Kryophone

The kryophone is a percussion idiophone instrument consisting of a set of carved ice bars struck with wooden mallets to produce musical tones. Popular in the the Duchy of Rokavut, they are traditionally crafted by hand, made from ice blocks hewn from the glaciers and shaped by skilled craftsmen. A well-crafted kryophone has a clear, glassy, and ephemeral tone, with rich resonance throughout even the unplayed bars. A typical kryophone has range of around three octaves, but they vary widely, from miniature one octave instruments to larger five or six octave models.   Kryophones are most commonly produced as needed for festivals and holidays. Usually they are allowed to melt afterwards (though this can take quite some time in the frigid climes of Rokavut), since they chip and crack easily during play and repairing them with new ice is often more trouble than it is worth. Elgafar Blackmier, Duke of Rokavut, does, however, possess a massive, extended range kryophone that was crafted for his great-great-grandfather, stored between uses in a refrigerated chamber in his treasury. Of course, the instrument has been repaired on so many occasions that many question if it is even the same instrument after all this time.