Before Music , livre ebook
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English
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2022
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92
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English
Ebooks
2022
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Publié par
Date de parution
21 juin 2022
EAN13
9781647006969
Langue
English
Poids de l'ouvrage
6 Mo
Publié par
Date de parution
21 juin 2022
EAN13
9781647006969
Langue
English
Poids de l'ouvrage
6 Mo
Music doesn t come out of nothing.
It always starts somewhere . . .
with something . . .
with someone.
by
ANNETTE BAY
PIMENTEL
illustrated by
MADISON
SAFER
ABRAMS BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS
NEW YORK
WHERE INSTRUMENTS
COME FROM
BEFORE MUSIC , water drip . . . drip . . . drips.
and strikes their edges
tink tink tink
listening as he shapes
the stone.
He is making . . .
It washes away soil and eventually fractures the rock underneath.
Someone selects a few of the stones . . .
. . . A ROCK GONG.
In Vietnam, archaeologists have dug up carefully shaped and tuned stones. The stones are ancient-up
to 10,000 years old. Musicians laid them in sequence on a wooden frame. When struck, the stones made
lovely, ringing tones.
HOW DO ROCKS MAKE MUSIC?
Striking a rock starts vibrations in the tiny molecules that form the
rock. In turn, those vibrations start molecules in the air vibrating.
We hear those vibrations as sound. But what sound do you get?
A clear bell-like tone? Or just a thud ? The answer depends on what
type of rock you ve chosen.
Sandstone, for example, is riddled with tiny
holes. If you strike sandstone, the vibration
doesn t move easily through the rock. It falls
dead when it reaches the holes, and you
hear a flat thud .
Slate, on the other hand, is made of clay that
has been compressed and then heated by red-
hot magma inside the earth. It is a dense stone
with molecules packed close together. If you strike
slate, the vibrations travel freely from molecule to
molecule, and you hear a clear ringing sound.
You can rock out to the music of rocks . . . if you
choose your rock carefully.
MUSICAL INNOVATORS
In the Lake District of England, it s easy to find hornfels slate, a rock
that rings when it is struck. Around 1827, a local man named Joseph
Richardson began gathering pieces of slate. But he was more than just a
rock collector. He wanted to make music. With rocks!
He spent thirteen years choosing, chipping, and tuning stones. The longest
stone he shaped was about three feet long, and the shortest was about six
inches. He built a strong wooden frame to hold the rocks and nestled
each rock on twisted straw. In 1840, he debuted his invention, a giant
xylophone-like instrument that he called a rock harmonicon.
Richardson and his three sons played music on the rocks by striking
them with large mallets. Their repertoire included dances like waltzes
and polkas, and classical pieces by Beethoven and Mozart. Richardson
and his sons toured with their instrument, giving concerts throughout
England. Even Queen Victoria invited them to perform for her.
A few others built similar rock instruments around the same time. The
Till family toured in America with their musical rocks, and Franz Weber
built his Lithokymbalon from slabs of alabaster. But rock harmonicons
are heavy and difficult to transport, so they never made the leap into
symphony orchestras. Today they reside in museums.
You may not hear rocks being played on the radio, but you too can
experiment with making music from rocks in your own backyard.
ROCK INSTRUMENTS THAT ARE STRUCK
Boulders and slabs in Africa-sometimes
found near ancient cave paintings. Music
from these singing rocks might have
accompanied people while they were
creating or viewing art.
Ili ili from Hawai i-pieces of naturally
shaped p hoehoe lava that fit neatly
into hands. The musician strikes them
together to accompany hula dancing.
Qing from China-stone, often jade,
carved into an L shape and then
suspended and struck with a wooden
or padded mallet. Some ancient qing
were made in tuned sets that allowed a
musician to play a scale.
Pyeonjong from Korea-L-shaped stone
chimes made from a white-and-green
chime stone that is quarried only in
central Korea. The chimes come in sets
of sixteen and are hung in two rows of
eight. The musician strikes them with an
animal horn.
