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Listen to French artist Thomas Bloch demonstrating a glass harmonica, or armonica, at the Paris Music Museum. From Wikipedia:
Benjamin Franklin invented a radically new arrangement of the glasses in 1761 after seeing water-filled wine glasses played by Edmund Delaval at Cambridge in England in 1758.[6] Franklin, who called his invention the “armonica” after the Italian word for harmony, worked with London glassblower Charles James to build one, and it had its world premiere in early 1762, played by Marianne Davies.
In Franklin’s treadle operated version 37 bowls were mounted horizontally on an iron spindle. The whole spindle turned by means of a foot pedal. The sound was produced by touching the rims of the bowls with moistened fingers.
Andy Mackie of Washington state had undergone nine heart operations and was taking 15 different drugs when he decided to quit. He gave up the medicine and started using the money he saved to give away harmonicas and music lessons to local kids. Mackie figured it would be a gift before he died.
“I really thought it was the last thing I could ever do,” he says.
And when he didn’t die the next month, he bought a few hundred more.
Harmonicas in hand, he explains, “I just started going from school to school.”
It’s now 11 years and 13,000 harmonicas later.
The now 70-year-old Mackie also makes and buys other musical instruments for interested children, and arranges for his older students to give lessons to younger kids.
Mackie says, “I tell them music is a gift, you give it away – you give it away and you get to keep it forever.”
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(image credit: CBS)
Yuri Lane has a unique musical talent: he plays the harmonica unlike any other people in the world. And if you think that harmonica can’t ever be cool, just wait till you hear Yuri performs the beatbox harmonica.
Hit play or go to Link [YouTube]
In the hands (and mouth) of Buddy Greene, the lowly harmonica is transformed into a fearsome musical instrument.
How good is he? Let’s say that they don’t let anyone just play at the Carnegie Hall. With a harmonica, no less. Harmonica! Think about it: Link [embedded YouTube clip]
