Armonica

The Armonic is one of the more unusual instruments in T'sara. While simple in it's theory and execution, the nature of it's construction makes it both considerably expensive, even by musical standards, and is an extremely high maintenance item.

Mechanics & Inner Workings

The armonica is played primarily with friction. A collection of glass bowls, originally designed for 35 but some times as many as 57, are held together along a wood staff, suspended in air. The staff is rotated by a foot control that causes the bowls along it to spin. A basin with water is kept to the side that the player will use to wet their fingers, and move their fingers against the rotating bowls. The friction against the glass creates a sound depending on the size of the bowl and the amount of pressure against the bowls.

Some with the extra penchant have substituted the basin for a magical application. Properly enchanted, the bowls themselves are kept perpetually wet, making the instrument always ready to be played. While a seemingly simple addition, the costs to enchant it in such a fashion do raise the already high costs of the instrument even further.

History

The armonica was created by an enterprising Halfling fellow by the name of Fran Linch. Having seen something of a parlor trick of someone using individual wine glasses to make musical tones when rubbed while wet, Fran believed there was potential for more. Rather than having the various glasses in a various mishmash, creating them for the specific purpose and having them in an interlocking row would make it more efficient for the performer, and as a proper instrument.

Having commissioned the construction, and performed it personally at his residence, the ingenious design and unique tones, impossible for any instrument of wood or metal to replicate, made it an immediate spectacle among his wealthy associates. The design was replicated for "Big Folk", and has seen a recent rise throughout the Kingdom of Gresh, and limited expansion into the surrounding territories. It has been spread through the local cultures as something of a novelty act for the nobility and royalty to gaze upon. It has had some treatment as a "real" instrument by serious composers, notably the famous composer Zamor of the nearby kingdom of Bronzebark has written a number of works intended for the Armonica.

It has been noted by some among the crowd of critics that the armonica does not necessarily play well with others. Regardless of how well the sounds accompany the other instruments being used in larger musical pieces, the instrument is notably quieter than most wooded or metal ones. As musical tastes are moving to larger concert oriented work, the armonica's fate may already be sealed as something little more than a curiosity.

Item type

Musical Instrument

Rarity

Even as the popularity of this recent musical invention is on the rise, the armonica is still a rarely found and rarely played instrument.
The cost alone for the glass to make the 37 interlocking bowls that make the central playing mechanic make it cost prohibitive for the common folk. In most countries, it would take half a year's wages for even a skilled laborer to be able to afford one.

Being built into a cabinet unto itself, the instrument is ill suited for the traveling musicians and bards of T'sara, which has slowed the cultural spread and use of the instrument.

Weight

40 to 45lbs