History

The Euphon (euphone in French) is an original musical instrument invented by Pr. E. F. F. Chladni (1756-1827) in 1789 and completed in 1790.  His description of the instrument was included in musical instrument dictionaries from 1801:

The euphone, invented in 1789 and completed in 1790, consists externally of small glass cylinders rubbed longitudinally with fingers moistened with water. These cylinders, the thickness of a typewriter pen, are all equal in length, and the difference in sound is produced by the inner mechanism. Prof. Chladni

 

Euphone m. (From the Greek Bon; sound). 1819. 1823. 1839 Friction musical instrument of the harmonica type invented by Dr. 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 hence vibration, was produced by an internal mechanism (...).
Extract from the dictionary of musical instruments. Study in lexicology by Rowland Wright, 1941

The Euphone is a friction instrument, an evolution of B. Franklin's Armonica (1706-1790) according to its inventor.

Its predecessors can be traced back to the verrophone family, to the nail violins made in the High Middle Ages, and to the traditional instrument-making of the Mbira.
Pr. E. F. F. Chladni theorised the vibration of tuning forks. The euphone keyboard can be represented as a succession of tuning forks set in vibration by a glass bow.
In reality, its acoustic operation is based on the vibration of cylindrical metal rods, embedded in a metal soundboard, by glass bows.The coupling system is initially provided by a resonance box.

Pr. E. F. F. Chladni published his scientific research in France, thanks to a research grant awarded to him by Napoléon Bonaparte (1769-1821). He revealed how it worked in 1821 (CHLADNI, E. F. F., Beiträge zur Akustik.Breitkopf und Hàrtel, Leipzig, 1821).

De l'Euphone au Titanium Euphone, en passant par le cristal Baschet

Scientific research developed the work of E. F. F. Chladni, contributing to the evolution of metal harps.

In the 19th century, the work of Calhoun Deagan (1853-1954), Albert Marloye (1785-1874) and Professor Henri Bouasse (1866-1953) consolidated the development of the vergeophone family of instruments, culminating in the invention of the Waterphone by Richard A. Waters (1935-2013).

Based on his works, various evolutions of the Euphone were produced in Germany by Ludwig Buschmann (1805-1864) and Johann Christian Dietz (1773-1849). In Europe, the Euphone was produced by around ten instrument makers, who systematically renamed it the Chalypsonance, Uranion, Glass Harp or Bohemian Organ. Various acoustic horns and effects systems were added to the instrument.

In France, from 1955 onwards, it was regenerated and magnified by the sound sculptors François Baschet (1920-2014) and Bernard Baschet (1917-2015), alongside the composer and musicians Jacques Lasry (1918-2014) and Yvonne Lasry (1921), in the form of Lasry-Baschet sound structures and sculptures. It was christened a Lasry-Baschet glass organ (1955), then a crystal organ by Jacques Lasry, a crispette by François Baschet and a crystal by Bernard Baschet. Dr Frédéric Bousquet was trained in sound sculpture by the latter. From 1997 onwards, he studied the acoustic functioning of the euphone, reproducing and extending empirical and technical experiments.

New generation

It was in 2009, during a seminar at the Laboratoire d'Acoustique Musicale de Paris (UMR 7190, CNRS/Université Paris), that Frédéric Bousquet discovered the existence of euphone. François Baschet confirmed this by giving him a copy of his research diary.  

The academic rediscovery of the Euphone, materialised in 2010 by Frédéric Bousquet writing a Master2 thesis in musicology, offers considerable prospects for establishing the historiography of the instrument.

Frédéric Bousquet has designed the organotope, a tool that brings together organological data from the fields of instrument making extended to musical creation (repertoire, performers), transmission (know-how, instrumental technique) and prospective (transmission). He summarised his research in a 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’, defended at the Université Paris 8 in 2018. (https://theses.fr/2018PA080120)

This has considerably enriched the design and contemporary manufacture of the euphone. Within TitaniumSound, as a master craftsman in instrument making and a virtuoso of the instrument, Dr Frédéric Bousquet has access to know-how that is unique in the world. He is extremely pleased that the publication of his research work will engage a new generation of instrument makers in the production of the euphone, towards the consolidation of a dedicated repertoire.

News

The euphone remains a rare instrument, but neither mythical nor legendary!

 

TitaniumSound is the leading manufacturer, with around sixty instruments designed and built in 30 years!

 

We have to consider the impact of the many sound databases regularly published without the manufacturers' agreement.

 

However, every day there is research and production involving materials, the study of the vibroacoustic behaviour of the instrument, the shapes of the acoustic horns, the transmission of sound by air or solid state in secondary sound generators, the creation of new effect systems, etc.

 

Compliance with health standards is essential.

 

For example, sound ecology requires us to stop using aluminium and a number of surface treatments (anodising, paint, etc.).

 

What's more, oxidation irreparably alters the instrument's accuracy, making sinusoidal sounds just awful to hear!

 

Find out more about us on the web: https://www.youtube.com/@titaniumsoundeuphone5169

 

Whether you're a freelance researcher or working in a laboratory, don't hesitate to contact us!