PubliSonification2010 - Jerome Joy website

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!!!!1856 __ The Electric Harmonica * Mr. Pétrina (?) * ''Comment :'' « In 1856, M. Pétrina, of Prague, invented an ^[...^] arrangement, to which he gave the name of electric harmonica, although, strictly speaking, he had no thought of it as a musical instrument ^[...^] : « The principle of this instrument is similar to that of Neef's Rheotome, in which the hammer is replaced by slender rods, whose vibrations produce a sound. Four of these rods are placed side by side, and when moved by keys, and arrested by levers, produce combined sounds of which the origin may be easily shown. » It is true that nothing is said in this passage of the capabilities possessed by these instruments of being played at a distance; but this idea was quite legitimate, and German peridicals assert that it was accomplished by Mr. Petrina even before 1856. It was the result of what I said at the outset : "that electro-magnetism may come to the aid of certain instruments, such as pianos, organs, etc. in order to enable them to be played at a distance.", and I also pointed out the expedients employed for the purpose, and even for setting them at work, under the influence of a small musical-box. I did not, however, ascribe importance to the matter, and it is only by way of historical illustration that I speak of these systems. » ''(Theodore du Moncel, 1879)'' * ''Sources :'' {small}Th. du Moncel. (1879). ''The Telephone, the Microphone, and the Phonograph''. p. 25. North Stratford : Ayer Publishing Co, 1974.{/small} {br}{br}
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