Cristal baschet

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The Cristal Baschet is a musical instrument made from tuned glass rods.

The principle of a glass bow and a metal rod fixed to a heavy metal block, which could be seen in laboratories during the 18th century but had never been used before to make a musical instrument, was revived in 1952 by the French instrument makers Bernard and Francois Baschet, who also invented the inflatable guitar and an educational instrumentarium.

The Cristal Baschet (not Cristal Bachet, but sometimes called Crystal Organ and, in English, Crystal Baschet) is composed of 54 chromatically tuned glass rods, which are rubbed with wet fingers. Its sound is close to that of the glass harmonica. But in the Cristal Baschet, the vibration of the glass is passed on to the heavy block of metal by a metal stem whose variable length determines the frequency (the note). Amplification is obtained by fiberglass cones fixed on wood and by a tall cut out metal part, in the shape of a flame. "Whiskers," placed under the instrument, to the right, increase the sound power of high-pitched sounds.

Born at the same time as musique concrète (Pierre Schaeffer, Pierre Henry), electro-acoustic music and early synthesizers (Moog), the Cristal Baschet is their close relative, but completely acoustic, without any electric amplifying-device. The Baschet brothers' aim was to get closer to the new tones born in the early 1950s.

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The Cristal Baschet has been used in several fields: ballet music, songs, film music ("The March of Penguins" played by Thomas Bloch who also plays the glass harmonica and Ondes Martenot), theater-music, jazz, rock (Tom Waits, played by Thomas Bloch), electronic music (Jean Michel Jarre), improvisation, tales, contemporary music.

Other composers who have used the instrument include Francois Bayle, Thomas Bloch, Michel Deneuve, Luc Ferrari, Guy Reibel, Etienne Rolin, Toru Takemitsu, and Michel Redolfi.