 Photo by Will Gullette |
| A child said What is the grass? – 1986 Poem by Walt Whitman Music by Cris Forster Cris Forster, Chrysalis I and Voice |
| Built: | 1975–1976, San Francisco, California. | |
| Restored: | 2015, San Francisco, California. With the exception of two original soundboards, support rings, bridges, and the wave-like stand, all new components based on Chrysalis II construction. | |
| Modified: | San Francisco, California. • 2020. Remachined and screw assembled Delrin nuts and Lexan shields. • 2020. Replaced 32 commercial cherry buttons with machined aluminum buttons. • 2021. Machined 16 felt-covered Delrin brake pads. | |
| Dimensions: | Total number of strings: 164. Longest string: 19⅝ in. Shortest string: 7¾ in. Wheel diameter: 36¾ in. Wheel width: 5⅛ in. Stand length: 61.0 in. Stand height: 41¾ in. Stand width: 10½ in. Height from floor to top of wheel: 56¾ in. | |
| Materials: | Sitka spruce, Honduras rosewood, birch, maple, ash, oak, Delrin, Lexan, aluminum, brass, and stainless steel. | |
| Strings: | For Song of Myself. Left Side: music wire #6 — 0.016 in. Right Side: music wire #9 — 0.022 in. | |
| Range: | For Song of Myself. Left Side: F#4 (13/9) 377.9 cps ← C5 (4/1) 523.3 cps → B5 (15/8) 981.2 cps. Right Side: B3 (15/8) 245.3 cps ← C5 (4/1) 523.3 cps → G#5 (25/16) 817.2 cps. | |
| Tuning: | Just Intonation. Chrysalis I Tuning Table and String Tension Calculations [PDF] |
Chrysalis I, 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?”
Chrysalis I 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.
October 2013–March 2015
