Crystal trombone. Photo by Pep Herrero. Barcelona Music Museum.
The crystal trombone, is contemporaneous with a specific kind of music, electroacoustic music and the first Moog synthesisers, but is entirely acoustic. Created in 1952 by François Baschet, this particular instrument can produce fifteen notes, tuned to two complete diatonic scales. The player rubs the glass rods, which transmit the vibration to threaded steel rods while the metal sheet acts as a resonator to amplify the sound. If the glass rods are rubbed sufficiently vigorously, the sound becomes fuller and deeper, like that of a trombone. The instrument, with a characteristic Baschet sculptural appearance, was donated to the Museu de la Música in 2011 by Baschet himself.
