What is a glass harp?

Glass harp is a musical instrument that consists of a series of glasses of wine, often partially filled with water. Musicians play a glass harp by moistening their fingers and lowering them around the edges of the glasses. Each glass produces a different note, either because it is filled with water to a different level, or because the glass has a different size and shape than others. The glass harp produces a clear tone with a scary, scary quality. In the 18th century it was believed that the cleanliness of the sound produced by a glass harp and related instruments could lead to the madness of musicians. Running the wet finger along the edge of the glass causes it to vibrate, in the same way as the friction of the violin bow above the string causes it to vibrate. Vibration of glass creates a note that changes depending on the thickness and shape of the glass, as well as whether it contains water. The sound is traveled with water much more slowly than it runs through the glass, which means that the empty glass resonates at a much higher frequency than a glass of water in it. The more water contains the glass, the lower the frequencyVence - and the lower note - it will produce when it wipes.

instruments using the acoustic properties of glass existed in the Middle Ages in Persia, China and elsewhere, but a modern glass harp originated in the 18th century, when Irish musician Richard Puckerridge developed a technique of playing using standard wine glasses partially filled with water. The glass harp enjoyed a period of popularity during the 18th century, but fell out of kindness. Today, only a small number of musicians continue to play the instrument.

Inventor and statesman Benjamin Franklin developed a similar tool in 1762 and worked on the principles of glass harp. The Franklin device, called a glass accordion or armorics, consisted of 37 glass bowls on a central metal spindle, which was turned by operating the foot pedal. The player would bring wet fingers into contact with the rotating rims of the bowls and created tones. Instead of being filled with water, every bowl wasground to another size and thickness to form a specific note. The glass accordion was a very popular tool at that time; Mozart and other prominent composers wrote music.