The ethereal sounds of wine glasses being vibrated have a dark history, referring to the glass armonica “Playing it is damaging to the health, that it excessively stimulates the nerves, plunges the player into a nagging depression and hence into a dark and melancholy mood”. To create the sound the wine glasses use the same precedent as the glass armonica, running a slightly wet finger around the edge of the glass causes it to resonate. My sister and I made a recording where we both played the wine glasses at the same time. She played one consistently for the whole recording to create a droning effect and I alternated between several, the whole recording sounded atonal, messy and rough around the edges which I liked. There were times when you could hear the glasses moving, squeaking of the finger against the glass and breathing, this made the whole recording feel more human to me. I included this recording in the film. I included this not just because of the beautiful hypnotic sounds it provides but because of the history behind the instrument as well. The character in the film struggles with the pain of existence, he is in a state of deep melancholy, the glasses resonating represent this sonically as well as historically.
THE GLASS ARMONICA Its Development, Use, and Misuse as a Musical Instrument of Social Change in the Eighteenth CenturyRobert B. Craig, 2004