The alabaster is a type of mineral with particularly interesting musical features. A very precious property is that it has a not very hard consistency. With a saw, it can be easily cut and given any shape. If smoothed, an exact tuning can be achieved. This allows a litophone instrument to be constructed with precise microtonal tuning.
Another property is its resonance. The resonance tail can be up to 5” on fine plates. The exceptionality lies in the fact that it is usually difficult to achieve good resonance in a litophone; the appropriately cut alabaster is resonant and this makes it musically beautiful. With bowl morphology, the resonance lengthens much longer, with resonance tails up to 20”, and with the added possibility of varying tuning by filling the recipient with water.
The alabaster possesses an atypical beauty that evokes the fragile sonority of the crystal, with a sound spectrum midway between the resonant stone and the quartz bell. With the appropriate stick, the timbre is very particular, with an early fragrance due to its litophone condition, but with great refinement because of its precise control of tuning.
