THE HISTORY OF ELECTRONIC MUSIC

Part 14.  How to Fit an Orchestra in a Cabinet..

Today we continue the story of how mechanical music became part of everyday life.

In 1354 an astronomical clock was completed at the cathedral in Strasbourg France. The “Three Kings Clock” had installed several automata, which included a bird made of copper iron and wood, that flapped it’s wings, put out it’s feathers, opened it’s beak stuck out it’s tongue and crowed (using a reed and bellows). The clock also had another display featuring the three kings bowing before the baby Jesus at noon. This was accompanied by a tune played with a set of miniature carillon.

In 1500 The Arch Bishop of Salzburg in Austria ordered a mechanical organ to be built, it had no keyboard to be played manually, initially like the bell it was originally designed as a communication device, sounding the start and the end of the day throughout the city.

Almost 150 years later a barrel mechanism similar to that of those of carillon’s was installed and for the next 150 years it could only play the one song ( and you thought you get sick of hearing pop songs on the radio!)
In 1753 Leopold Mozart the Father of the more famous Wolfgang composed a further 11 pieces for it. Today unfortunately only 9 survive.  These type of instruments became known as “barrel organs”

These inventions may seem like a novelty today, but created and installed in places of such cultural significance, these were seen as the very latest wonders of mechanical technology,

It was not long until rich landowners, were having much smaller barrel organs built to be installed at home, to entertain themselves and their guests. The amazing thing.. they also had automata and were controlled much the same way as Ktselbiios and Hero had first designed them, yep you guessed it they were the Hydraulis!

By the late 1500’s this technology was used to create “flute clocks”, the clock and pipes were powered not by water but by a weight hung from a string.

Once again the pins on the barrel opened valves on the organ pipes.

To say that these became popular was an understatement, these were the iPhone of the day, in fact Germany’s Black Forest became the capital for organ building, between 1359 and 1780 there were more than 200 successful busy organ building companies.

It was in the 1700’s that automatic organs with keyboards, became popular in church’s across Europe. This was mainly due to the greater complexity in the pieces composed and general lack of talented organ players up to the task.

This technology also evolved to crank operated organs made famous by the image of the organ grinder and his monkey.

In the mid to late 1800’s the equivalent of the 68 inch plasma screen for the rich and famous, was the “Orchestron”.

They were designed to simulate an orchestra, somehow by just using organ pipes and percussion instruments! Once again the music was played by detachable barrels with raised pins.

It’s first version appeared at the start of 1800, was called “ThePanharmonicon”, was invented by Johann Nepomuk Maelzel and was made even more famous because Beethoven composed his celebration of the defeat of Napoleon “Wellingtons Sieg” on it.

This thing was huge! (see photo)

Because of the percussion involved, this was the first truly polyphonic orchestral instrument.

Just like comparing the first computers to the modern day devices such as pda’s, just think about what we can use today to play full hi-fidelity sound, compare this behemoth to the Apple Shuffle!

By about 1850, smaller more compact versions become available for the wealthy to have installed in their homes… I say smaller, but they would often take up an entire wall..

These for all intents and purposes were the first juke boxes, the first hifi’s, these we’re the start of music players with selectable music made for home entertainment. They were created for those that were not quite rich enough to afford musicians on staff.

America with it’s large amount of millionaires became a huge market for the manufactures of Orchestrons.

Toward the end of the 19^th century simultaneously in America and Europe , the technology spawned yet another version of the Orchestron. This time they were not made smaller for indoors, but were made for outdoors were often larger and always louder!
The automated organ had evolved into Europe’s Fair Ground Organs and America’s Band Organs.

These brash instruments were designed to be installed at circuses, carnivals, merry go rounds and ice skating rinks, and they were made to be loud! Their music was used to draw crowds, and be heard above them, the carnival rides and the noise of the carousel. These also had percussion effects, usually a bass drum, a cymbal and a snare, and often had ranks and ranks of pipes.

So the time was ripe, the marketing was everywhere these mechanical machines were a wondrous part of musical society.

Now the question asked was what can we do to make this available for many not just the few..
..and one of the answers arrived on paper that was in no language that had ever existed..

Tune into part 15 to find out what!

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