When you imagine Leonard Cohen’s classic tune, “Hallelujah,” you probably imagine his crooning voice and haunting piano melody. Well, this street performer decided to cover this popular song, but in a way that no one has thought to before.

Covers of this number aren’t uncommon; it is, after all, a beautiful song with the potential for some lovely harmonies and the like. We’ve seen covers on guitar, in a full-pit orchestra, and even a capella. But we’ve never seen a cover of ANY song quite like this.

Let’s just say that this musician has chosen to play his cover without any instruments. Or at least any traditional instruments.

Instead, this street performer has chosen a unique kind of instrumental for his take on the song: glasses filled with water. I’ve heard of people using half-filled glasses of water to perform songs (mainly from the talent show scene in “Miss Congeniality”) and even seen someone create a note by circling the rim of a partially filled water glass.

But I’ve never heard of or seen anything to this degree.

Set up on a street corner, this artist has prepared a long table on the sidewalk, covered in about 33 glasses. Each glass has been strapped down to the table with a sort of small bungee cord and suction cups, and each one is only filled about halfway up.

Although, upon first glance, all the glasses seem the same, if you look closer you can tell there are different sizes. Some of the glasses closer to the performer are smaller, some in the back of the lineup are larger, others are shorter or taller than their fellow glasses.

As it turns out, these differing sizes helps to create various notes and sounds.

When he begins, the street performer plays an eerie sequence of notes. It’s a bit terrifying; it sounds more like horror movie music than the opening to “Hallelujah.”

But, suddenly, the tune of the song changes and we can clearly hear what sounds like the opening lines to the famous song. Using only these glasses (no auto tune or any program like that has been used to alter the sound) this street performer recreates what sounds like a full string pit, performing this beautiful song in beautiful harmony.

We expected it to be good, but we didn’t think it would sound THIS beautiful! I was completely taken aback by the gorgeous sounds these humble instruments could make.

This strange music is created because of something called resonance. Certain objects have a tendency to shake and create reverb, half-filled wine glasses being one of them. Glasses of different sizes will create more or less reverb and therefore create different sounding pitches. If you can master the glasses and understand which sizes make which pitches, you just may be able to piece together a beautiful song like this one.

What do you think of this wine glass cover of this classic song? Can you create music in this way? Share your thoughts on this unique street performance in the comments section below.