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MMD > Archives > September 1997 > 1997.09.07 > 01Prev  Next


Glass Armonica
By Jan Kijlstra

In Digest 970906 Bob Conant told us about the glass armonica.

There is an American builder of this instrument, Mr. Finkenbeiner.  A lot
of information about the glass harmonica, as well as other instruments
(amongst which are automatic ones!) can be found at his web site, and a
rather big number of recordings are also available.  Go and see:

     http://finkenbeiner.bcn.net/

One small remark I would like to make:  Mr. Finkenbeiner states that Mr.
Franklin was the inventor of the glass harmonica.  Sorry to say, but he
was not.  However, he improved the instrument so much, that it could
become a commercial success, as he did with many other "inventions".

Early descriptions of glass harmonicas go back to 1677, whereas Franklin
built his first model roundabout 1761. (Source: Curt Sachs: The history
of musical instruments).

Jan Kijlstra


(Message sent Sun 7 Sep 1997, 19:37:58 GMT, from time zone GMT+0200.)

Key Words in Subject:  Armonica, Glass

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