Over the past fifty years and continuing today, Ron Vaughn,
& Ron Vaughn instruments and Ron’s ‘sound sculptures’ have been privileged to be part of countless musical & sound recording projects of all imaginable venues, styles and musical & sound interests by musicians, composers, and health therapists.
Today and in the future, we look forward to sharing some of these ‘less travelled’ paths among Ron’s more esoteric and uncommon instruments that have allowed for the creation of some of these most different and unique sounds.
Today, it’s the bowl/sphere: Ron created a series of these bowl/spheres, first in the 1970’s. Sizes range from quite small,
(3″ diameter), to quite large, (36″ diameter).
With a nod to Richard Waters, these are much simpler than Richard’s truly remarkable ‘Waterphone’ creations.
(If you have not seen or experienced Richard’s Waterphones, check’em out!)
And, like Richard’s experiences in Tibet with some of their local drums, Ron’s bowl/spheres also benefit well from adding a little water inside sometimes, depending on what kind of sounds you’re wanting to create.
For playing, Ron’s preference is a pair of brushes. The instrument, which Ron simply refers to as ‘the bowl’, or ‘the sphere’, can also be bowed across it’s welded-edge ‘equator’ with a good cello bow and some rosin.
The combination of string bowing while rolling the bowl/sphere slightly with a little water inside can be really remarkable in sound production.
Sounds from unique, almost ‘tabla-like’ textures and crystal clear rhythms , to soaring whale song mimics can be produced.
If you have journeyman tabla chops and a ring on one of your fingers, such as a wedding band, you can create remarkable textures with great control with brilliant clarity.
When recorded by a good engineer and played by an able and skilled musician, a stunning array of unique, original rhythmic sounds and textures can be developed and recorded with this instrument.
As an innovative addition to rhythm tracks and sound tracks of all kinds, these paired bowls can quickly become a powerful and
super-useful tool for innovative rhythmic and sonic creativity.
Head to the Bowl/Sphere video . . .
