From the Euphon to the Titanium Euphone, via the Lasry Baschet glass organ and the Baschet crystal
Summary
The EUPHON is a friction instrument, an evolution of the Armonica by B. Franklin (1706-1790) invented by Pr. Ernst Florenz Friedrich Chladni (1756-1827) in 1789. It is magnified from 1955 onwards by François Baschet (1920-2014) and Bernard Baschet (1917-2015), alongside Jacques (1918-2014) and Yvonne Lasry (1921), in the form of the Lasry-Baschet glass organ (1955). Frederic Bousquet was trained in sound sculpture by the latter, designer of the latest generation of Baschet crystals from 1999 to 2012 and custodian of their know-how.
For more information, please refer to the HISTORIOGRAPHY OF THE EUPHONE, intended for musicians, composers and sound designers, teachers but still turned towards a NEW GENERATION OF EUPHONE BUILDERS !
- BOUSQUET, F., An approach to the instrument making of the Titanium Euphone through the study of the Lasry Baschet glass organ and the Cristal Baschet, extended to that of the Euphon by E. F. F. Chladni. Thesis, Frédéric Bousquet, University of Paris 8, 2018
The Euphon is an original musical instrument invented by Pr. E. F. F. Chladni (1756-1827) in 1789 and completed in 1790; which he considered to be an evolution of the Armonica by Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790). Its acoustic functioning (CHLADNI, E. F. F., Beiträge zur Akustik. Breitkopf und Hàrtel, Leipzig, 1821 fig. 39), which has been exhibited since 1801 in a dictionary of musical instruments, is based on the setting into vibration by glass bows (b) of cylindrical metal rods (a), embedded in a metal soundboard. The coupling system is initially provided by a sound box, but also by acoustic horns or tubes. Various effects and systems (reverberation plate, filament or spring reverberation) can be added to the instrument. As a friction instrument, the existence of anteriorities can be traced back to the family of verrophones and nail violins made during the High Middle Ages, as well as to the traditional instrument making of the Mbira.
Euphone m. (From the Greek Bon; sound). 1819. 1823. 1839 A friction musical instrument of the harmonica genre invented by Doctor Chladni in Wittemberg in 1790. It consisted of a square case about three feet long and eight inches high, containing 42 small glass cylinders whose friction, and therefore vibration, took place on an inner mechanism (...).
Excerpt from the Dictionary of Musical Instruments. Study of lexicology by Rowland Wright, 1941
Since the publication of Prof. Chladni's scientific research, thanks to a research grant awarded to him by Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821), the continuity of scientific research has contributed to the invention of metallic harps in the 19th century, under the impetus of Calhoun Deagan (1853-1954), in connection with the work of Albert Marloye (1785-1874), and then the research of Prof. Chladni. Henri Bouasse (1866-1953) consolidated the development of the instrumental family of vergeophones, notably with the invention of the Waterphone by Richard A. Waters (1935-2013). Various evolutions of the Euphone (French translation) - including Pr. Chladni complains that no reference is made to his invention (1) - such as the Clavicylindre or the Terpodion, by Ludwig Buschmann (1805-1864) and Johann Christian Dietz (1773-1849) of copies such as the Lasry-Baschet glass organ, by François (1920-2014) and Bernard Baschet (1917-2015) in collaboration with Jacques (1918-2014) and Yvonne Lasry (1921), and magnifications, the Cristal Baschet, accompany his writings, adding contemporary technologies to the instrument's construction.
The academic rediscovery of the Euphon in 2010 offers considerable prospects for the establishment of the historiography of this instrument. The knowledge of the organotope of this instrument comes from organological data belonging to the field of instrument making extended to musical creation (repertoire, performers) and transmission (know-how, instrumental technique), distinguished according to production and prospective (transmission). It characterises the different phases of its development. The potential qualitative and quantitative adjustment of the organological factors that it brings together determine its degree of precision. Its knowledge, gathered by Frédéric Bousquet in his doctoral thesis entitled "Une approche de la facture instrumentale du Titanium Euphone à travers l'étude de l'orgue de verre Lasry Baschet et du Cristal Baschet, étendue à celle de l'Euphon de E. F. F. Chladni", supported at the University of Paris 8 in 2018, considerably enriches the design and contemporary making of the Euphone, towards the consolidation of a dedicated repertoire.