Ben Franklin's version of the instrument looks cooler. I had someone (a glass half-full kind of player) argue with me that the for some reason (maybe it was the sound of the foot pedals on Franklin's) playing glasses where better. It sounded sort of like repressed gear acquisition syndrome to me though. I used to love to play around with crystal glasses when I was a kid. They really do make a beautiful sound.
I drive everyone nuts at family occasions because I love to make the crystal pinot glasses sing. OK, maybe after the first few glasses of wine.... But I digress. Can you imagine setting THAT up and tearing it down every gig? ---------- /Greg
If i hadn't just seen it I wouldn't of believed it possible to do,Amazing, Now i'm wondering how hard it would be to play Summertime on them. Good excuse to buy some new wine glasses.
Franklin really invented a new instrument, in much the same way that the inventors of the electric guitar did. Not a better instrument, but one with different possibilities. Both are amazing and beautiful.
My aunt was an author/illustrator; one of her books was titled "The Glass Harmonica" (which had nothing to do with the subject matter, a tongue-in-cheek encyclopedic reference on mythical creatures). My grandfather made his own simplistic version by cutting the bottoms off a series of Gallo wine jugs to different lengths and suspending them from the rafters with wire. They were roughly tuned to the musical scale, and we played simple tunes on them with a small wooden mallet. Playing hard was strictly forbidden...
