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Chrysalis
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Photo by Will Gullette |
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1.
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A child said
What is the grass?
Poem by Walt Whitman
Music by Cris Forster |
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Cris Forster, Chrysalis
and voice |
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2.
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There is that in me
Poem by Walt Whitman
Music by Cris Forster |
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Cris Forster, Chrysalis
and voice |
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Cris Forster (1980) |
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Built: |
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1975–1976, San Francisco, California. |
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Dimensions: |
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Total number of strings: 164. |
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Longest string:
20.0 in. |
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Shortest string:
8.0 in. |
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Wheel diameter:
36 ¾ in. |
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Wheel width: 5.0 in. |
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Height from floor to top of wheel: 57 ½ in. |
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Stand length:
61.0 in. |
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Stand width: 10 ½ in. |
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Materials: |
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Sitka spruce, oak, ash, maple, birch, |
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ebony, aluminum, brass, and steel. |
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Range: |
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Left Side:
F# above middle C to B above high C. |
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Right Side: B below middle C to F# above high C. |
The Chrysalis, my first concert-sized instrument, was inspired by a huge, round,
stone-hewn Aztec calendar. I asked
myself, “What if there were a musical instrument in the shape of a wheel? And what if this wheel had strings for
spokes, could spin, and when played, would sound like the wind?”
The Chrysalis has two sides, or two circular soundboards, and 82 strings on
each side. The wheel, which sits on the crest of a wave-like stand, may be freely spun in either
direction.
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