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MMD > Archives > July 2005 > 2005.07.09 > 04Prev  Next


Cahill's Dynamophone Telharmonium of 1898
By Mark Kinsler

I don't know if this instrument has been discussed here previously,
but it sure seems to have enough mechanics in it to qualify for MMD.

 [ We discuss self-playing musical instruments played by a music
 [ roll or the like.  The Telharmonium qualifies for MMD since it's
 [ an ancestor of the Hammond model BA player organ.  ;-)  -- Robbie

The idea was similar to Muzak: subscription music for stores or perhaps
private homes.  But there wasn't a good way to amplify electrical
signals in 1910 or so.  Ergo, we build an organ with a substantial
variable-reluctance alternator for each note.  The combined signal was
to drive loudspeakers directly over telephone wires.

As I labor over the Sawtooth Steinway, the patent drawings are, well,
interesting:  http://www.synthmuseum.com/magazine/0102jw.html 

Mark Kinsler
Lancaster, Ohio, USA
http://www.mkinsler.com/

 [ "In the summer of 1906 the Telharmonium was dismantled and loaded
 [ onto thirty railroad cars ..." !!  -- Robbie


(Message sent Sat 9 Jul 2005, 23:54:17 GMT, from time zone GMT-0400.)

Key Words in Subject:  1898, Cahill's, Dynamophone, Telharmonium

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