The annual Guthman Musical Instrument Competition in Atlanta, Georgia, is a unique instrument competition that aims to showcase the latest innovations from the frontiers of music and technology.
In this year’s competition, Dániel Váczi competed with his instrument Glissotar, which he and Tóbiás Terebessy have been developing together for seven years. Glissotar reached the semi-finals in October and then the top 10 in December.
The finalists were invited to Atlanta, where they had to present their instruments in front of a three-member professional jury, and then duet with an Atlanta musician in a public concert, where Dániel Váczi performed with outstanding clarinetist Ted Gurch.
At the end of the concert, the results were announced: Glissotar won first place and the People’s Choice Award as well. The new feature of the Glissonic range of wind instruments is that instead of the usual sound holes, a longitudinal gap or slot runs along the body of the instrument, above which a ribbon is fixed. The two sides of the slot are covered with magnetic foil. If you hold the “string” down somewhere, the pipe is airtight up to that point.
This allows the musician to play any note in the entire range, even sliding between notes (glissando means slide). The first, fully developed member of the Glissonic family is the Glissonic Tárogató, or Glissotar for short, which Dániel Váczi has been playing regularly for about three years.
