This is really cool..unpractical but very cool

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I'd say it's more practical than, say, a pipe organ. Although easier to break.
 
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I'd say it's more practical than, say, a pipe organ. Although easier to break.

Pipe organs are extremely practical and existed in Greece and Byzantium BC.

A tracker organ could not be simpler. You need air under pressure, a wind chest, pipes on top of it, which are in essence whistles, and sliders with holes in x/y graph format. The sliders have holes. The keys are on the x axis, and the stops on the y. When an x and y hole line up a pipe sounds. It could not be simpler and it is very practical. That is all there is to it. The rest is craftsmanship.
 
A very unpractical instrument and Mozart still wrote a piece for it.


A development of this instrument is the glass harp. This consists of whine and brandy glasses on stems, attached to a sound board. The instrument is tuned by putting the correct amount of water in each glass. Wet fingers are rubbed round the rim, and percussive sounds can be made by striking a rim, with a finger nail.

This instrument is much more versatile then the glass armonica. It has always had a number of virtuosos around. I once attended a concert given by one years ago when I lived in the UK.

800px-Glass_harp_in_Rome.arp.jpg


Below is a video of a exponent of the instrument playing Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor. This was of course written for organ.

 
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Pipe organs are extremely practical and existed in Greece and Byzantium BC.

A tracker organ could not be simpler. You need air under pressure, a wind chest, pipes on top of it, which are in essence whistles, and sliders with holes in x/y graph format. The sliders have holes. The keys are on the x axis, and the stops on the y. When an x and y hole line up a pipe sounds. It could not be simpler and it is very practical. That is all there is to it. The rest is craftsmanship.

I think Zhimbo meant from a portability perspective because this glass armonica is shown to be portable...but just.

I do agree that pipe organs are a practical instrument from a fixed location POV and have stood the test of time.
 
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