Richard Waters

Richard A. Waters (September 19, 1935 – July 4, 2013) was an American painter, sculptor, and musical instrument inventor. His instruments are used in a wide-range of popular films and TV, including The Matrix, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Poltergeist, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and Let The Right One In.

He is most well known for inventing the waterphone, an instrument that Waters designed as part of a series of "musical inventions, sound devices, and sonic sculptures". Waters hand-sculpted over 1000 where his parents, Dick and Gladys Waters, owned the Gulf Hills Dude Ranch in Ocean Springs until 1962. During this time, he developed an appreciation for the arts due to the constant exposure. His mother, Gladys, was involved in hiring artists including Walter Anderson for murals at the ranch, where musicians performed most evenings.

He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1961. He swapped majors 5 times before settling on painting - an indecision which surely helped develop his multi-disciplinary skills. After graduating, Waters worked at Jack Tar Hotels. He painted late at night after his hotel shifts but felt unhappy without the time to focus on it. He eventually resigned from his position as assistant manager in Biloxi, and relocated to California to pursue a career in art. though some were smaller.

Waters enjoyed painting many natural scenes, including Mississippi Bayous, California hills and coasts, Hawaii landscapes, Roatán landscapes, and foggy scenes. He also ventured into the abstract, using multiple techniques to create colorful paintings and mandalas.

In the late 1980s, Waters experimented with computer graphics, creating artworks including bamboo drawings, abstract pieces, and landscapes.

He released two self-produced CD Albums, "Water Dreams" and "One". These albums document his 40 year study into sound, featuring his unique “adventuresome, cross genre music on new musical inventions and sound devices" and "the best music from several ensembles I played and performed in during my San Francisco Bay Area years.” His instruments were also used in a variety of music genres including symphonies, jazz, and world music. Waters was also a prolific performer, playing the Waterphone as a member of the Gravity Adjusters Expansion Band.

In 2009, he featured his Waterphone alongside film maker David Mihalak's quartet Ghost In the House.

Waterphone The Waterphone is an atonal musical instrument which was invented by Richard Waters in the late 1960s, and was patented in 1975 (US Patent No. 3896696).

Waters produced over 1000 Waterphones during his career, developing a number of variations on the original form. One such variation was the "Revolving Sound Generator", an oversized waterphone which was either suspended or used on a pivoting stand, and is a great example of the versatility of the instruments form.

According to his website, many musicians traveled long distances to purchase instruments directly from Waters. The Waterphone was undeniably popular, and remains an integral part of many symphonies to this day.

Legacy Waters died on July 4, 2013, in Gulfport, Mississippi, aged 77.

Waters and his work were commemorated with the Richard Waters New Music Festival, held at the Berkeley Arts Festival in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Many sources still write about the lasting impact of the waterphone. The Guardian included it amongst cinema’s “unlikely soundtracks,” whilst Nerdist described it as the “soundtrack to your nightmares.”

Waters’ daughter, novelist Rayme Waters, has organized performances in his honor, and musician Brooks Hubbert continues to produce waterphones using Waters’ original methods.