A carnyx is a large ceremonial and battle trumpet that dates back to the Iron Age Celts. The body of the instrument, a curved sharply ascending S-shape, features a small mouthpiece on one end and a wide bell on the other. Towering six or more feet above the head of the musician when played, the bell of the instrument is typically designed as the head of a fierce wild predator or mythical monster that comes to life during performance with fiery eyes, wagging tongues, and cacophonous bellows. One can imagine the terror of first encountering an army of Carnyces as scores of beastly animal heads slowly emerge from the early morning mist with “cries so loud and piercing, that the noise seemed to come not from human voices and trumpets, but from the whole countryside at once”. (Polybius, Histories, II, 29). Programs: Csound and IRCAM's Open Music.

Carynx by Chris Arrell

chrisarrell(dot)com
music for throats, fingers, and oscillators 