Held by its neck or suspended by a cord, a Waterphone may be played as a stringed or as a percussion instrument with bow, mallets, and hand/fingers. My Waterphones have been used successfully to call whales and other Cetaceans. They require only a small amount of
maintainence and very little instruction is needed. My Waterphones
are hand crafted, durable, sonic sculptures that are fun and easy to
play. Don't be fooled by cheap imitations as they not only do not
sound as good but the stainless is cheap and will not last..

Waterphones have been used on film and TV sound tracks such as
"Poltergeist", "Star Trek" movie (music by Jerry Goldsmith), "Bugsy", "Young Guns", remake of "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers", "The Man Who Skied Down Mt. Everest", "A Pure Formality" (French), "Truman", "Powder", "Mystery Men", "The Matrix","The Shadow Conspiracy", "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", "The Spirit", "Let The Right One In (Låt den rätte komma in)" and many others..

A few Waterphone collector/players: legendary Brazilian percussionist Rubem Dantas, Aerosmith, Kim Atkinson, Evelyn Glennie, Richard Barone, Todd Barton, Andrew Carter, Lee Charlton, Carson Cooman, Tony D'Anna, David Darling, Karen Elaine, Reinhard Flatischler, Dave Grusin, Sofia Gubaidulina, Micky Harte, Kitaro, Klang, Gary Knowlton, Chris Lamb, Leftover Salmon, Pete Lockett, Bill McQuay, Robert Minden Ensemble, Nexus, Not Breathing, Luis Peralta, Emil Richards, Steve Roach, Christopher Rouse, Lalo Schifrin, Tom Scott, Andi Spicer, Jesse Stewart, John Synder, Bert Turetsky, Glen Velez, Sara Winge, Tom Waits, Alex Wong, and many others.

Waterphones have been exhibited in museums and galleries and utilized by music/performance groups and symphonies such as the "New York Philharmonic" and others worldwide. The Renwick Gallery (The Smithsonian Institute), The Oakland Museum, The Walter Anderson Museum of Art, L.A.I.C.A., the San Francisco Folk Art Museum and the Exploratorium are a few of the art spaces to exhibit them. They have been the subject of several documentaries including "Art Notes", aired on public television in San Francisco and a movie short, "Celestial Wave" as well as numerous videos on YouTube.

This instrument is well represented in contemporary music. A few recordings are: Miles Davis, "Aurora"& "Tutu", Steve Roach & Robert Rich's "Soma", Petit Mal's "World Siezure"& "Levitation", Machette Ensemble's "Matters Not", Mel Graves' "3 Worlds", George Marsh's "MarshLand", Tokenki's "Primal Landscape", Petite Jinks "Where Is The One" , Terra Nova's "Groundswell", Bill Frisell's "Old Sugar Bear", Todd Barton's " Nosferatu", "Droman", Timbres", Gatmo's "Sideshow Seance" and Tan Dun's "Water Music". (Also see Richard's "Water Dreams" and the Gravity Adjusters Expansion Band, "ONE" offered on this site.).

Richard has worked, performed or recorded with the following musicians: Mose Allison, John Abracrombie, Tom Beeson,Terry Bozzio, Bruce Cale, Lee Charlton, Dave Creamer, Fred Curchek, Tony D'Anna, Chuck Day, Tom Dondelinger, Darrell DeVore, Dave Dunaway, Jon English, Mel Graves, Mel Martin, Bart Hopkin, Gary and Mike Knowlton, George Marsh, Wolfgang Meltz, Andy Narell, Tom Nunn, Luis Peralta, Clyde Pound, Bryce Rohde, Tom Waits, David Wheat.

JULY 19 – 25, 2009
The Community Music Center
544 Capp Street@ 20th, San Francisco, CA
$12 General / $6 Student