Have you ever heard of the armonica? Also known as the glass harmonica? An instrument invented by The Benjamin Franklin? Which was incredibly popular before 1820, and was said to produce the most angelic sounds known to man?
....most likely not, because it was a blacklisted instrument in the 19th century...and it never quite gained enough public support since then to warrant mass production. Heck, my firefox spell checker thinks it's misspelled!
The basic idea of an armonica is simple, and we've all experienced it. As a child (okay, fine, I do it every time I do dishes) I traced the edge of a wet wineglass to produce a sound that's really clean and resonant...and I'm sure you did too. The armonica consists of the same phenomenon by laying several glass bowls side by side and rotating it on a stick. You then press the edge of the bowls as it rotates, which produces the sound!
...so why was it blacklisted? Several reasons. It was thought to cause depression, anxiety, insomnia..and general bad health. It was also thought to be an instrument of the devil, BECAUSE it was so beautiful that it made people lose their minds, day dream, get lost in their thoughts...etc. Yes, that's right. It produced such an incredible, peaceful, beautiful sound, the only logical conclusion they could come up with was that it was from the devil (at least it didn't give you hairy palms). Too bad for that idiotic reasoning, because it truly is a great instrument.
What does it sound like? Here... play it yourself! Just click the different bowls below. Like a real armonica, the sounds resonate even when you're not touching it.
*courtesy of The Franklin Institute*
Neat ain't it?
Also, check out this Youtube video of a professional armonica player:
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