towards a certain instrument, whether that would be the guitar, piano, drums or something a tiny bit more extravagant like, for example, a cello, this instrument we‘ll be presenting to you today, rarely gets any attention. To be more precise, most people haven‘t even heard of it.

The Cristal Baschet Is A Unique Instrument That Has Blown The World Away With Its Surreal Sound

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This odd-looking instrument is called a cristal baschet and was invented back in 1952

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This unique instrument was invented by two French brothers back in 1952 and the sound it outputs is enchantingly artful. While it certainly looks kinda odd, you can’t listen to it without some kind of admiration. It’s made of glass rods, fiberglass cones, and a large steel plate, as well as some wooden construction parts.

It was invented by brothers Bernard and François Baschet and was named after its inventors

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The unique instrument is constructed from glass rods, fiberglass cones, and a large steel plate

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Players use water to wet their fingers before touching the glass rods for turning the finger rubs and drags into enchanting echoes that sound as if they’re from another world. The cristal baschet can range up to six octaves and have 56 chromatically tuned glass rods.

Players wet their fingers before playing the instrument so they can create vibrations

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The vibrations are then amplified by the cones and the plate, creating the uniquely atmospheric sound

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Listen to cristal baschet’s magical sound right here

Musician Thomas Bloch explains that, “The vibration of the glass is passed on to the heavy block of metal by a metal stem whose variable length determines the frequency. Amplification is obtained by fiberglass cones fixed on wood and by a tall cut-out metal part, in the shape of a flame. ‘Whiskers’ (mustaches), placed under the instrument, to the right, increase the sound power of high-pitched sounds in vibrating by sympathy.”

Models of the crystal organs can range from 3.5 to as much as 6 octaves

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This unique instrument is loved by soundtrack composers and can be often heard in movies as well known as “Interstellar”. Gorillaz, Radiohead, Tom Waits are known to have used this instrument in their musical compositions as well.