Lithophone

One of Tinkertunes’ most popular instruments has been the lithophones, which are made from granite countertop. We have built them for the Raven Hill Discovery Center , Charlevoix Public Library , Garoon Gateway to Science , Lansing Community College’s Early Learning Children’s Community , and Ripley’s Believe it or Not Museums.

Litho is Greek for stone, and phone is sound, so a lithophone is a musical instrument made from stone. They are one of the most ancient instruments, and in China the sound of stone is as elemental as metal or wood. In Viet Nam a stone instrument called a “dan da” was found that is believed to be over 9,000 years old. Western civilization didn’t use stone for music until the 1840’s.