Glass harmonica Franz Mesmer also played the armonica and used it as an integral part of his Mesmerism. An original Franklin armonica is in the archives at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, having been donated in 1956 by Franklin's descendants after "the children took great delight in breaking the bowls with spoons" during family gatherings. It is only placed on display for special occasions, such as Franklin's birthday. The Franklin Institute is also the home of the Benjamin Franklin National Memorial. A website has attempted to catalog publicly known Franklin-era glass armonicas. The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston has an early 19th-century
Richter-tuned harmonica of the "Steve Baker Special" in the key of C: They come in five keys: This harmonica opens up lots of interesting possibilities, especially for blues harmonica, like extended tongue-block octave playing, the possibility to play exactly the same 2nd position riffs in two octaves, etc. Two harmonica models have been released with altered designs that allow for increased bending abilities, and in effect, chromatic playing on a diatonic harmonica. They are often referred to as "extra-reed" harmonicas, because they carry more than the usual 20 reeds of a diatonic harp. The Hohner XB-40, invented by Rick Epping, features an