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Above: Barry Hall’s Hybrid Globotubular Horn   Loading automatically: a short excerpt (MP3) from “Globularity” using several different globular horns, which we included on the CD Experimental Musical Instruments, Later Years.	Barry Hall has made ceramic instruments in countless exotic forms. Many of them are hybrids, meaning that they encompass in a single instrument elements from two or more distinct instrument types. For the final issue of the Experimental Musical Instruments quarterly journal, Barry wrote an article on a topic that had long interested him, globular horns. These are wind instruments played by buzzing the lips, as with trumpet or trombone, but with air chambers that are globular in shape – that is, fat and round-ish, rather than tubular. Since globular chambers typically resonate a strong fundamental tone but very little in the way of overtones, these instruments characteristically project a full, thick, bassy sort of sound. (Notice that the instrument in the photo on this page is actually a hybrid, with globes at the each end connected by a tubular section.  In connection with his article, Barry recorded a musical piece called “Globularity” using several different globular horns, which we included on the CD Experimental Musical Instruments, Later Years. You can hear an excerpt from that piece by clicking the link on the left.
Barry’s work also appeared in the book & CD Gravikords, Whirlies & Pyrophones, with a virtuoso ensemble performance on flower pot bells on the CD, and more text and photos in the book. The Globular Horns article that appeared in Experimental Musical Instruments Volume 14 #4 remains available.  You can follow this link for more information or to purchase back issues.