A waterphone, also called an ocean harp, is a type of musical instrument made from a stainless steel bowl or pan with a long neck. Around the edge of the bowl, there are bronze rods of different lengths and sizes. A small amount of water is often placed inside the bowl, which helps create the instrument's unique sound. This sound is often described as mysterious or magical and has been used in movies, music recordings, and live performances. The waterphone was created, designed, and made by an American named Richard Waters (1935–2013).
The waterphone comes in four sizes: Standard (7 inches in diameter), Whaler (12 inches), Bass (14 inches), and MegaBass (16 inches). It is usually played while sitting by a single performer, who either bows it or hits it with a mallet. The performer moves the water inside the bowl to change the sound. This combines the way the bowl and rods vibrate with the movement of the water. The waterphone’s sound is often used to create feelings of mystery or suspense. A mallet made of a superball material is most commonly used to strike the instrument.
The waterphone was inspired by a Tibetan drum that had a small amount of water inside, which affected its tone. It is also similar to the nail violin, which uses a resonator and rods (nails) that are struck or bowed to make sound.
Use
The waterphone has been shown in museums and art galleries and has appeared in several short documentaries, such as "Art Notes," which was broadcast on public television in San Francisco, and "Celestial Wave," a movie short. In recent decades, the waterphone has become widely used by symphonies, touring bands, and recording studios. Contemporary classical composers who have written music for the waterphone include Sofia Gubaidulina, Jerry Goldsmith, John Mackey, Dan Forrest, Christopher Rouse, Colin Matthews, John Woolrich, Carson Cooman, Andi Spicer, Ludovico Einaudi, Andrew Carter, Jörg Widmann, Bernie Krause of Beaver & Krause, and Todd Barton.
The instrument has also been used by rock musicians. Tom Waits and Mickey Hart are known to collect and play the waterphone. Other users include Richard Barone (both as a solo artist and with The Bongos) and Alex Wong (while performing with Vienna Teng). The waterphone can also be heard in music by The Harmonica Pocket. Classical/rock crossover percussionist Tristan Fry, a member of the fusion band Sky, used the waterphone in the band's composition "Meeheeco" (the original version appears on 1981's Sky 3, while the live version from Sky Five Live features the instrument more prominently).
Canadian musician and composer Robert Minden has written music for his collection of five vintage waterphones on many recordings since the mid-1980s. His ensemble, The Robert Minden Ensemble, formed in 1986 with his daughters Andrea and Dewi Minden and colleagues Carla Hallett and Nancy Walker, includes the waterphone as a central instrument in their "found object" orchestra.
The waterphone is used effectively in Howard Goodall's The Dreaming, a musical commissioned by The National Youth Music Theatre of Great Britain, based on Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Goodall uses the instrument's ethereal sounds to create a sense of mystery in the forest scenes. In Derek Bourgeois's Symphony No. 59 – Percussion Symphony, which requires 16 percussion players, the waterphone has a prominent role.
The waterphone has appeared in the soundtracks of many movies, including Poltergeist, Let the Right One In (2008), The Matrix, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Dark Water, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, ALIENS, The Spirit, Female Perversion, and the TV production 24. Tan Dun's opera The First Emperor (2006) and "Water Music" also feature the waterphone. A sound sample of the instrument is available at The FreeSound Project. A yearly "Waterphone Music Competition" is organized by Richard Waters. The waterphone has also been used frequently as a sound effect in shows such as Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares and Hell's Kitchen (in the U.S. versions only). It was also used in Bravo (UK) idents between 1997 and 1998.
Because the waterphone can be submerged in water, it has been successfully used to call whales and other cetaceans on several occasions, notably by Jim Nollman of Interspecies Communication. The true story of this interspecies communication inspired the stage show and album The Boy Who Wanted To Talk To Whales by The Robert Minden Ensemble in 1989.
The waterphone was also used in a live performance of "Violently Happy" by Icelandic singer Björk on an episode of MTV Unplugged in 1994, which is included on the DVD MTV Unplugged/Live and the album Debut Live.
Jean-Michel Jarre has used the Hyperstellar Waterphone on his album Oxymore (2022).
Waterphone development and innovation
The Hyperstellar Sailophone, created by Sławek Janus in 2018, is a special type of waterphone. Unlike the traditional waterphones made by Richard Waters, the Sailophone uses bent rods that are longer, which creates a deeper sound. The longest rod on the Sailophone measures about 70 cm when fully stretched, which is longer than the classic Hyperstellar model, where the longest rod is about 40 cm.
The curved shape of the rods affects the sound. Janus bends the rods carefully to control the second note produced by the instrument.
The Sailophone has fewer rods, and they are spaced farther apart. This design, along with the rods being angled, causes small changes in the lower sounds of the instrument.
The Evelyn Glennie Hyperstellar Waterphone is the first waterphone with two separate sound chambers. These chambers are connected by a pipe, and one chamber has an extra open pipe. Each chamber has its own set of rods. This instrument produces very deep bass sounds and has a very long-lasting echo. It was designed by Sławek Janus and Evelyn Glennie, who came up with the idea and provided early drawings.