The Instrument Made of Spinning Glass

Transcript

In seventeen sixty-one, Benjamin Franklin built his glass armonica.

A foot pedal turns a row of glass bowls on a rod.

The player touches their rims with damp fingers.

Friction makes the glass vibrate, sending sound into the air.

Each bowl has its own note, set by its size and thickness.

Touch several rims, and you can play a chord.

Even Mozart wrote music for this instrument.

No strings. No pipes. Just fingers and glass.

Attribution

Research: The Franklin Institute, Science Museum Group, Acoustical Society of America and Library of Congress; historical photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, object 89.4.1211 (public domain); original simplified Blender reconstructions, animation and synthesized sound illustration: AskPandi; narration: ElevenLabs. The tones are synthesized illustrations, not an authentic instrument recording. ^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]}