Delaware gazette and state journal., 1884-01-17
ITEMS OF LOCAL INTEREST

EEi. BISIfOF BECKEsR.
The Unity club lecture Mr
.. E. Nicholson raiks About III
| principles. Construction and Isis
tory of Nusicat Instruments
A large audience attended the meetin
| OF the Unity Climb in the First Unitarial
| Church last evening week when the secon,
lecture of the season was delivered by ]
Il Nicholson on "Musio aud Muaicisns.
The Introductory remarks dealt will
the acoustic principles which underli
the production of musical sounds. Whei
| by means of a shock, or series of shocks
column of air is set in vibrating motion
sound is produced, and ii the waves err
regular and follow each other at close in
| tervsls, the mental effect is that of
musical note. The character OF this not,
varies with the structure Of the inStru
ment by which it is produced but tn.
principle OF all musical sounds is til,
game.
Musical instruments are all constructed
on the common principle Of producing
vibrations by mechanical means ant
storing up or regulating the diffusion o
these vibrations by sounding board, at
il the violin or by oonicsl exit, as il
| the trumpet.
Musical instruments as ordinarily con.
stIueted develop sound, i. g., cause
vibrations in the air, in one of four ways
By mesus of strings or wires, as in the
lutte, harp, zitber, violin, violoncello
guitar aud piano. BY shocks communi.
Gated to the air enclosed in pipes, as in
the flute, piccolo, trumpet, clarinette and
church organ. By forcing air through
thin brass or steel plates, free at one ex-
tremity, and called reeds, as in the &C,
cordeoD, cOncertins and parlor organ.
By shocks communicated to sheets oi
elastic material stretched on an air-tighl
frame as in the drum. The triangle,
csstanets, oymbsls and less familiar in
strumenta are chiefly notifications OF the
first form of producing sound.
Probably the most ancient form OF
musical instrument was the piocolo, as
represented by the shepherds pipe
although il the drum and cymbal are to
be dignified as producers OF sweet sound
both may be credited with high
antiquity.
The sounding board plays much more
important psrt in the production oil
musical sounds than is generally i'm.
sgined 1t not only increases the amount
but influences the quality aud regulates
the diffusion OF the sound waves. In no
instrument Is this so clearly shown as in
the violin, for here the shape OF the
sounding board aud its component mate
rials vitality affect the excellence OF its
tones.
The part played by the sounding
board is curiously illustrated by expert.
ments, for one OF which We are indebted
to Sir Charles Wheatstone. II piano is
played in the basement of building,
persons sitting in closed room ON the
third story will not hear the sound. But
il wooden rod be carried up from the
floor in which the piano stands through
the ceilings of the intervening rooms and
on its upper end in the third story room
harp be- poised, the music of the piano
will be distinctly heard, and ouriously
enough the sounds of the piano will
appear 10 be dihused from the harp. Tue
same effect is produced If violin OF
guitar bs substituted for the harp. We
have thus the singular apparent effect OF
guitar performing pianofjrte selec-
tiou, and the experiment may be reversed
with equally effective results
The violin is the most perfect OF ell
musical instruments, and its growth and
development is perhaps the most remark
able illustration We possess of the cOnoen.
trstiou of individual genius on a solitary
object. We can conceive of manifold
impro ements yet to be accomplished in
the most magnificent church organ OF
piano we possess. Both of the instrn.
ments are iull of imperfections. Neither
is capable of producing smaller division
OF a note than a semi tone, that is the
interval between b and G or L and +
while it il we'll known TO pianotorte
tuners, that the exact rendering Of Ger,
tain passages demands the division of 6
| note into its fourth, and the production
of intervals which the mechanical con.
atruction OF keyed instruments rendered
impossible. ....
s==The first approach to violin is in
form chi, fly, aud We find it iu the rebek
three stringed lut- of the ninth
century. The aIou:h OF the eleventh
century was step backward 30 far a,
tho shape was concerned, but great i'm
prlvement was effected in the introiuc
tion Of the junction Of the front and bach
by sides. Next came the rotta, nearly
resembling the guitar, IN which the body
uf the instrument partook of the double
curve. The viols OF the twelfth century
were all based on the characteristics o
the r-bec, the crouth and the rotta, and
possessed all their defects 1t was not til
the year 1920 that the first violin wa
produced. Brescia and Cremona were til,
seats OF the early violin factories, aud tn,
| Cremons instruments have never beci
| urp,sstd. They are as good 0.day a.
| they var 100 years a2p, but the wonder
| is what has become at them. Hundred,
| # isputri Cremonas are on sSie, but tL,
Number of genuine master pieces of Amat
aud Strsiiyari may be counted on til,
fingers.
Every detail OF q violin may make o.
mar the perfection Of the whole. Ever
the two "f' curves, through which tn
sound escapes, have some mysteriun
connection with the mysterieB Of III
tone. So with the curves at the ton
corners so With the arch Of the from
or "belly" as It ia called ; so with til
4 nndulata & lines OF the sides SO will
the weight and structure OF the littl
blouk aud slips in tbs interior--.etail
which to the average mau would tesn
trivial but which in violin mean every
thing.
The modern piauoforte may he trace,
upwards in successive ages through ia
harp Of the Egyptians, Greeks an,
Romans, the dulcimer and pssltery of IL
Assyrans and Hebrews, the citole, clavi
cytherium, mouochord, virginal, spine
aud harpsiehori. The virginia. is tn
dawn Of tue piano; Il ia supposed to hav
been named after Queen Elizabeth. Ii
order to give variety of EXPRESSION til
makers of the harpsichord exhauste,
their powers Of invention i'll cOntrivin
Jacks or hammers OF every conceivabl
material to impsrt soft and loud effects
No. till Cristofsli, an Italian, made til
first piano did il occur to any one this
the effect might be produced by til
touch OF the performer himself.
MIR. Nicholson closed his lecture with
description Of the growth OF the psrlC
organ, and performed on Wilcox
White instrument "Cujus Amman" iror
Stabat Mater, BOssini "Parigi Cara !
Verdi "The Wanderers Prayer froi
Nose in Esitto, Rossini "When Othe
Lips" from the Bohemian Girl, Bslfs
"TEe Last Rose of Summer" from Mar b
Flotow, and the Russian, French an
German national anthems.
Dr. IL. K. Wilson will lecture upon IL
Spanish lrqusition before the club at Il
next meeting, ......