From Mud to Music

Explore the rich culture of ceramic musical instruments and the wide variety of instruments being made today. Barry Hall discusses the history of clay instruments; clay instrument types, including percussive, wind, string and hybrids; technology issues dealing with clay as a medium for instruments; and five step-by-step projects for making selected instruments. In addition to examples throughout, Hall includes a gallery of profiles of contemporary artists and their work.

With a history reaching back to ancient times, creating ceramic musical instruments is a vibrant pursuit for many innovative artists today. From Mud to Music explores the vast array of ceramic musical instruments, from their historical traditions in world cultures to modern variations and innovations.

All instrument families are represented: percussion, winds, strings, and even unique hybrids. For each type of instrument, special construction techniques specific to clay are explained. In addition, there’s a chapter providing detailed, step-by-step instructions showing how to build several ceramic instruments. A companion audio CD contains 43 diverse tracks of ceramic instrumental music ranging from the refined melodic strains of Vivaldi and Tchaikovsky to the earthy, primal wailings of bizarre pre-Columbian wind instruments.

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