Lithophone

Sounding stones made of basalt, granite, marble and other minerals were used in many ancient cultures for ceremonial and religious purposes. These days, the lithophone is the most commonly known stone instrument, which Carl Orff first introduced to orchestral arrangements. There are 15 small round slabs of limestone chromatically arranged on rubber pegs. The lithophone recorded by the Vienna Symphonic Library was newly developed at the Technical University of Zurich, and modeled after the marimba. The unmistakable, round stone sound remains prominent over the instrument’s nearly five octave range.