On January 10th I am off to perform and record in northern California and will return on Feb. 15. I will have my laptop with me and will try to respond to waterphone and other instrument email whenever possible.
When I return I will be calling for "Waterphone Music Competition" submissions and again small prizes made by me will be awarded to the top 3 as well as exposure on the waterphone web site. This is assuming I have enough entrees of pieces featuring my Waterphones in approximately 3 minute lengths. The music can contain other instruments and sound devices as well as voice. You may submit mp3s or contact me for my mailing address if you want to send me a CD. To hear the past winners scroll down on this page click on the brightly color bar that says >Waterphone Music Competition <. Represented there are some of the very best Waterphone players and their music.
Also when I return I will restructure the price list to omit a number of items. I will cease making the RSGs and some of the bamboo percussion items. I do not plan on raising the prices on the waterphone unless stainless and bronze take a big jump higher. At this writing I am back ordered through April.
For those of you who do not know, the Waterphone has a very wide range as it can function as either a stringed or a percussion instrument and moving between these two modes is fast and easy. It is an excellent hand drum and the superball mallets in the friction mode on the bottom pan can create other worldly sounds while bowing the harmonic range on the tonal rods coupled with the tone bending and water echoes create a superb futuristic string quality. Read what others say about the waterphone in the >Quotes< section on this site.
As the Waterphone keeps teaching me things each time I make one, I now consider the tuning, rod placement and the materials at an optimum state. Having been making Waterphones now for over 40 years has allowed for an advancement in this art. I would like to be able to get into more detail about all of this but due to the infringers and knock off artists, I need to keep this kind of information private. Just know that when you order one of my Waterphones you will be receiving the Most Advanced, best sounding Waterphone on the planet from the inventor and the value will increase.
I am still hoping that someone(s) will appear and be able to take over my Waterphone business including the other instruments and this web site. The Waterphone has a great future ahead as there are ways of developing it even further to make it sound better but I have neither the resources nor the energies to develop these directions.
Hope you all have a great New Year, Richard Waters
These are the 3 current Waterphone models shown here with a pair of superball mallets. Left rear is a MegaBass (16 inches in diameter and approximately 14 inches in height), center front is a Whaler (12 inches in diameter and 14 inches in height) and right rear is the Bass (14 inches diameter and 14 inches in height). The larger the diameter, the wider the range as more tonal rods are possible and the lower the bass end. The rods marked in red are "Power Rods" which have a prime sympathetic relationship with the bottom pan. Made from stainless steel and bronze the Waterphone can be played as a stringed instrument or as a percussion instrument. They are used by symphonies, recording studios and touring bands worldwide as well as for calling whales and other cetacean. Waterphones are on many movie and tv sound tracks as well as contemporary CDs of music. They are fun and easy to play.