The American statesman Benjamin Franklin (1706-90) was stationed in London as the representative of the colonists during the 1760s. While in England he attended a concert of music produced by stroking the rims of drinking glasses containing different amounts of water. This inspired Franklin, who was also a scientist and inventor, to create a new instrument which he named the armonica.

In 1761 Franklin got a London glassblower to make a series of bowls tuned to different notes according to size. They were painted different colours to indicate their pitch and linked together with a central metal rod. The rod was attached to a wheel turned by a foot pedal. A player touched the rims of the spinning bowls with moistened fingers. The armonica was able to produce chords and melodies.

The new instrument proved very popular in northern Europe, especially in fashionable circles. In 1776 Franklin served as United States minister to the French Court at Versailles where Queen Marie Antoinette studied the armonica. Franklin himself travelled widely with his armonica, playing Scottish tunes for his listeners. Both Mozart and Beethoven composed works for the armonica, but by the 1820s the fragile instrument was almost forgotten.