'ey! 'old on to that Armonica!
The glass armonica -- no relation to the "blues harp" harmonica -- is an unlikely instrument with an unlikely history. Invented by Ben Franklin (yes, THAT Ben Franklin) in 1761, its ghostly tones have inspired Mozart compositions -- and shattered musicians' sanity.

The armonica, which takes its name from the Italian word for "harmonic," is an entire instrument built on the idea of running a wet finger around the rim of a drinking glass.

In this case, a nested set of tuned glass bowls turns on a spit over a tray of water, and the player applies delicate pressure to cause them to sing. Inventor Franklin was inspired by watching European musicians playing trays of drinking glasses, but wanted to make the process easier.

In a recent Wall Street Journal article, Brendan Miniter quotes modern-day armonica player William Wilde Zeitler: "I just have this vision of, after a hard day of being a Founding Father, Franklin coming in an unwinding with the armonica, which he invented, sitting next to the Franklin stove, which he invented, using bifocals, which he invented."

Franklin's later time as a diplomat in Europe exposed the Continent to his curious invention. Local builders spread the instrument to adoring Europeans. The Journal article describes how Franklin's playing cured a "melancholic" Polish princess, how Marie Antoinette herself studied the instrument (insert "lost her head over it" joke here), and how even Mozart composed adagios for the armonica.

The instrument fell into obscurity. One reason may be its growing reputation for making some people crazy -- the armonica players themselves! If there is any truth to this, it may lie in the lead used in the glass and paint of the day, and probably not the vibrations or otherworldly sounds the instrument makes.

Today G. Finkenbeiner Inc. is probably the only US manufacturer of the instrument (expect to pay at least a maddening $5,000).

Listen to an armonica at the Franklin Institute, musician William Wilde Zeitler's glass armonica page, or at Glass Music

Visit the Finkenbeiner shop, which includes beautiful pictures of armonicas, and numerous musical pieces

Read the WSJ article