Play the sound of the Dales. Create your own ‘rock’ music!
On Wednesday 17 October a Limestone Lithophone was unveiled in the northbound waiting room at Horton-in-Ribblesdale on the Settle Carlisle Line. The public had its first opportunity to play this instrument made of rock from Horton Quarry. People tried their hands at playing the Lithophone and were surprised by the beautiful sounds – not at all what they expected. The Lithophone will be permanently available for passengers using the waiting room who want to have a try at creating their own ‘rock’ music.
The instrument is like a Xylophone with tuned bars that are tapped with a beater to make a sound. Instead of wood this instrument is made of 17 bars of white carboniferous limestone from Horton Quarry. The pitch of the rock bars is determined by the thickness and length of the bars; the thinner the bar the lower the pitch and the shorter the bar the higher the pitch.
The frame is made from ash; chosen because ash is one of the native species of trees in the Ingleborough Dales.
The white carboniferous limestone rocks were donated by Hanson UK, who quarry aggregate from Horton Quarry. The pieces of quarried rock were sliced into bars and tuned at Ingleton and the frame was made in Settle. Northern Rail offered their waiting room on the north bound, down platform to house the instrument.
The public, whether catching a train, or passing through the station to and from Pen-y-Ghent and Whernside, is invited to play the instrument with the beaters provided. There is no need to be able to play a musical instrument or worry about what the notes are called. Just tap the bars gently, doodle, make patterns of sounds, have a musical conversation with a friend.
Quarry Arts , the organisation that designed and created the lithophone, is planning to use some of these musical explorations by the public to create a piece of music. Anyone interested in contributing to this musical composition should video a short piece on their smartphone, up to one minute in length, and email it to [email protected].
This Limestone Lithophone was made during Musical Rocks, a project designed to encourage the public to appreciate the sonic properties of the geology of the Ingleborough Dales by exploring the sounds made by different rocks: limestone, gritstone and greywacke.
Four schools were involved in the project. The children visited either Ingleton, Dry Rigg or Horton Quarry, were taken round by staff and explored the musical properties of the rocks back in the classroom. Three of the schools now have their own musical picnic bench made from these different rocks which they have in their playgrounds.
Don Gamble from the YDMT is the Stories in Stone Scheme Manager he said “This unusual project by Quarry Arts is one of many community projects in the Stories in Stone scheme.” Musical Rocks is part of Stories in Stone, a programme of conservation and community projects developed by the Ingleborough Dales Landscape Partnership, led by the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust and supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Playing the Limestone Lithophone -
Easy and fun!
Photo: Matt Gartside
