Lithophone
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A lithophone is a musical instrument consisting of a plurality of rocks or pieces of rock, in which musical notes are sounded by striking one or more of the rocks in combination (harmony) or succession (melody).
A rudimentary form of lithophone is the rock gong, usually a natural rock formation opportunistically adapted by indigenous peoples to produce tones for a variety of purposes. Examples include the rock gong on Mfangano Island, Kenya, in Lake Victoria.
Lithophones dating back to ancient times have been discovered in Vietnam and have been revived in the 20th century. The ritual music of Korea features the use of stone chimes called pyeongyeong, derived from the Chinese bianqing.
One of the most widely-known examples of a lithophone is The Great Stalacpipe Organ of Luray Caverns, which uses 37 stalactites to produce the tones of the Western scale.
The Musical Stones of Skiddaw from Cumbria, England, and the Ringing Rocks of Pennsylvania are other well known lithophones.
The German composer Carl Orff calls for a lithophone called Steinspiel in his later works. The British composer Will Menter invented the llechiphone, a marimba with keys made of slate, while working in North Wales.[1] Other slate lithophones, called stonaphones, are made in the U.S. state of Maine by Jim Doble out of recycled slate roofing.[2]
[edit] Other similar musical instruments
The lithophone is similar to the glockenspiel, tubular glockenspiel, metallophone, xylophone, marimba, and to the glass percussion instruments created by Barry Prophet of The Music Gallery, not to be confused with the verrophone (a musical instrument that makes sound by rubbing, not by hitting, glass).
 |
This article relating to musical instruments is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
