CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
Year: 1833

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL
WORTHY GURNEY, of Bude, Cornwell, Esquire, send greeting.
OME, 1, OLDS-
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Seventh day of October, in the fourth year of His reign,
did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Goldsworthy Gurney, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and autho-
rity, that I, the said Goldsworthy Gurney, my exors, adiñors, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Goldsworthy Gurney, my exors, adññors, or assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MUSICAL
INSTRUMENTS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I,
the said Goldsworthy Gurney, shall cause a particular description of the nature
of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
inrolled in His said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters
Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully
and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that the nature of my said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described and ascer-

page_text: tained in and by the Drawing hereunto annexed, and the following description
thereof (that is to say) :-
:-
In my said Invention of Certain Improvements in Musical Instruments,
that instead of wire strings, straight rods or strings, I employ glass or metal
bars or rods, whether of steel, iron, copper, brass, or of any other metal or
compositions of metals or alloys which may be fit and proper for the purpose,
and which said bars or rods I curve or bend at a certain point or points
which is or are equidistant from the ends of the said bars or rods into the
figure, shape, or form shewn at C, C, in Figure 1, and secure it in front of
a bridge or bar of wood or metal B glued to or affixed in front of a
sound board or presonant board A, A, (shewn in section) in the following
manner: A hole is made through the bridge B and sounding board A,
through which the two ends of a metal wire or string are passed after having
been bent over the centre of the bent bar or rod C to the back of the sound board,
as shewn at P. A steel spring Q, about six inches long and an eighth of an
inch square, is placed upright against the back of the sound board A, A, and the
ends of the wire or string are twisted or tied together over it. One end of the
spring is then drawn away from the sound board, the other end still resting
against it until a sufficient tension or binding action is produced by the wire
to affix the bent rod or bar C, C, against the front of the bridge B, when a
wedge R must be introduced between this end of the steel spring Q and the
sound board to preserve or continue an uniform tension sufficient to prevent the
bent bar or rod C, C, from shifting its position when struck by the hammer
in the manner now to be described. L is a hammer hinged to a rail H, and
raised by a hopper K affixed on the end of the lever or key G, and which said
key is to be acted upon by the finger of a performer in the manner of playing
the pianoforte or organ, when the said hammer strikes the end of one leg of
the rod C, C. A piece of wood U is placed under the end of the hammer
to give it weight, the size of which is regulated according to the size of the
rods employed, at the will of the manufacturer, so as to bring out a tone
most desirable in his judgment. The head S of the hammer L is to be
covered with cloth, soft leather, or, which is preferable, with a layer of caout-
chouc or indian rubber, of about a sixteenth of an inch in thickness, or more
or less, according to the taste of the manufacturer. The rail H is affixed
between screwed nuts upon the upper end of a second wire or rod O, which
is passed between the keys, and affixed to the key board T of the instrument
in the usual way of pianoforte makers. If dampers to shorten the time of
vibration of the bars or rods C; C, are required or desired by the manufac-
turer, they may be affixed in the following manner :-D is a damper hinged

page_text: to the upper edge of the rail F, and shewn as resting upon the bar or rod
C, C. It is elevated or lifted off the rod in playing by means of a connecting
rod E, hinged to the damper D, and resting in a notch or gap formed to
receive it on the upper face of the stem of the hammer L.
Having thus described the manner of affixing, and the mode of striking
and damping, one vibrating or sounding rod or bar C, C, I now declare that
every rod or bar in succession may be affixed and acted upon in a similar
manner downwards to the bass, and upwards to the treble, throughout the
whole compass of the instrument, and which compass may be limited or
extended more or less from six octaves. The size of the bent rods or bars
C, C, may be varied in order to produce different qualities of tone at the will of
the manufacturer. The sectional form of them may be either round, oval, square,
flat, or of any other shape or form required. These different sectional shapes
afford somewhat different qualities of tone, either of which may be employed at
the pleasure of the manufacturer. Those which I now employ are made
cylindrical, and about one quarter of an inch in diameter in the bass part of
the instrument, and gradually becoming smaller and shorter towards the treble,
terminating in about one eighth of inch in diameter. Their lengths depend
on their sectional size, the kind of metal, and the pitch required. Those above
described are steel, and about two inches and a half in length in the highest
note of the treble, and encrease in length gradually towards the bass, the
lowest note of which is about twenty inches long, the instrument having the
compass of six octaves, the curvature or bending of each bar or rod C, C,
opening or widening towards the bass more or less, according to the ear or
taste of the manufacturer, or agreeably to the louder or softer quality of tone
required. The rods or bars are tuned by filing their ends, so as to shorten
their lengths, by which means their tones become higher in pitch, or the tone
may be flattened or lowered in pitch by filing the heel or central point of the
bend of the rods or bars C, C, thinner.
The great improvement effected in this instrument consists in substituting
curved bars or rods C, C, for stretched or strained wires, tuning forks, or
straight bars, rods, or plates, as used in the various musical instruments now
or heretofore invented or in use. Glass rods or bars must be curved and
mounted in a similar manner to the metallic ones, when preferred; only they
will be required to be increased in diameter.
Having thus described the manner of carrying my said Invention into
effect, I declare that I do not mean or intend to claim as my Invention any
of the various parts which may have been already known or in use, but only
the manner of adapting them to my said Iuvention, and which Invention

page_text: consists in the application of the aforesaid curved rods or bars of glass, metal,
or alloys or mixtures of metals, in the manner herein described, to the
improving of musical instruments.
In witness whereof, I, the said Goldsworthy Gurney, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fifth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and thirty-four.