How to Break a Glass with Your Voice
Prepare your glass shattering station., Put on safety goggles/glasses to protect your eyes., Find the resonant frequency of your glass., Maintain the resonant frequency in your mind., Aim for a loud volume a pure resonant pitch.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Prepare your glass shattering station.
Remember, success in this task will result in broken glass, so you might want to practice in a room with hard floors to make clean up easier.
Choose a room with good acoustics and little to no echo.
You’ll also need a power outlet to plug in your amp if you've chosen to use a microphone, as well as a platform on which your glass and amp can sit.
If you plan on using your voice alone to shatter your glass, you'll only need a sturdy platform to place your glass upon.
The platform should be relatively high so that you can stand while singing to get the best volume and tone.Lay down a large drop cloth if you attempt this in a carpeted area.
Small splinters of glass can become embedded in carpet and cause harm later.
A drop cloth will keep shattered glass from getting in your carpet.
When using an amp and microphone, the amp should be placed facing your glass and relatively close to it.
A sturdy coffee table might be sufficient to hold both speaker and glass while limiting distorting vibrations, though the ground might also work well.
Try to position your amp so it isn’t blasting sound in the direction of people who might be bothered by it, like your neighbors.
Your glass should be directly in front of the amplifier's speaker.
Look through the material covering the front of your amplifier and find the exact location of the speaker cone.
Position your glass right in front of the cone. -
Step 2: Put on safety goggles/glasses to protect your eyes.
Shattering glass can produce very small fragments that can cause permanent damage to your eyes.
Wearing simple eye protection, like safety glasses or goggles, will prevent this from happening.
If you don’t happen to have protective eyewear handy, you could use a pair of cheap sunglasses or swimming goggles.
Be sure that your eye protection covers your entire eye.
Half-lens reading glasses will not be adequate., Flick the glass with your fingernail gently and listen carefully to the ringing sound.
This is the resonant frequency of your glass, and you will have to match and sustain this pitch to cause it to break.
It may help you to hold onto the pitch if you hum it softly to yourself even after the glass has finished ringing.
You can also cause your glass to hum its resonant frequency by moistening your finger and rubbing it along the rim of your glass.
Circle the rim of the glass with your finger until it resonates audibly.
Then try to hold that pitch in your head.
You may find using an instrument or tool, like a piano or a pitch finder, can help you identify, hold, and narrow in on the resonant frequency while you’re trying to sing.
Empty your glass completely, remove decorations from it, and place it on a sturdy, regular surface while you are checking its resonant frequency.
Things that are inside, on top of, or connected to your glass could alter this tone., Holding a pitch in your head for a period of time usually results in a flat pitch.A flat resonant pitch won't make your glass shatter.
To help prevent yourself from going flat, you may want to hum along or sustain the note with some kind of tool, like an instrument, pitch pipe, or pitch finder/tuner.
Hearing very slight differences in tone can be difficult even for talented musicians.
Check your pitch frequently as you attempt to shatter the glass with your voice.
Simply flick the bulb of the glass gently with your fingernail, listen carefully to the resulting tone, and tweak your pitch to match it. , Professional vocalists and opera singers are generally the people who attempt this kind of feat due to their vocal strength.
You'll need to at least reach a volume of 100
- 110 decibels and match the resonant pitch perfectly for several seconds if you're going to shatter a glass.
This can be a difficult feat if you are untrained, in which case you might use a microphone.
The 100
- 110 decibel range is similar to the noise produced by a nearby power mower, power saw, or motorcycle.
To shatter glass, you'll have to reach this volume or louder while singing the resonant pitch. -
Step 3: Find the resonant frequency of your glass.
-
Step 4: Maintain the resonant frequency in your mind.
-
Step 5: Aim for a loud volume a pure resonant pitch.
Detailed Guide
Remember, success in this task will result in broken glass, so you might want to practice in a room with hard floors to make clean up easier.
Choose a room with good acoustics and little to no echo.
You’ll also need a power outlet to plug in your amp if you've chosen to use a microphone, as well as a platform on which your glass and amp can sit.
If you plan on using your voice alone to shatter your glass, you'll only need a sturdy platform to place your glass upon.
The platform should be relatively high so that you can stand while singing to get the best volume and tone.Lay down a large drop cloth if you attempt this in a carpeted area.
Small splinters of glass can become embedded in carpet and cause harm later.
A drop cloth will keep shattered glass from getting in your carpet.
When using an amp and microphone, the amp should be placed facing your glass and relatively close to it.
A sturdy coffee table might be sufficient to hold both speaker and glass while limiting distorting vibrations, though the ground might also work well.
Try to position your amp so it isn’t blasting sound in the direction of people who might be bothered by it, like your neighbors.
Your glass should be directly in front of the amplifier's speaker.
Look through the material covering the front of your amplifier and find the exact location of the speaker cone.
Position your glass right in front of the cone.
Shattering glass can produce very small fragments that can cause permanent damage to your eyes.
Wearing simple eye protection, like safety glasses or goggles, will prevent this from happening.
If you don’t happen to have protective eyewear handy, you could use a pair of cheap sunglasses or swimming goggles.
Be sure that your eye protection covers your entire eye.
Half-lens reading glasses will not be adequate., Flick the glass with your fingernail gently and listen carefully to the ringing sound.
This is the resonant frequency of your glass, and you will have to match and sustain this pitch to cause it to break.
It may help you to hold onto the pitch if you hum it softly to yourself even after the glass has finished ringing.
You can also cause your glass to hum its resonant frequency by moistening your finger and rubbing it along the rim of your glass.
Circle the rim of the glass with your finger until it resonates audibly.
Then try to hold that pitch in your head.
You may find using an instrument or tool, like a piano or a pitch finder, can help you identify, hold, and narrow in on the resonant frequency while you’re trying to sing.
Empty your glass completely, remove decorations from it, and place it on a sturdy, regular surface while you are checking its resonant frequency.
Things that are inside, on top of, or connected to your glass could alter this tone., Holding a pitch in your head for a period of time usually results in a flat pitch.A flat resonant pitch won't make your glass shatter.
To help prevent yourself from going flat, you may want to hum along or sustain the note with some kind of tool, like an instrument, pitch pipe, or pitch finder/tuner.
Hearing very slight differences in tone can be difficult even for talented musicians.
Check your pitch frequently as you attempt to shatter the glass with your voice.
Simply flick the bulb of the glass gently with your fingernail, listen carefully to the resulting tone, and tweak your pitch to match it. , Professional vocalists and opera singers are generally the people who attempt this kind of feat due to their vocal strength.
You'll need to at least reach a volume of 100
- 110 decibels and match the resonant pitch perfectly for several seconds if you're going to shatter a glass.
This can be a difficult feat if you are untrained, in which case you might use a microphone.
The 100
- 110 decibel range is similar to the noise produced by a nearby power mower, power saw, or motorcycle.
To shatter glass, you'll have to reach this volume or louder while singing the resonant pitch.
About the Author
Cheryl Walker
Writer and educator with a focus on practical DIY projects knowledge.
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