Arman Bohn has released a free virtual instrument for Windows, the Glass Armanica VSTi.

It’s a virtual recreation of Ben Franklin’s rubbed glass instrument, known as the Glass Harmonica, Armonium, Hydrocrystalophone, or Armonica.

The Glass Harmonica makes gorgeous, ethereal sounds.

Here’s a sample from Bohn’s Glass Armanica:

 

 Glass Armanica Demo [0:34m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The samples were created by filling wine glasses with water and tuning them with a chromatic tuner to the appropriate pitches (drop by drop). It was recorded with an Oktava MC-012 cardioid condenser microphone running into a Seventh Circle C84 Preamp.

The VSTi features:

• A single octave octave of samples running from MIDI note 72 to 84 (Octave 6)
• Amplitude ADSR controls
• Velocity sensitivity
• Reverb with width, size and mix controls
• Hi-Cut and Master Volume controls

It’s a free download from Bohn’s site.