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The Instruments
Acoustic music is the most difficult music. Building musical
instruments from the ground up is an expression of freedom and,
therefore, an expression of imagination. Nothing about this art
is hewn in stone. The creative builder examines all aspects of
musical instrument construction, and on a case-by-case basis
decides which traditions to keep, and which to throw out.
I build because the tunings and timbres I want to hear
do not exist on store shelves. Robinson Crusoe built because he
had no choice. And yet, his creations also had no critics, and
so his imagination became his life. Often when I hike through
forests or climb mountains, I am reminded that only man knows
what time it is. When I enter Crusoe’s world, or when in
building an instrument time ceases to exist, I live with the
knowledge that success is only a function of thought, work, and
patience.
The desire for perfection is the juggernaut of
creativity. All my instruments are flawed. A bar
may not ring as long as another bar; a canon bridge may be too
high or too low; or a tone hole may be too wide or too narrow.
I know where all the flaws are, and could find many more.
But what is the point? The only thing that matters is to build
and to make a music that is sustainable in time. I was
born a musician, and have built musical instruments since 1975.
In the words of Walt Whitman (1819–1892), “I . . . begin,
hoping to cease not till death.”
I also hope that these instruments will inspire others to think
critically about acoustic music, and perhaps to build an
original instrument or two. One of the happiest moments of my
life is to finish a project, step back, and declare in a state
of complete surprise, “I’d like to meet the person who built
this instrument.”
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The Instruments are not
for sale, and I do not accept commissions to build instruments.
-Cris Forster
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Cris Forster with Chrysalis (1981) |
Photo by Norman Seeff |
We
are pleased to announce the release of our
30th anniversary documentary:
A VOYAGE IN MUSIC.
A film by Eli Noyes and Heidi Forster.
This film is a retrospective of Cris
Forster’s work over the past thirty years. It presents an
overview of the creative life of this prolific musical
instrument builder, writer, composer, and performer, and
features insightful interviews with Mr. Forster and Chrysalis
Ensemble musicians. The documentary also includes detailed
chapters on all seven unique instruments with performance
excerpts, descriptions of all the music he has composed to
date, and a discussion of his book, Musical Mathematics. The film is a lively mix of history, theory,
philosophy, and thoughtful commentary on the field of acoustic
music.
The Chrysalis Foundation
is proud to support the work of this modern musical master. We
will use A Voyage in Music as an educational tool and
for audience development. This documentary substantiates the
importance of raising funds to support the self-publication of
Musical Mathematics and the production of Ellis
Island/Angel Island: A Vision of the American Immigrants,
Mr. Forster’s current work-in-progress.
A Voyage in Music
runs one hour. In addition, it includes another hour with full
performances of eight pieces and a slideshow.




A Voyage in Music,
a film by Eli Noyes and Heidi Forster.
DVD:
$10.00.
Shipping and handling (in the U.S.): $5.00.
Please send your order and check to:
The
Chrysalis Foundation
1459 18th Street, PMB #137
San Francisco, California 94107
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Dear Reader,
Since July 2002, more than 250,000 visitors have logged on to
www.chrysalis-foundation.org. Your interest has encouraged us to plan a
self-publication of Cris Forster's manuscript Musical Mathematics: A
Practice in the Mathematics of Tuning Instruments and Analyzing Scales.
To accomplish this task, we will be applying to organizations and individuals
for grants. Our goal is to publish a complete and unabridged first edition of 500 copies, with a retail
cost of $90.00 per book. If you would like more information on
Mr. Forster's 1300-page manuscript, please visit
our
Musical
Mathematics page,
which shows the Table of Contents of this work.
If you would like to see Musical Mathematics in print,
please write to us so that we may include your emails and letters in our grant
applications. Kindly let us know whether you are a musician,
student, teacher, professor, instrument builder, etc., and indicate any
institutional affiliations you may have. Your name and email address
will only appear in confidential grant applications. We will honor
anyone's wish to remain anonymous.
Please send your email to:
info@chrysalis-foundation.org
or send your letter to:
The Chrysalis Foundation
1459 18th Street, PMB #137
San Francisco, CA 94107
Thank you for your interest and support of the Chrysalis
Foundation book publication project.
The Board of Directors
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