EAST LANSING- The cristal baschet is a strange instrument, and a strange choice for one’s specialty. Maybe after being surrounded by drummers, violinists, and guitarists your whole life, the shining chords of the cristal must be a breath of fresh air. 

“You meet people, you see what they do and you like what they do, and you want to do the same the same thing. Before I met the cristal (baschet) there were lot of instruments. But people made me make some choices and all these choices brought me to the cristal (baschet).” 

The cristal baschet is an instrument deeply tied to Loup’s career and his evolution as an artist. It’s made up of four main elements, a set of chromatically tuned glass rods, corresponding metal blocks, and two kinds of amplifying cones; a large metal cone called the “flame”, and three smaller fiberglass cones called “whiskers”. The 56 glass rods are rubbed with wet fingers, which then transfers vibration to the metal blocks. The vibrations are amplified by the cones, with the “flame” handling most, and the three “whiskers” specializing in higher frequencies.   

“There’s something very beautiful with the cristal. For me, the instrument, it’s not like a piano … This instrument is like the best part is like a storm. It’s like you can hear the nature. The high notes are more like some rays of the sun,” says Barrow.  

“This instrument is a friction instrument. It’s not percussion like the piano … It’s maybe more sensual. It’s also a big instrument, like 220 pounds and it vibrates with you when you play, and that’s really quite incredible”. 

The cristal baschet is used heavily in his new album, Imminio, which means immeasurable, or limitless. The album was composed in 2022, and features a 64-piece orchestra, playing alongside the cristal. It features crescendos brimming with emotion, and dense instrumental textures throughout its 31-minute runtime. Despite the short playing time, it has the power to take you on a journey inside Loup’s mind. 

He composed this album while living isolated in Finistère, which is a part of Brittany on the western tip of France. “I think isolation is like opening your eyes because even if it’s a solitary process, it’s not like you are in something closed … You are more observing, observing everything you know,” muses Barrow. 

“The coast of Brittany is quite wild. It’s quite rough with lots of wind. It’s always raining and 10 minutes after it’s sun and after that always changing,” describes Barrow. 

“I think it was something I took in my music. Different emotions, even in the same part. You know you can feel different emotions, and it depends what you are feeling at the moment you’re listening to the music, almost feel something like melancholic or something bright.” 

Barrow was influenced by the water just as much as the weather in his music. As much as the weather in Brittany is unpredictable, the water is consistent. That constant beating of the waves on the coast rumbles just like the ascending string arpeggios on Imminio. 

“Water wins. It’s the energy, the tension, and the release. You can find it everywhere,” Barrow states.  

“it’s a spider eating a little bug. It’s the bird catching a rabbit. But it’s also love, you know, it’s always that tension and relief.” When you listen, you can hear exactly what he’s talking about. He and the orchestra did a fantastic job translating the natural world’s order and chaos into music. 

The most exciting thing about the album Immineo, is that it’s not done yet. Barrow reveals that it’s only the first of a trio of albums. 

“I’m working on a triptych, 3 albums … The second album will be much more rhythmical, with much more percussion,” Barrow explains. The albums will all be tied together, meant to be three parts of the same work.  

“In this triptych, Immineo is the roots, you know. Your feet and your legs and it’s low tempo. It’s like it’s in the ground. The second album is more the heart and it’s more rhythmical, frenetic, you know, more polyrhythm … The third one will be an album I write just for Cristal and only voices. Because it’s the soul. It’s your spirit.”