photo of Cloud-Chamber Bowls
Photo by Fred Lyon
CLOUD-CHAMBER BOWLS

BUILT: 1950-1951, near Gualala, and at Mills College, California.
SIZE: The rack is 7 feet long, 6 feet high.
MATERIALS: Redwood frame, glass carboys, rope. and funnels for suspension purposes.
TONES: From 10 to 12 tops and bottoms of 12-gallon Pyrex carboys (the bottoms are inverted). At the University of California Radiation Laboratory, at one time, centers were cut from such carboys for use in "cloud-chamber" experiments. Played on the edges with small soft mallets, also on the flat tops. The bowls give a bell-like tone, and each has at least one inharmonic overtone. When one of them breaks it is virtually impossible to find an exact duplicate.

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