Jayme water organ 1

WATER-ORGAN, Jayme Kalal

The Water Organ is a device that allows sound to be played through water (in this case, the sound of a keyboard). This effect is produced by mingling sound and air in a sealed box and pushing the air (with the sound in it) down through pipes, past valves, through water, and then out into the air, where the sound is then amplified. The pipes and water act as the throat of the instrument, shaping the sound as it passes through the water, achieving a "watery sound" that has a very distinct emotional quality to it. The goal was to physically produce a sound filter that acoustically shapes the sound, in the same way someone manipulating a synthesizer would shape a sound electronically. The instrument is housed in a building that is likewise water-themed, adorned with shells (including an oyster shell roof!) gathered from the construction site and near the railroad tracks on Press Street.