Show matthias hohner maker of the first harmonica matt matthias lilas ll 11 ohner the father of the harmonica was barnat bornat born at trossingen singen to in the province of baden in I 1 1833 at the time the few peasants who lived in the village went out dally daily to work in their fields and were just able to scrape together a meager existence from the already worn out soll soil and the village was just like many thousand other villages throughout europe the only handwork possible was clock making though the section renowned downed for its clock making lies farther north and the clock makers of had bad no better success than the farmers because they had no DO market for their clocks matthias hohner was the son of a clockmaker clock maker and learned the trade from his bis father for many years he was as poor as his neighbors but he be possessed several qualities rare among easygoing easy going solas south germans a strong will stubborn determination unlimited vitality the ability to think quickly and shrewdly ond and in addition to these an able and helpful wife in 1827 a viennese clockmaker clock maker fastened some rough strips of metal to a wooden base ilese so that when one blew on them they gave out tones the instrument w was as primitive no covering for the alie m metal etal tongs no clear and harmonious tones and no possibilities of being used in any other way than as a sort of 0 noisy whistle says a writer in pearsons weekly Ma batillas matillas tillas hohner heard of this insignificant ant invention lie he set out to make a similar instrument for himself having baving the idea that the metal strips might be filed to various and lengths and thus make a le ie scale possible while working on his instrument he be discovered that constant blowing was not so practical and he decided to fasten alternate strips at the top instead of at the bottom so that the player might inhale as well as blow thus making the playing of the instrument ment merely a process of controlled breathing then he designed a protective covering for the fragile vibrating tongues of his invention and the first harmonica was complete |