INVENTION I: FILIPOBERIOPHONE

The Filipoberiophone, built in 1995, is one of the earliest instruments I built that is still extant and played on a regular basis. It is, in fact, one of the two or three tools used primarily in my own music.

This 6-string bowable cello-like instrument has a 6-string side harp and numerous resonant springs which are also amplified when bowed or plucked. It also features electroacoustic surfaces for percussive strikes. Built at a time when I was primarily in a welding studio, its structure is built entirely of hand-braised metal with an oak fingerboard and a wooden bridge. Its resonant body is made from a Filippo Berio olive oil tin from which it derives its name. 

It is amplified by a combination of well-placed piezoelectric elements and a magnetic pickup to fully capture the sound of the lower strings. Inside is a small cymbal, which acts as an additional resonator, and more springs, which add to its natural acoustic reverb sound.

The overall scale length is 33". ​

Several years after it was built, I discovered that it has much overlap in its playable design with a medieval instrument called the viola bastarda (or, in England, baryton).

Photos by Adrian Buckmaster