Garry Greenwood's Leather Alchemy
Suspended Harmonic
This is fundamentally a bowl-within-a-bowl which is suspended by a guitar string attached to a peg which can be tuned to a note in the bass register. The note has a range of approximately a fifth, around the bottom E of a double bass. The peg is housed in an overarching frame made of leather-encased aluminium. The frame is attached on both sides to a base constructed of cowhide and particleboard covered with a layer of merino skin, the latter a surprisingly decorative medium displaying intricately swirling patterns.
The Suspended Harmonic can be bowed (a violin bow seems to produce the greatest range of sound), plucked or strummed. By depressing the arch of the frame the pitch falls; conversely, when the arch is lifted the pitch rises. The pitch bend, in conjunction with the way in which the instrument is played, gives the player a huge range of percussive, bowed and plucked sounds.
The Suspended Harmonic’s bow was made especially for the instrument by Melbourne luthier Ian Watchorn.
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