Pawtucket tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 1890-189?, 1895-07-10
COLOR IN MUSIC NOW.
AN ORGAN WHOSE MELODY IS FLASH.
ED ON A SCREEN.
Remarkable Invention Which May Prove
That Color and Sound Are Closely Rc-
lated -- Interesting Experiments and
: Queer Instances In This Relation.

queer instances In THIS iselntion.
Can sounds be translated into color and
can the musical tones that now exist solely
for the ear be transformed until they ap.
peal definitely To the eye ~ wellY That Is
the modern and also an old Question
which Is being answered In the affirmative
by the deyotecs OF what Is known as "color
music.
The art has suddenly become a serious
one, and IA wealthy artist named Riving-
ton, who lives I'm London has recently In.
vented and put into operation, at "A cost OF
nearly 80 900, color organ" by means
Of which, ms certain notes are struck the
melody Is reproduced I'm IA bewildering sue
cession OF color tones and combinations on
screen ut the same instant they are
heard by the ear.
At preliminary recital In st. James
hall, LONDON, the other day the dclicacy
OF this new instrument was tested and
its responsiveness was found to be wholly
adequate. Chopin's preludcs were played,
and the screen showed bewildering sue
cession of rhJthmical waves of color, pass
ing SO rapidly that 1t was hard for the eye
to take them all In, ranging from begin
ming to end OF the spectrum and flashing
not only the intermediate tones, half zones
and quarter tones Of color, but also innu-
merable lovely combinations which hither-
to had never suggested themselves to the
Imagination, but were the inevitable re-
suits OF "a harmony that worked the same
for the oye as for the ear.
Hardly possible and moro within the
domain Of fairyland than tho regions of
actual science seems this art Of "color
music" but 1t is certain that this much
was actually ccomplished-that unending
combinations of color were produced by
the mechanical principles that govern the
diatonic scale and musical octayes
What the exact details OF his instrument
may be and just how each color Is pro-
duced Mr.. Rivington will not divulge.
All that Is known Is that the new "color
organ" Is played upon q keyboard which
Is almost the exact counterpart Of that
used for piano, and that whenever note
Is struck it's color appears upon the screen.
Chords show combinations of tints that
are only comparable to harmonic combina-
tions Of musical notes, middle G CORE
spending for example, to the low red of
the spectrum The other C's of the key
board, when struck, show yet other reds,
toning perfectly.
Without Carrying the description further
1t may thus readily be seen how the colors
grade, shade and tone and how the sharp
enjng of piano note or its flattening
makes the suggestion of q change In color
hardly to be expressed with a painters
brush, yet quite perceptible to the visual
senses.
This instrument has an especial fascina-
tion, for the reason that 1t is the first In
the world to show definite connection be-
tween sound and color. There has existed
M al 20 90
mysterious faculty of "color hearing"
This was first brought to notice compare
lively recently In the experiences of DR..
Nussbaumer.
For Nussbaumer each sound had its pc
culiar color, this word corresponding to
red, this note to blue, this to yellow and
this to green. While child he was strik-
ing In his play a 'rk against glass. AS
he heard the sound an impression of q
color flashed quickly into his mind, vary
ing in tint by the energy with which he
struck the glass, and after stopping his
ears tightly he could divine merely by his
eyes just how loudly the glass had sounded
Other men may be instanced to whose
organs of sight the waves of sound were
in some way perceptible. There was
youth of Zurich recently to whom musical
notes presented themselves In shades and
stints, high pitched sounds showing clear
and brilliantly to the sight and low ones
duly and somberly. M Pedrono, an
opthalmologist Of Nantes, had friend
whose name has not been recorded, but
whose popularity along these lines was
very marked. Several young fellows were
talking in his presence one day, and jok-
ing expression, "That's as fine as yellow
dog" being popular In their set, they ap
x.ls 30 lzlN
across the street. The gentleman who
heard in color, Immediately lifted himself
up In response
"No," he said, "his voice is not yellow;
1t Is pure red."
When pressed for an explanation, he an
swered quite simply that he could see the
color of voices. Medical men examined
him and found that his hearing, his sight
and his general health were oil perfect. In
explaining the phenomenon they agreed
that it was that his chromatic sensitive
ness was so sharp that the luminous i'm
preston was made before the sonorOus
one, for they found that before he could
judge of the quality and intensity of
sound he had seen 1t and knew It's color.
Most interesting Of ALL there was no
sensation of the eye ut times. When his
eyee were shut and bandaged, sounds con-
veyed direct color impressions to his mind.
When his eyes were opened and looking
directly at the sonorous body, the sound
appeared In it's color, according TO his
statement, as near as possible to the body
itself. Should n piano be played, the color
was over the keys. In the case Of guitar
IL hung on the vibrating strings, and as
regards singing points of color came and
went in rapid succession directly over tho
vocalists' heads.
In tho light Of history Rivington's in
vention has not that newness and novelty
IL would seem to have So far back as
1874 Father Castel, n French Jesuit, con
structod model Of "color harpsichord"
That this ingenious priest died before
his device was quite perfected does not
destroy the originality of his idea nor the
priority of his claim. No details of the
construction of his instrument have come
down tn az mr. Iox, h,,t O..