NEW sound of
music swells out in the vast underground
Sprinkle, who is
also a musician, has “harnessed” dozens of stalactites
to take the place of organ pipes. He got the idea on a tour of
the caves when he saw a guide strike one of the stalactites with
a stick to make it vibrate and produce a humming sound.
Sprinkle has
since spent many hours selecting and tuning stalactites. This is
done by filing them into shape, using a tuning-fork to get the
notes absolutely accurate.
Each stalactite
is connected to a control panel in the roof of the caves. When
the organist presses a key, an electronic signal goes out to
operate a rubber-tipped hammer which strikes the appropriate
stalactite.
The sound
produced is rather like that of a church organ, but the music
echoes weirdly through the caves in such a way that it is often
difficult to tell exactly where it is coming from.
The organ, now
installed permanently for the benefit of tourists, can be played
manually or switched to an automatic system rather like that of a
pianola.
With thanks to Charles Skingle for
spotting this little piece - and it wasn’t April the 1st!