Editing Harmonica (section)

===Early instruments===
The harmonica first appeared in Vienna, where harmonicas with chambers were sold before 1824 (see also [[Anton Reinlein]] and [[Anton Haeckl]]). Richter tuning, invented by Joseph Richter (who also is credited with inventing the blow and draw mechanism), was created in 1826 and was eventually adopted nearly universally. In Germany, violin manufacturer [[Johann Georg Meisel]] from [[Klingenthal]] bought a harmonica with chambers (Kanzellen) at an exhibition in [[Braunschweig]] in 1824. He and the ironworker Langhammer copied the instruments in [[Kraslice|Graslitz]] three miles away; by 1827 they had produced hundreds of harmonicas. Many others followed in Germany and also nearby [[Bohemia]] that would later become [[Czechoslovakia]]. In 1829, Johann Wilhelm Rudolph Glier also began making harmonicas.

In 1830, Christian Messner, a cloth maker and weaver from [[Trossingen]], copied a harmonica his neighbour had brought from Vienna. He had such success that eventually his brother and some relatives also started to make harmonicas. From 1840, his nephew Christian Weiss was also involved in the business. By 1855, there were at least three harmonica-making businesses: [[C. A. Seydel Söhne]], [[Christian Messner]] & Co., and Württ. Harmonikafabrik Ch. Weiss. (Currently, only [[C. A. Seydel Söhne|C.A. Seydel]] is still in business.) Owing to competition between the harmonica factories in Trossingen and Klingenthal, machines were invented to punch the covers for the reeds.

In 1857, Matthias Hohner, a clockmaker from Trossingen, started producing harmonicas. Eventually he became the first to mass-produce them. He used a mass-produced wooden comb that he had made by machine-cutting firms. By 1868, he began supplying the United States. By the 1920s, the diatonic harmonica had largely reached its modern form. Other types followed soon thereafter, including the various tremolo and [[octave]] harmonicas.

By the late 19th century, harmonica production was a big business, having evolved into mass production. New designs were still developed in the 20th century, including the chromatic harmonica, first made by Hohner in 1924, the bass harmonica, and the chord harmonica. In the 21st century, radical new designs have been developed and are still being introduced into the market, such as the [[Suzuki Musical Instrument Corporation|Suzuki]] Overdrive, Hohner XB-40, and the ill-fated Harrison B-Radical.

Diatonic harmonicas were designed primarily for playing German and other European [[folk music]] and have succeeded well in those styles. Over time, the basic design and tuning proved adaptable to other types of music such as the blues, [[country music|country]], old-time and more. The harmonica was a success almost from the very start of production, and while the center of the harmonica business has shifted from Germany, the output of the various harmonica manufacturers is still very high. Major companies are now found in Germany ([[:de:C. A. Seydel Söhne|Seydel]] and [[Hohner]] – the dominant manufacturer in the world), South Korea ([[Miwha]], [[Dabell]]), Japan ([[Suzuki Musical Instrument Corporation|Suzuki]], [[Tombo Musical Instrument Company|Tombo]] – the manufacturer of the popular [[Lee Oskar]] harmonica, and [[Yamaha Corporation|Yamaha]] also made harmonicas until the 1970s), China (Huang, Easttop, Johnson, Leo Shi, Swan, AXL), and [[Brazil]] (Hering, Bends). The United States had two significant harmonica manufacturers, and both were based in [[Union Township, Union County, New Jersey|Union, New Jersey]]. One was [[Magnus Harmonica Corporation]], whose founder Finn Magnus is credited with the development of plastic harmonica reeds. The other was Wm. Kratt Company, which, founded by German-American William Jacob "Bill" Kratt Sr., originally made pitch pipes and later, in 1952, secured a patent for combs made of plastic. Both companies ceased harmonica production. The only recent American contender in the harmonica market was Harrison Harmonicas, which folded in July 2011. It was announced soon thereafter that the rights to the Harrison design had been sold to another company to finish production of orders already placed. In October 2012, it was revealed that a [[Beloit, Wisconsin]], investment corporation, R&R Opportunities, had bought the assets of Harrison Harmonicas and that a feasibility study was under way to assess the possibilities of continued production of the Harrison B-Radical harmonica. Recently, responding to increasingly demanding performance techniques, the market for high-quality instruments has grown.