Glass harmonica, manufacturer unknown, Germany circa 1800, Inv. No. 7996

The virtual instruments can be played with the computer mouse as well as with the computer keyboard. If you are using a keyboard, please note the following:

Imagine that the keys A-S-D-F etc. of the computer keyboard correspond to the keys of a piano keyboard. You can control the dynamics with “,” (piano), “-” (forte), and “.” (mezzo-forte). While playing the keyboard, you can change octaves with the arrow key: Arrow left = low octave, arrow up = middle octave, arrow right = high octave.

The timbre spaces show the sounds of the respective glass instrument in red and the sounds of their respective relatives made of other materials in gray. Use your mouse to rotate the three-dimensional timbre space on all axes and sonically and visually explore the differences between the individual sounds.

Click here for more information on the glass harmonica.

Citation: Rebecca Wolf, ‘Glass sounds or the fascination of transparency’, in: Materiality of Musical Instruments. A Virtual Exhibition.