What AREN'T we doing?!
Everything old is new again as we explore an ancient Indian to-do list and bring it into 21st century all with the goal of improving our lives through creativity.
We’ll get back to the water glasses this week but I’m still running on fumes from being away from the computer for 4 days! (Hence all that tweeting on the way home.)
Travel was less than fun–2 car trips, 3 airports and 2 plane rides each there and back–but we managed. The funeral was brief (we missed the viewing on Friday night, there was just no way to make it) and the visiting was plentiful throughout the weekend. Todd’s dad’s house was built (and decorated) in the 70s and let me tell you–it’s the house that time forgot! It’s perfectly preserved retro down to the wall-to-wall shag carpeting. Of course there are pictures (over 400 from the 2 days we were in Lincoln) but I’ve yet to weed through them.
In case you’re wondering what a Runza is, it’s a ground beef and cabbage hand-held pie that (when not sold by a regional chain of restaurants by the same name) also goes by the name Bierock. It’s a local staple and one of the things Todd was looking forward to having when back in town. After making them ourselves, it was nice to compare them to the original but… yeah, I liked ours better, too. We also went to Valentino’s (another local staple) and, of course, had some Omaha Steaks. The new monkey came from the Lincoln Children’s Zoo–a spur of the moment addition to our itinerary–and is already making himself at home with the other Georges.
The posting schedule around here might be a little skewed for the rest of the week but I expect to have more on the water glasses before the end of the week.
It’s been kinda fun having a bunch of my glasses pulled out where I can make them make sound at a moment’s notice. I haven’t broken out the tuner, yet, but the sounds aren’t horrible–though they are more akin to misty mood music and not any sort of recognizable tune.
A few things I’ve learned so far:
The thicker the wall of the bowl, the harder it is to get sound. The case of 12 wine glasses I thought would be great is just too thick to work for this, but my pinot noir glasses work great!
The heavier the stem and base of the glass, the better it stays put. My champagne glasses make a great, high-pitched sound but they are prone to topple over unless I hold or weight the base.
Much as I’d love them too, martini glasses have not worked–I think it has something to do with the shape of the glass (angle and not a bowl).
Even though my reading instructed me to use my entire finger tip for the best sound, I had better luck concentrating pressure on the base of my first knuckle. Todd, on the other hand, hand no problem just by using the tip of his finger, so experiment to see where the strongest, most even pressure can be applied.
Dipping your fingers into the playing glasses can be awkward mid-note–have a small bowl or ramekin off to side so you can re-moisten your fingertips as needed. Playing with 2 hands? One on each side wouldn’t be a bad idea.
Now some inspiration:
I love his set-up! Looks like there are small anchors at the base of each glass and some are elevated to keep them all at the same level.
His are tied down–very smart.
Now, this is another variation of the glass harp–instead of filling each glass a certain amount to achieve pitch, the edges of the glasses are ground down to a permanent pitch. Playing them with a violin bow is a pretty novel concept, though.
~~~~oOo~~~~
My plan was to do the final installment of this art this weekend but we’ve run into a bit of a scheduling issue–Todd’s uncle passed away and we’ll be travelling this weekend for the funeral. My attempts at playing a recognizable tune on the water glasses will have to wait until next week.
Musical instrument made of bowls filled with water
I’m sure I’m not the only one who thinks of this scene from Miss Congeniality at the words “water glasses”
Hoo Boy! What have I gotten myself into with this one?
Water what?
Also known as the Glass Harp, and related to the Water Harp and the Glass Harmonica, playing the water glasses seems to have been a fad in the 1700s with scatterings of performers since then. Benjamin Franklin invented the Armonica (a series of bowls on a steel rod that spins through a trough of water) that works on a similar principle but we’ll stick to the wine glasses version.
Basic Supplies
Wine glasses of various capacities and styles. The easiest way to change a pitch is to add or remove water and it’s similar to the body of a guitar in that the larger the glass the lower the pitch seems to be.
Water. Though it would probably work with other liquids of the same type (wine? maybe milk? maybe not, maybe too dense?) water is the easiest.
Fingers. No way around this one although I’m betting someone out there has tried to play them with their toes…
Chromatic Tuner. This is, I suppose, optional but if you’re goal is to play an actual tune, you’ll want to know your notes are correct. I happen to have one to tune my lap harp that was about $15.
First Attempts
It seemed simple enough: you see folks doing it idly at dinner in the movies, right? Something tells me the foley guys and gals have it down, the rest of us? Not so much.
Early attempts this evening yielding little more than a sound akin to feedback. Not exactly the haunting sound I’d been hoping for.
Then I figured out that sitting the glass on my tile countertop might not be the best surface and whaddya know? When the tile wasn’t adding to the vibrations there was the faintest sound! It took a little bit of effort but I finally got a nice, solid sound from a half-full champagne flute!
For my final trick of the evening I pulled out one of the pinot noir glasses I’d tried on earlier and it suddenly worked, too… go figure!
I haven’t the foggiest if it’s just a matter of warming them up or what, but it’s suddently working and I couldn’t be happier. I still have to work on some squeakiness issues I’m having but I’ll looking forward to getting a set of glasses tuned tomorrow night!
Have you ever tried this? I’m open to any tips you’ve got!
...is a comicartist looking to branch out into illustrations
...is a writer
...is a bookkeeper
...was a Pastry Chef
...is writing a cookbook
...has been divorced twice and couldn't be happier about it
...was born in Louisiana but now lives in Florida
...is in a committed relationship with a wonderful man
...is conservative but has an open mind
...is a refugee from organized religion
...is a great hostess
...is a creative person
...has a home studio called "The Abyss"
...is always looking for another creative outlet
...is a knitter
...loves music
...owns close to 100 pairs of shoes
...is the girl next door
. This is, I suppose, optional but if you’re goal is to play an actual tune, you’ll want to know your notes are correct. I happen to have one to tune my lap harp that was about $15.