A NEW KIND OF KEYED MUSICAL INSTRUMENT COMBINING THE EFFECTS OF PERCUSSION INSTRUMENTS OR THE EFFECT OP TRUMPETS AND SIMILAR INSTRUMENTS WITH THE EFFECTS OF ORDINARY KEYED INSTRUMENTS
Year: 1861

page_text: Sealed the 4th February 1862, and dated the 25th October 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jean Baptiste Schalken-
bach at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 25th October 1861.
I, JEAN BAPTISTE SCHALKENBACH, of Treves, Rhenish Prussia, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW KIND OF KEYED MUSICAL
INSTRUMENT COMBINING THE EFFECTS OF PERCUSSION INSTRUMENTS OR THE EFFECT
OP TRUMPETS AND SIMILAR INSTRUMENTS WITH THE EFFECTS OF ORDINARY KEYED
INSTRUMENTS," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in combining several musical instruments in one
case, so as to constitute one compound instrument, which I designate an
orchestral piano. The following is an example of the manner of combining
and arranging certain kinds of musical instruments for the purposes of this
Invention: I take certain instruments, the sound from which is produced
by percussion, such as big drums, marching drums, cymbals, tam-tams, and

page_text: trangles; these I adapt to harmoniums, pianofortes, and other keyed instru-
ments of similar character, in such manner as to enable the performer to play
them either with the hand or the arm without interrupting the execution of
the piece of music by the other parts of the instrument. And by a particular
arrangement of the marching drums I obtain, by means of keys, the greater
part of the effects which a clever performer can now produce by the use of the
ordinary drum sticks. And by a peculiar contrivance adapted to harmoniums,
organs, and similar musical instruments, I am enabled to lock or set the keys
thereof, and thus enable the performer to play on the percussion instruments
while the chords or tones of the instrument are sustained or prolonged when
certain effects are required to be produced. Lastly, by the adaptation to
such said keyed instruments of a series of metal- funnels or mouth-pieces to
the sound holes thereof, and by a corresponding action of the tremolo valve, I
am enabled to produce a tone resembling that of a trumpet or tuba.
I now proceed to describe the mode of arranging and combining the several
parts and musical instruments, as follows:-For an harmonium I employ a
keyboard with springs resting on the ends of the keys. In front on the lower
edge of the body of the instrument I fix two metal plates, which are introduced
by means of the openings into the two screw heads of the instrument in the
edge of the body thereof; one of such said metal plates carries the stops or
hammers, and the other carries other stops or hammers, which are composed
of round copper rods or guides, on to which are screwed ivory keys at the
same height as the keyboard, but distant from it about 1 or 2 inches, so that
the fleshy part of the performer's thumb or the fore arm may act upon them
while the fingers are engaged upon the keys. The effects thus produced are
as follows:-On the first mentioned metal plate the sound of the big drum
and marching drum, and on the second mentioned plate the sound of soft
cymbals, tam-tams, loud cymbals, and triangle. In order to establish a
connection between the keys or stops and the percussion instruments corre-
sponding respectively to them, the vertical front of the harmonium bas on its
lower edge the first-mentioned metal plate, on which are arranged the stops
or hammers, and on the lower surface of this said plate is fitted a box in
which two brass cams separated by a diaphragm move up and down, and vice
versa, by means of a rod traversing their hinder rods. On these cams and
near the front thereof are screwed arms formed of flat watch springs of medium
strength, which terminate in small hollow balls situated on the back of the
box aforesaid; I also employ two flat springs fastened by screws underneath;
these springs press upon the brass cams aforesaid immediately below the rod
which traverses them, and thus support the arms with the hollow balls.
At

page_text: their ends certain rods or guide pieces traverse the first-mentioned metal
plate. These rods are moveable by means of hinges, and are fixed to the
front ends of the brass cams aforesaid. The height of the round keys is
determined by a stop-piece on the cams aforesaid, which rests on the box.
aforesaid, and the amount of pressure depends on the regulation of the flat
springs before mentioned, which is effected by the adjustment of screws
inserted above said springs. Thus when the keys are depressed the balls beat
the drum placed beneath them, and the movement of the springs aforesaid
combined with the elasticity of the parchment of the drums produces by
simply pressing on the keys a roll, which may be prolonged or made to cease
at will, and be increased or diminished in loudness to any extent. In this
manner, especially if two fingers are applied to the keys, every kind of note or
rythm producible by the drum played in the ordinary way.may be executed on it
by means of the above contrivance. The amount of pressure not being limited
by a stop-piece the balls and rods may be depressed much below the level of
the surface of the drum, so that the performer has perfect command of every
variety of expression. The capabilities of the instrument may be still further
increased by adding a third rod, on which a ball is fixed on a stiff arm instead
of a spring, and as before described, which may be acted on by means of a
third stop or key.
To return to the first part of my Invention which the above explanation of
the second part is intended to render more intelligible, the stops before
mentioned pass through the first-mentioned metal plate towards an iron wedge
fixed on a binge of the box before mentioned. At the lower end of the
aforesaid wedge there is another hinged arm which traverses a spring rod
mounted on the back of the instrument. This said arm and rod are connected.
by a pin, and a leather washer is introduced between them. The stops are
kept in proper direction by a brass ear, and a spiral spring supports it. When
downward pressure is exerted the wedge and arm which has free motion upon
it strikes the rod and its cushioned ball against the big drum fixed at the
back of the harmonium. The performer can vary the sound of the drum
from loud to soft, and vice versa; and it is so placed and contrived that he
may play it from time to time with the palm of his hand, but such a per-
formance, if continued, would injure the drum, whereas the action of a key
upon it has the character of an elastic blow.
I now proceed to describe the second metal plate aforesaid, as follows:-The
lower part of this plate is in all essential points the same as the lower part of
the first-mentioned plate, but the hammer instead of having a round key has a
rather long ivory rod attached to it, by which the triangle can be played with

page_text: the left wrist, the hand being in any convenient position. The lower spring
rod, instead of a hollow ball like that of the marching drum hammer, has fixed
to it an iron rod an inch long, which plays the triangle, this instrument being
fixed in a central position. The triangle, instead of having the ordinary
equilateral shape, is slightly compressed thus to take up less room in
height, because immediately under it are hung the cymbals, played by
hammers, the lower part of which is exactly like that of the drum hammers.
One of these hammers has a plain metal bell at the top thereof, which
produces a purely metallic sound, and the hammer of which the ball is covered
with leather and felt produces the bell-like sound of the tam-tam, and another
hammer carries an ivory rod, which striking on the centre of the instrument
produces the delicate silvery tone of the small cymbals. Lastly, on the top of
a rod, and moveable round it, is a little rod of iron, long enough to touch with
its end another rod fixed at the top of a former rod if struck in that
direction, so that pressure exercised on one rod shall push down the other rod,
and thus play the triangle and the cymbals together; but the chief object of
this contrivance is to allow of the cymbals being played by the left wrist of the
performer, whatever the position of the hand; to effect this the hammer is
lengthened, and when the triangle is to be played alone, one rod may be
pushed aside by a slight movement of the hand. The above instruments are
very easily played by the wrist or arm, while the hands are on the keys of the
harmonium. Nevertheless, to give effect to the drum, it should be played by
two fingers, for which purpose one hand must be lifted from the keys while
the other continues the note or introduces appropriate passages; but to
facilitate the performance, and also to afford the means of using the drum and
the other instruments above named during the prolongation of chords, and to
obtain grand orchestral effects on organs and harmoniums, I employ the
mechanism herein-after described. I would here observe that the adaptation
of rods producing the roll of the kettle drum on the big drum, the addition of
kettle drums, fitted with hammers like the marching drum, and the addition
of castanets and other like instruments, all form part of this Invention, although
I do not consider it necessary here to describe them, particularly as the mode
of adapting them to the keyed instruments, and producing their different
effects, are substantially similar to that already described for drums and
other instruments. Another mode of arrangement is as follows:-I employ
keys with springs resting on their hinder ends. At the back and near the top
of the body of the harmonium, are placed steel or iron rods severed in the
middle; the halves of this rod are screwed on to the body of the instrument,
while their points enter the rod like a pivot. At the point where the rods

page_text: meet near the middle of the body is a brass bearing, having two pins extending
laterally into the aforesaid rods, so that these turn respectively upon them.
There are little rings on the aforesaid rods, which serve as points of attach-
ment for catgut strings, which are stretched on bridges placed beneath the rods
aforesaid, and near the hinder edge thereof, where they pass over rollers set in
the thickness of the wood of the instrument, and are fastened to the metal
piece on a copper joint forming the end of certain wedges, which turn on
screws fixed in the wood. At the lower end of these wedges there is an opening
made to receive the points of iron rods which pass under the whole depth of
the body of the instrument. There are other rods which turn on brackets
standing out from the front of the. instrument under the keyboard to receive
two copper arms, which close down on the rods by pushing the copper arms
aforesaid one against the other, thus
The former rods separate and draw
down the wedges aforesaid with the joints, together with the strings attached
to them, and thus cause the rods to rotate. The extent of this rotation is
regulated by screws against which the wedges, are pushed. As soon as the
pressure is taken off the arms, the rods are brought back to their original
position by spiral screws. To the hinder end of all the keys of the harmoniums
little steel or other springs are adapted, which pass through the wood of the
keys, and being curved towards the bottom, pass between the leather covering
and the lower surface of the wood, and are then curved upwards into a notch
in the hinder part of the key. This upward curved part constitutes the spring,
its point being crooked like that of a fine hook; or these springs may be
fastened by screws to the back of the keys; they are placed vertically, so that
when the keys are put down they do not touch the rods aforesaid, which are
immediately before them with their flat vertical side turned towards them, still
they move freely up and down. By pressing the arms before mentioned the
rods aforesaid are so turned that their round side is downwards and their flat
side uppermost, and a little slanted forwards. The spring aforesaid rises by
the effect of the pressure on the key, and rests by its hook on the edge of one
or other of the aforesaid rods; or if the key has already been pressed down,
the edge of one of the rods is brought under the hook, in either case the key
remains as pressed down, and the sound is prolonged as long as the pressure
is continued on the arms. When raised, the rods return to their original
position, and the little hooks slip off them; one rod serves for the bass and the
other rod for the treble. Any number of keys in the treble or bass may be
thus treated according as one rod is longer or shorter than the other.

page_text: Another arrangement consists in fitting to the sounding board placed over
the air valves used to deaden the sound in harmoniums and such like instru-
ments, metallic mouthpieces, or funnels like those used in large brass
instruments, by which I obtain a sound similar to that of a brass instrument
by using the tremolo, a well-known contrivance, but the air valve of the
tremolo should be but slightly weighted in order to obtain very rapid vibrations,
which will impart to the sound produced not only the metallic tone resulting
from the metallic mouth-pieces, but also the melancholy and pathetic expression
peculiar to large brass instruments. If the mechanism described in the first
part of this Specification be employed alone, that is, not adapted to any other
instruments, but enclosed in a case to which a keyboard may be adapted, the
keys of which correspond to the different hammers, it forms an instrument
which may be very advantageously employed to accompany an organ or
harmonium, or to take part in an orchestra when made on a larger scale.
I also propose to adapt to an harmonium on which is placed an harmoni-flute,
these two instruments communicating with each other, a peal of bells and
wooden pipes to imitate the note of the cuckoo, also a whistle similar to a
locomotive steam whistle; their proper sound is produced by means of little
hammers or stops. I also employ a hollow ball placed before a valve in the
harmoni-flute. When this valve is opened by means of the stop placed
beside it, the air enters the ball (which turns freely on its axis) through a
hole, and by this means, according to the position of the ball, sounds are
produced which are sometimes like the whistle of a locomotive, sometimes
like the raging of the storm. These effects are often employed in orchestral
music, especially in quadrille bands.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Jean Baptiste Schalkenbach in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 25th April 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JEAN
BAPTISTE SCHALKENBACH, of Treves, Rhenish Prussia, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Jean Baptiste Schalkenbach, Her special licence that I, the said Jean
Baptiste Schalkenbach, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such

page_text: others as I, the said Jean Baptiste Schalkenbach, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time
to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "A NEW KIND OF KEYED MUSICAL INSTRUMENT COMBINING THE
EFFECTS OF PERCUSSION INSTRUMENTS OR THE EFFECT OF TRUMPETS AND SIMILAR
INSTRUMENTS WITH THE EFFECTS OF ORDINARY KEYED INSTRUMENTS," upon the
conditions, amongst others, that I, the said Jean Baptiste Schalkenbach, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their,
or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Jean Baptiste Schalkenbach, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, that is to say:―
This Invention consists in combining several musical instruments in one
case, so as to constitute one compound instrument, which I designate an
orchestral piano.
First, in adapting certain instruments the sound of which is produced
by percussion, such as big drums, marching drums, cymbals, tam-tams,
triangles, and such like instruments, to harmoniums, pianofortes, and other
keyed instruments, in such a manner that the performer may play them with
the hand or arm without interrupting the execution of the piece of music..
Secondly, in a particular construction of the marching drum for the purposes
of my Invention, so as to obtain, by means of keys, the greater part of.
the effects which a clever drummer could produce with the ordinary drum
sticks.
Thirdly, in a peculiar contrivance applicable to harmoniums, organs, and
other instruments, by which the keys may be temporarily locked or set, in
order to leave the performer at liberty to play on the percussion instrunient
while the chords or tones of the instrument are sustained or prolonged when
certain effects are to be produced.
Fourthly, in the application of a series of metal funnels or mouth-pieces to
the sound holes of harmoniums and other instruments, by means of which and

page_text: a corresponding action of the tremolo valve, a tone is produced which imitates
that of a trumpet or tuba.
And in order to explain my said Invention as completely as possible, I now
proceed to describe the best means I am acquainted with for carrying the
same into practical effect, reference being had to the illustrative Sheets of
Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the numeral figures and letters of refer-
ence marked thereon respectively, as follows:-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
As regards the first part of my said Invention, Figure 1 is a vertical plan of
the instrument. His the upper edge, shewing thickness of the wood forming.
the sides of an harmonium; I is the keyboard, with the spring K resting on
the ends of the keys. In front, on the lower edge of the body of the instru-
ment, are fixed two metal plates A and B, which are introduced by means of
the openings 2, 2, into the two screw heads 3, 3, in the edge of the body of the
instrument. The piece A carries the stops or hammers D; C, C, and B carry
those marked E³, E, E, E; these keys, stops, or hammers are composed of
round copper rods or guides; on to which are screwed ivory keys at the same
height as the keyboard, but distant from it about 1 or 2 inches, so that the
fleshy part of the performer's thumb or the fore-arm may act upon them while
the fingers are engaged upon the keys. The effects produced thereby are as
follow: On the metallic plate A, D, big drum, C, C, marching drum, on the
metallic plate B; E³, soft cymbals; E³, tam-tam; E¹, loud cymbals; F, triangle.
In order to explain the connexion between the keys or stops and the per-
cussion instruments corresponding respectively to them, I must refer to
Figure 2, which illustrates the second part of my said Invention. Figure 2 is
a front view in perspective of the harmonium. N represents the vertical front
of the instrument, having on its lower edge the plate A, on which are arranged
the stops or hammers D, C, C; on the lower surface of this plate is fitted a
box in which two brass cams separated by a diaphragm move up and down,
and vice versâ, by means of a rod traversing their hinder ends. On these cams,
near the front, are screwed the arms Q, Q, formed of flat watch springs of
medium strength, which terminate in small hollow balls P, P; situated on the
back of the iron box U are two flat springs R, R, fastened by screws under-
neath these springs press upon the brass cams aforesaid immediately below
the rod which traverses them, and thus support the arms Q, Q, with the
hollow balls P, P, at their ends. The rods or guide pieces C, C, traverse the
metal plate A; these rods are moveable by means of hinges, and are fixed to

page_text: the front ends of the brass cams aforesaid. The height of the round keys C, C,
is determined by a stop-piece on the cams aforesaid, which rest on the box U
aforesaid, and the amount of pressure depends on the regulation of the flat
springs R, R, before mentioned, which is effected by the adjustment of the
screws inserted above the springs R, R; thus, when the keys C, C, are
depressed, the balls P, P, beat the drum O placed beneath them, and the
movement of the springs Q, Q, and R, R, combined with the elasticity of the
parchment of the drum, produces, by simply pressing on the keys G, G, a roll,
which may be prolonged or made to cease at will, and be increased or
diminished in loudness to any extent. In this manner (especially if two
fingers are applied to the keys) every kind of note or rythm producible by
the drum played in the ordinary way may be executed on it by means of the
above contrivance. The amount of pressure not being limited by a stop-piece,
the balls and rods aforesaid may be depressed much below the level of the
surface of the drum, so that the performer has perfect command of every
variety of expression. The capabilities of the instrument may be still further
increased by adding a third rod, on which a ball is fixed on a stiff arm instead
of a spring, as before described, and which may be acted on by means of a
third stop or key C, C.
To return to the first part of my Invention, which the above explanation of
the second part is intended to render more intelligible, the stops D, before
mentioned, pass through the plate A towards an iron wedge W, W, fixed on a
hinge of the box V. At the lower end of W there is another hinged arm k,
which traverses a spring rod S, Z, mounted on the back of the instrument.
This arm X and rod S, Z, are connected by a pin, and a leather washer is
introduced between them. The stops D are kept in proper direction by a
brass ear L, and a spiral spring M supports it. When downward pressure is
exerted the wedge W and arm 2, which has free motion upon it, strikes the
rod S, Z, and its cushioned ball S against the big drum fixed at the back of
the harmonium. The performer can vary the sound of the drum from loud to
soft, and vice versâ, and it is so placed and contrived that he may play it from
time to time with the palm of his hand, but such a performance if continued
would injure the drum, whereas the action of the key D upon it has the
character of an elastic blow.
I now proceed to describe the metal plate B, Figure 1, as follows:-The
lower part of this plate is not shewn on the Drawing, as in all essential points
it is the same as the lower part of the plate A, but the hammer E, instead of
having a round key, has a rather long ivory rod attached to it, by which the
triangle can be played with the left wrist, the hand being in any convenient

page_text: position. The lower spring rod aforesaid, instead of a hollow ball, like that of
the marching drum's hammer, has an iron rod fixed to it an inch long, which
plays the triangle, this instrument being fixed in a central position. The
triangle, instead of having the ordinary equilateral shape A, is slightly com-
pressed thus, to take up less room in height, because immediately under
it are hung the cymbals, played by the hammers E³, E³, E¹, the lower part of
which is exactly like that of the drum hammers. The hammer E' has at-top
thereof a plain metal ball, which produces a purely metallic sound, and the
hammer E³, of which the ball is covered with leather and felt, produces the
bell-like sound of the tam-tam, and E³ carries an ivory rod, which, striking on
the centre of the instrument, produces the delicate silvery tone of the small
cymbals. Lastly, on the top of the rod E, and moveable round it, is a little
rod of iron, long enough to touch with its end another rod fixed at the top of
the rod E', if struck in that direction, so that pressure exercised on the rod E,
shall push down said rod E, and thus play the triangle and the cymbals
together, but the chief object of this contrivance is to allow of the cymbals
being played by the left wrist of the performer, whatever the position of the
band; to effect this the hammer E is lengthened, and when the triangle is to
be played alone the little rod before mentioned may be pushed aside by a
slight movement of the hand. Instead of employing a metallic ball to strike
the cymbal, as above stated, two cymbals may be used, striking one against
the other.
The above instruments are very easily played by the wrist or arm while the
hands are on the keys of the harmonium; nevertheless to give effect to the drum
it should be played by two fingers, for which purpose one hand must be lifted
from the keys while the other continues the note or introduces appropriate
passages; but to facilitate the performance, and also to afford the means of
using the drum and the other instruments above named during the pro-
longation of chords, and to obtain grand orchestral effects on organs and
harmoniums, I employ the mechanism herein-after described, which forms the
third part of my said Invention, and I would here observe that the adaptation
of rods producing the roll of the kettle drum on the big drum, the addition
of kettle drums fitted with hammers like the marching drum, and the
addition of castanets and other like instruments, all form part of my said
Invention, although I do not consider it necessary here to describe them par-
ticularly, as the mode of adapting them to the keyed instrument, and producing
their different effects, are substantially similar to that already described for
drums and other instruments.
Another mode of arrangement is as follows, with regard to the third part of

page_text: my Invention:-Figure 3 is a vertical plan seen from above. I shows the
edge or thickness of the body of an harmonium; J are the keys, with springs
resting on their hinder ends. At the back and near the top of the body of the
harmonium are placed steel or iron rods a, b, severed in the middle; the
halves a, b, of this rod are screwed on to the body of the instrument by
the screws C, C, of which the threaded part traverses the wood, while their
points, flat and polished, enter the rod like a pivot. At the point where the
rods a, b, meet near the middle of the body is a brass bearing d, having two
pins extending laterally into the rods a, b, so that these turn respectively upon
them. The little rings on a, b, serve as points of attachment for catgut strings
9, 9, which are stretched on bridges f, f, placed beneath the rods aforesaid
and near the hinder edge thereof, where they pass over rollers h, h, set in the
thickness of the wood of the instrument, and are fastened to the metal piece
on a copper joint i, i, Figure 3. The pieces i, i, form the end of the wedges
i, k, l, m, which turn on the screws t, r, fixed in the wood; at the lower end of
these wedges an opening m, m, is made to receive the points of the iron
rods n, n, which pass under the whole depth of the body of the instrument
(see Figure 1, at n); n, o, p, are rods which turn on brackets a, o, standing
out from the front of the instrument under the key-board to receive two copper
arms p, p, which close down on the rods by pushing the copper arms aforesaid
one against the other, thus,
The rods n, o, p, which pivot on O, separate
at the point n, and draw down the wedges aforesaid with the joints i", k, l, m³,
at Figure 3, together with the strings attached to them, and thus cause the
rods a, b, to rotate. The extent of this rotation is regulated by screws against
which the wedges are pushed. As soon as the pressure is taken off the
arms p, p, at Figure 1, the rods a, b, are brought back to their original
position by spiral screws 7, 9, of which the inner end is fixed to a, b, and the
outer end to the inner surface of the transverse portion of the body of the
instrument, passing therefore over a, b, as seen at Figure 4. To the hinder
end of all of the keys of the harmonium are little steel or other springs r, r,
Figure 4, which pass, as shewn on the Drawing, through the wood of the
keys, and being curved towards the bottom pass between the leather covering
and the lower surface of the wood, and are then curved upwards into a notch
in the binder part of the key. This upward curved part constitutes the spring,
its point being crooked like that of a fine hook; or these springs may be
fastened by screws to the back of the keys. They are placed vertically, so that
when the keys are put down they do not touch the rods a, b, aforesaid, which

page_text: are immediately before them, with their flat vertical side turned towards them,
as at Figure 4, but move freely up and down. By pressing the arms p, p,
Figure 1, the rods a, b, are so turned that their round side is downwards, and
their flat side uppermost and a little slanted forward, as at Figure 5. The spring
r, aforesaid, rises by the effect of the pressure on the key, and rests by its hook
on the edge of one or other of the rods a or b; or, if the key has already been
pressed down, the edge of one of the rods a, b, is brought under the hook; in
either case the key remains as pressed down, and the sound is prolonged as
long as the pressure is continued on the arms p, p. When raised the rods a, b,
return to their original position, and the little hooks slip off them. The rod a
serves for the bass, and 6 for the treble. Any number of keys in the treble
or bass may be thus treated, according as one or other of the rods a or b is
longer or shorter. By adapting over the sounding board placed over the air
valves used to deaden the sound in harmoniums and such like instruments,
metallic funnels or mouthpieces like those used in large brass instruments, I
obtain a sound similar to that of a brass instrument, by using the tremolo, a
well-known contrivance; but the air valve of the tremolo should be but
slightly weighted, in order to obtain very rapid vibrations, which will impart
to the sound produced not only the metallic tone resulting from the metal
mouthpieces, but also the melancholy and pathetic expression peculiar to large
brass instruments.
If the mechanism described in the first and second parts of my Specification
be employed alone, that is, not adapted to any other instruments, but enclosed
in a case to which a key-board may be adapted, the keys of which correspond
to the different hammers, it forms an instrument which may be very advan-
tageously employed to accompany an organ or harmonium, or to take part in
an orchestra when made on a larger scale.
At Figure 6, I represents an harmonium, on which is placed an harmoni-
flute H; these two instruments communicate with each other by a peal of
bell's; IV., V., VI., and VII., are wooden pipes to imitate the note of the
cuckoo; VIII. is a locomotive steam whistle; IV., V., VI., VII., VIII.,
produce their proper sound by means of little hammers or stops, which are
seen in the Drawing, placed before these numbers; IX. is a hollow ball
placed before a valve in the harmoni-flute. When this valve is opened by
means of the stop placed beside it, the air enters the ball (which turns freely
on its axis) through a hole, and by these means, according to the position of
the ball, sounds are produced which are sometimes like the whistle of a
locomotive, sometimes like the raging of a storm. These effects are often
employed in orchestral music, especially in "quadrille and other bands. The

page_text: other portions of the Drawing may be understood by reference to the descrip-
tion given under the heads 1, 2, 3, 4, of this Invention.
Having now fully described and set forth the nature and object of my said
Invention of a "New Kind of Keyed Musical Instrument, combining the
Effects of Percussion Instruments or the Effect of Trumpets and similar
Instruments, with the Effects of ordinary Keyed Instruments," together with
the best means I am acquainted with for carrying the same into practical
effect, I hereby declare my Invention to consist in and I claim, the general
combination and arrangement of parts and instruments as constituting a new
kind of keyed musical instrument, or orchestral piano.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jean Baptiste Schalkenbach, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
J. BAPTISTE SCHALKENBACH. (L.s.)