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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW.
for two sounding-boards in 1828, and Kirk was
granted one in 1836 for another adaptation of a
similar idea. Walker, Fissiore, Thomas Toud
Jr., Hulskamp and Driggs, all American piano
makers, experimented in the same direction.
Hulskamp originated a " compressed sounding-
board, " taking the violin belly as a model,
while Driggs, the best-known and most recent
of the above group, seems to have set up the
RELATING TO
violin as the gauge of his "improvements"
also. Even the late Frederick Mathushek took
TUNING, REGULATING AND TONING.
out an American and British patent in 1859 for
COPVRIGHT,
a piano which was to contain a sounding-board
EDWARD LYMAN BILL.
designed to make it somewhat similar to the
violin. The most simple proof of the non-
THE SOUNDING-BOARD AND ITS ACOUSTICS.
efficacy of the ideas which all the foregoing
53? HE quality of tone produced by piano strings inventors worked upon, and took pains to
>
substance which strikes them, as the writer has is anything in the application of the resonance
explained in the second paper of this series. physics of the violin to the structure of the
The sounding-board, meanwhile, plays an im- piano sounding-board it would have been already
portant part in influencing quality, while it plays developed beyond question. Yet there are prac-
a leading part in the power and energy which an tical and experienced piano-makers experiment-
instrument is capable of manifesting. Thus, if ing with the idea to-day. The principle of an
we were to reduce the vibrating surface of a arched sounding-board is a most fallacious con-
large upright sounding-board one-half—to as- ception of acoustic law in relation to the im-
sume such a condition for the purpose of illus- provement of the piano. In the first place, the
tration—we would materially reduce the dyna- violin belly is arched through necessity largely,
mic and resonant possibilities of the piano. for the flat belly could not bear the immense
Quality would not be so much affected, however, tensile strain imposed upon it. Again, and
by a change in the size of the board, though, of more important still, the violin, though an in-
course, it would be impossible to imagine a strument of the string family, belongs to the
piano without all the familiar principles in their "bowed " species. Discrimination is essential.
Dr. Stone, in a table dealing with all phases of
intactness.
the
subject, puts forth the following classifica-
The sounding-board fulfils the duties of a
tion
of the various methods for producing
resonating or intensifying agency, while it im-
musical
sounds through strings :
parts some of its own physical characteristics to
VIBRATIONS OF STRINGS.
the timbre of the piano ; to repeat an illustration
"1 a. Nature of
of its functions in different words. A simple ex-
] A. Plucking
I
stroke.
1. Transverse
Fvrif^n ^ I B c ' Striking
! b. Place
Excited
|
B
o
w
i
n
emplification of resonance is furnished through 2. Longitudinal b
struck.
with f
y
| I D . Impact
p
Rigidity
an ordinary tuning fork. Put it in vibration and 3. Tensional
J
of air
of string.
while it is held between the fingers the sound is
The harp is an illustration of "plucking,"
inaudible. Rest the heel of the fork on a table
or any other medium, and it is reinforced and the piano of '' striking,'' the violin of ' 'bow-
rendered audible. The intensity and power of ing, '' and the ^Eolian harp of sound produced
the sound produced by the fork is still greater through the '' impact of air.'' While the harp
when it is put in contact with such a superior and piano approximate to a large extent, the
violin stands out distinct from either as a
medium as a sounding-board.
A piano sounding-board is a more perfect in- '' bowed'' instrument of the stringed species. In
tensifying agency than the body of a violin, the piano the strings are principally the sound-
that is as an auxiliary to such a sound-producing producing agencies, while the sounding-board
medium as the fork, notwithstanding a current furnishes resonance. In the violin the bow
belief that the opposite is true. At the same smothers the free vibrations and demands the
time, the violin is the most sensitive organ of sympathy of every fibre in the body of the in-
resonance known in the domain of .stringed in- strument to produce sound. The mere effect of
struments. This led experimental piano manu- percussion could have little or no influence over
facturers to adapt some of its constructive feat- the resources of the violin with its wonderful
ures in the piano from time to time, but an sensitiveness. Its sensitiveness is, meantime,
utter misconception of acoustic law seems to conditioned to the use of the bow. The latter,
have pervaded these attempts. Failure to with its capacity for producing sustained tones,
accomplish an improvement of the sounding- has a penetrating and subtle influence over
board by those means has been the outcome so every fibre in the violin. An artistic performer
far. I have in mind a number of patents and can, by constant playing, improve its tone qual-
experiments brought out in Europe and in this ity to an incalculable extent, so much control
country for sounding-board improvements—so- does he hold over its every fibre through his
called—based upon an appropriation of the bow. The hammer of the piano has no such
Structural features of the violin body. Wheat- power, however. It takes a wild flight of ar-
stone, the celebrated scientist, and the inventor peggios, augmented by a licentious use of the
of the English concertina, attempted to "aug- loud pedal to bring forth a demonstration of
ment the tone of the pianoforte " by an eccentric what the piano sounding-board is really capable
sounding-board after the plan referred to. He as a medium of resonance. Now, there is some-
failed to accomplish anything, however, with all thing in the theory underlying the experiments
his knowledge of acoustics, for he labored under referred to. The violin body is admitted by the
a misconception regarding the relation of the writer to be a wonderfully sensitive agency, but
violin body to the piano sounding-board. Erard its constructive features would retard rather
the second and the inventive Pape of Paris, both than augment tone-production in the piano.
—singular as it may appear—labored under a The free vibrations of a few piano strings would
similar delusion, for they made various attempts be totally unable to penetrate and call forth the
to make pianos with sounding-boards construct- possibilities of a double sounding-board or any
ed on the plan of the violin. Gunther and other form approaching the violin. As re-
Wheatley Kirk, of London, also experimented marked, it takes considerable dynamic impulse
in this direction. The former took out a patent to call forth to any extent the latent powers of
SCIENTIFICJECHNICAL flND PRACTICfiL
1/NSTRUeTIONS
73
the sounding-board as it is, and it is in its most
effective form in the piano. Meanwhile, though
it is capable of considerable improvement—ad-
mittedly—time and experience will prove that a
flat, extensive surface of board, made of fine
well seasoned spruce is the best medium for
tone-production in the piano. When some in-
ventor steps in and applies the violin bow-prin-
ciple to the piano—to suppose what appears to
be improbable—there may be something in the
sounding-board idea to which so many clever in-
ventors devoted valuable time, enthusiasm, and
money.
Having remarked the power which the me-
chanical pianos of the street variety have for
penetrating and calling forth the resources of
the sounding-board surface, which they contain
within their comparatively small case limits, it
seems to the writer that a double sounding-
board would prove very effective in these, that
is to say, it would yield considerable more tone.
This may render them a greater nuisance than
they are at present, however. Yet my remark
is a purely theoretic one. The cylinder in these
instruments and its capacity for producing tones
of a sustained character, and its facilities for
mechanically commanding a greater range of
tones at once, enable it to evoke the latent
sympathy of the sounding-board to an extent
impossible to any ordinary performer on a key-
board instrument. Were it possible to produce
sustained effects on the ordinary piano, mean-
while, through some mechanical agency such as
a revolving cylinder, a double sounding-board
would prove capable of yielding fine effects, but
under existing conditions, a good, liberal ex-
panse of sviperficial vibratory surface, that de-
mands little penetration to throw it into sympa-
pathy with the strings, is the best for the piano
makers' art.
Aside from the experiments adverted to, the
improvement of the sounding-board in its ac-
cepted aspects has always been a subject of deep
interest to piano makers. Recognition of spruce
as the best wood for the purpose, has come out
of experience and experiment. The progressive
and thoughtful piano maker is allowed consid-
erable latitude for the exercise of ingenuity and
originality in adapting the ordinary board to
new scales and improved instruments. As it is,
it is far from being perfectly developed. Its
thickness, ribbing, together with the general
disposition of the bridges, play a part in its
capacity, and while improvements in scaling are
going on, the sounding-board can be adapted to
still higher purposes.
•
DANIEL SPILLANE.
?ERR SIEGFRIED WAGNER, the only son
and heir of the composer, Richard Wagner,
and of Frau Cosima (daughter of the Abbe Liszt),
is making the modern grand tour. Last autumn
he visited England, but letters which have just
arrived state that he is now visiting Japan and
China and will return home to Bayreuth via San
Francisco. In New York the adherents of German
opera propose to organize in his honor an im-
portant fete, in which of course his father's
music will play a prominent part.—London
News.
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