JK GILLON

A "great novelty in musical instruments, the Rock Harmonicon" was exhibited in Edinburgh in 1842. The Harmonicon was originally developed by a stone-mason and consisted of 65 pieces of hard slate cut to different sizes, to form a musical scale. The technical term seems to be an Idiophone, that is a musical instruments where the resonant wood, stone, metal or glass substance of the instrument itself produces the sound.

The stones were arranged horizontally in two tiers, resting on straw ropes supported by a wooden frame. Music was "brought out of the Harmonicon by skilful manipulation". This involved three performers striking the stones with wooden mallets.

The Harmonicon was "no toy, but a perfect instrument and produced an agreeable effect, considering the nature and form of the substance". The music obtained was "particularly rich and melodious, some of the larger stones emitting a volume of sound equal to that of a deep-toned bell".

The Edinburgh performances consisted of a selection of Scottish airs and melodies, but the "most charming melody in the repertoire was Handel's Harmonious Blacksmith, which was more effective played on the Harmonicon than on the piano."

In the 1880s, the Harmonicon was taken to America. It is now preserved in a museum in Orange, New Jersey.