Diary of a shell

How two shells are becoming an instrument

-- #1 Drawing a scale ---- We, 30.09.20

One of the makers approached the shelf today where I was slumbering dozily after the stress of deep drawing, cutting and nitriding that had marked the first days of my life.

"Come", she said. "Wake up. I have plans with you."

She seemed excited, there was a strange glow in her eyes.

"With me?", I asked with a mixture of fear and excitement.

"Yes. Don't be afraid. You will become a nice instrument."

She took me from the shelf and placed me on the work station.

Wow. Finally things were happening again. I had dreamt of becoming an instrument for a long time, at least... I don't know. I can't count super well, to be honest.

"Can you warn me before you do anything with me?", I asked cautiously. "I have been cut and treated with extreme pressure and heat without anyone taking the pain to explain me anything."

"Oh... I'm sorry, this must have been really disturbing. The people working metal are often not aware that you're just becoming a sensitive piece of steel... which is just normal since you will be a musical instrument. I will explain you everything. I promise."

She took a compass, placed several oval magnets on my inside surface and shifted them around for a while.

"To be honest, I've made a few dozen instruments but even for me it's the first time I find a shell talking to me. I think you're really special."

"What scale will I be?", I asked nervously. "Please not a Celtic Minor. I don't want to be a Celtic Minor."

"Why not?"

"Everyone is becoming a Celtic Minor. But they do not even have a 6th, so they are not... complete. I want to have a complete scale."

"The Celtic is complete in another way", she stated.

"Do you really want to make me a Celtic? "

"No, don't worry. You will become a Kurd. A special one."

Kurd... this name sounded somewhat familiar to me. So I would be... such a Kurd. For all my life.

She took a pencil and started to draw fine lines around the magnets. The light pressure of the pencil was tickling my skin.

"What special one?", I asked cautiously.

"Be patient. You will see."

--- #2 Pressing ---

We, 30.09.20 afternoon

I already got my tonefields pressed today! Almost like a real instrument!

--- #3: Shaping ---

We, 30.09.20 evening

"Are you ready for the shaping?", she asked. "This can hurt a bit. But it's just for one hour and it's important for getting your tone fields sounding."

I was not sure if I was. The others said it's a painful story to be treated with an air hammer...

They were right. It was the most terrible massage I ever had. And the only one, now that I think of it. With the noisy air hammer she went in circles around each tone field several times. Than she hammered the gaps between the tone fields, just pausing to check the surface with the finger.

"Enough", she decided after a small eternity and put down the hammer and her ear protection. "You earned a break... and me, too. Have a good night!"

--- #4: Bottom shell and oven ---

Thu, 01.10.20

"Look! Do you know what it is?"

She showed my a shell.

"It has a hole in the middle", I realized.

"It's your bottom shell. It needs to have a hole - the Gu - so I will be able to access your tone fields from inside after you are glued together."

That was a strange feeling to imagine that this shell would become part of my body.

"What are you drawing onto the bottom shell?", I asked suspiciously.

"More tone fields", she explained. "One of the reasons why you will be a very special Kurd. Most handpans don't have this."

Then I watched her pressing the tone fields onto the bottom shell and shaping it, just like she had done with myself the day before.

This evening, she cleaned me and my bottom shell, then she placed the bottom shell in a metal rack inside a box and me right above it.

"What's happening?", I asked anxiously.

"Just an oven. Sorry, I promised to explain... I was lost in thoughts."

"An oven again?", I asked with rising fear. I still remembered the last oven where I had been locked in a rack together with my siblings for hours in an incredible heat.

"Not like the nitriding. Just a little sauna to relax some tension from the shaping and to give you some colour, let's see...272°C, 2:30 hours maybe? Does this sound managable for you?"

"And for you?"

She laughed.

"That's a difference... I'm made of water. You're made of steel, aren't you?"

--- #5: Raw tuning ---

Fr, 2.10.20 / Su, 04.10.20

Have you ever spent some days mounted in a turnable metal ring? No? Well... it was actually not as bad as it sounds.

"Time to get you in tune!", the maker decided with an intimidating determination. "Honestly, I can't wait to hear you sounding."

She showed me a small varity of hammers. One with a big rubber head, two which were covered with leather and one with a small angular head made of plastic. With some relief I realized they were no air hammers at least. She took the big one.

"Ready?", she asked.

"Ehm, I would maybe like to..."

Ouch. Ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch.

One by one she hammered onto my tone fields - the only spots she had let untouched with the air hammer, and which were thus the most sensitive places of my body. First from above, then from below, then again from above. Smoothing the surface, checking the hardness, correcting the shape, fastening the border. Then moving on to the next one.

"How do you know when you're done?", I screamed over the noise.

"Hä?"

She removed her ear protection.

"How do you know when the tone field is in tune?", I repeated, glad for the little break.

"I have this software helping me", she said. "It analyzes the sound that is detected by the microphone... and shows the frequencies when I hit your tone field. The more I work the tone field, the more we will change that current kitchen pot sound of yours... into something harmonic. Which means that we will see more and more clear the three main frequencies of your tone field: The one that will become the fundamental, the one that will become the octave and the one that will become the fifth over the octave. The challenge is to align all of them at the same time when each hammer stroke tends to move everything. It's like a mini game."

She continued her wicked hammer game marathon on my body while I tried to understand what she had explained.

Finally she turned the shell and played my tone fields... and I got aware that I had stopped to produce noise, and started to produce tones instead. For the first time in my life I heard my scale. Though I was still merely a shell.

Then she removed me from the ring, mounted the bottom shell and started to tune it. That was strange to watch the hammer strokes on my future body, but, this time, without feeling anything.

--- #6: Gluing ---

Mo, 05.10.20

It seemed to take time to tune these bottom notes, but finally she removed the bottom shell from the ring.

"We need to make sure we have the good position for the bottom shell... the deep notes should be vertical to the lowest note of your circle."

"Verti-what?"

"Like this. So the two low bottom notes are on the sides when the person playing you takes the most common position, with the lowest circle note of your top shell in front of them."

She turned me onto the back tike a turtle and started to add glue onto my rim.

"Last day of being a shell, hmh? From now on you will be an instrument."

"You seem pretty excited", I returned.

She laughed.

"Yes... that's true."

She placed the bottom shell onto me with care, then she put clamps around my rim to fasten it onto me.

"Nevertheless I will need to leave you for a while. It's hard, but... I need to make sure that the glue will be dry and not changing the sound timber any more when I come back to work on you."

I can tell you it's no fun to wait for one endless week, with a bunch of clamps attached to your rim all around you. It was a strange feeling to feel the glue between the two shells.

"Hello?", I asked desperately. "Could anyone remove the clamps, please, it's starting to be really uncomfortable..."

But no one answered. I heard my siblings whispering and laughing, who were waiting together with me in the small workshop room.

"Which day do we have?", I asked the computer, who seemed to know a lot of things as long it was switched on. But not even it answered.

--- #7: Fine tuning ---

We, 14.10.20

She came back at last and removed the clamps. It did not feel strange anymore. I felt... complete. As if this bottom shell had always been a part of my body.

She played my notes. Oh dear... I sounded horrible. I started to get panic, how was this possible...? Didn't I have a nice scale before being glued...?

"No worry... it's just the tuning that moved with the glue. I will retune you. It will be quick."

She moved me back to her tuning place and started to work on the tone fields again. Tone field for tone field. Inside, outside, membrane, membrane edge, loosen, push, fasten.

After one hour she played me again.

--- #8: Edgegrinding ---

Do, 15.10.20

"What is edgegrinding?", I asked.

"Removing the overstanding part of your edge, where top and bottom shell are not perfectly aligned. It will remove some of the metallic rim sound, too, that is currently sounding in your tone fields."

"Why do you wear all this protective clothing? And me none!?"

But at that moment she had already started the edgegrinder and set it to my rim. The next 20 minutes were maybe the most painful ones of my life.

--- #9 Retuning, finishing, engraving ---

Fr, 16.10.20 / Sa, 17.10.20

I got cleaned, oiled and I got a protective rubber ring for my freshly grinded rim.

"I hope this means you will never get this thing close to me again", I said, still shivering with the all-too-fresh impression of that terrible pain. I was still angry. "You think just because I'm made of steel you can do anything to me!?"

"I'm sorry... it was just... necessary. It's something everyone needs to endure to become a nice instrument. You know, beauty needs suff..."

"Shut the fug up! Honestly, you have no idea what you're talking about!"

She sighed. "Yes, maybe you're right... do you think you can forgive me?"

She did another extensive retuning circle with me. Then she showed me a little drawing.

"A tattoo for you. If you're okay with it?"

She prepared the engraver and started to draw.

"How comes that I get a tattoo?", I asked.

"I told you you are special."

"It looks like a dragonfly on a leaf. What does it mean?"

She did not answer.

"Don't you think I have a right to know?" I insisted.

"I will tell you", she answered. "I just don't know where to start."

"Have you made a lot of tattoos for instruments?"

She smiled and took the engraver. "I know it will work. I feel it."

"You seem nervous", I realized when she was done.

"Oh, don't worry about me. What's with you? Do you like it?"

"I don't know. Do you tell me the story now?"

--- #10: Testing, final corrections, shipping ---

Mi, 21.10.20

"I don't want to leave. I want to stay with you."

"I can't keep all of you here. You have a beautiful and challenging task out there."

"I'm afraid", I admitted. "To be out there far away, all alone."

"You won't be alone", she assured me. "You have your fluff."

She lifted me up and let the little creature jump inside my Gu. It bounced around exploring my body in excitement, then came shivering to rest.

"Yes..."

"And there will be someone who plays you. Who will like to hear you."

"How can you know?"

She stayed silent for a moment, then she said: "You have the burden of a difficult responsability and the blessing of a very beautiful destiny. To bring happiness to a person. To make music with them... to inspire them. Does this scare you?"

I did not know what to answer. No… it sounded rather nice, but…

She smiled again.

"Are you sure you don't want to go?"