IMPROVEMENTS IN ORGANS, PIANOFORTES, AND MELODEONS, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS HAVING OR EMPLOYING KEY BOARDS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ORGANS, PIANOFORTES, AND MELODEONS,
WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
HAVING OR EMPLOYING KEY BOARDS."-A communication from abroad by
George Byron Kirkham, of the City and State of New York, United.
States of America.
Sealed the 5th February 1867, and dated the 24th August 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th August 1866.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ORGANS, PIANOFORTES, AND
MELODEONS, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER MUSICAL
INSTRUMENTS HAVING OR EMPLOYING KEY BOARDS," to be as follows:-
This Invention is designed to remove the difficulty of transposing music at
sight, so that the accompaniment to any piece, whether written high or low,
may be transposed, and the air sung by every person who has the necessary
voice and ability. Furthermore in all key board instruments, and especially
in pianofortes, great difficulty has been experienced in keeping them up to

page_text: concert pitch, owing to "flatting," wires breaking, and other causes. By
this Invention the instrument can be almost momentarily adjusted not only
to concert pitch, but above or below it as desired. In organs, pianos,
harmoniums, and other similar keyed instruments the key board is made
moveable so as to enable the keys of the instrument to play on the pipes, wires,
or reeds a half tone, full tone, or more, up to several tones above or below their
original or normal position or action at the pleasure of the performer. From
the great diversity, however, in. key board instruments, their variety of actions
and in organs especially where the key sticks play. through and between each
other in the different banks in an exceedingly complicated and variable
manner, including the proximity of the stops on either side, it is evident that
no one movement or mode of action can in every instance be made applicable
to produce a "grand accord," but a variety of difficulties must be met and
overcome in each separate instrument or description of instrument.
"
In the improved instrument the "leaders" are shifted from one key to
another by means of loops or hooks. The whole key board is or may be shifted
to the right or left, but a portion only of the key board may be made capable
of being shifted. Instead of shifting the key board the connections between
the keys and pipes, wires, or reeds may be shifted so as to enable any key
to operate upon another pipe, wire, or reed higher or lower in the scale than
that corresponding to its normal position. In large organs where the "leaders
that connect the keys and pipes, together are, say, from ten to fifteen feet long
the leaders are made to shift at pleasure from one key to another without
disturbing the keys by means of a loop or hook attachment.
In smaller organs,
pianos, and other instruments of like character where such arrangement is
impracticable the whole key board or a portion of it may be shifted to the
right or left according to circumstances; to this end it may be slidden to the
right or left in a groove and on a rod, and this motion may be effected by a
rod and lever, which projects through the side of the instrument and rests in
any one of a series of slots or notches according to the alteration in tone
required; when adjusted, however, the slots or notches serve to retain the
lever and key board in their required positions. The rod has a sliding con-
nection on the lever, and is adjusted by a screw nearer to or further from the
fulcrum of the lever to regulate to a nicety the throw or movement of the
key board by the lever. These operating and regulating devices, namely, the
rod, lever, and adjusting screw, or their equivalents, are used in the several
modifications whereby the "grand accord" is produced, whether the key board
be moved entire or in part, only, or whether the adjustment of the keys to act

page_text: on other than their strings, reeds, or pipes proper be made direct or by
moving connections arranged between the keys and the hammers, or other
devices acting on the strings, reeds, or pipes. In cases where it is impossible
or not desirable to move the entire key board a portion of it or the keys may
be shifted to the right or left, the sticks being cut or divided, and metal or
wooden bearings resting on the sticks being used; these bearings or levers
are held to a common support by hinges or pins and grooves. In many
instances, however, where the key board cannot be moved conveniently, as in
small melodeons or organs with stops in the way, the movement must be
accomplished by connections, the upper ends of which are moved to the right
or left and are held in position and moved by the support to which they are
pinned loosely, sliding from one lip to another; these lips are fastened each
to its own stick, and are kept from interfering with each other by loosely
playing wires, the connections being secured to the keys by adjustable screws
Where it is more convenient to move the lower ends of the con-
nections they are fastened at their upper ends by screws and nuts to bars
which are firmly affixed each to its own key, and the connections are moved
from right to left, and vice versa, at their lower ends by a bar and pin as in
the other modifications. Sometimes when the bar and the several connections
cannot be moved right and left, as is the case in organs with three or four
banks, they may be moved backwards and forwards, that is, in a direction to
and from the keys. Small drum heads are fastened to the bar by springs, and
each drum head is made to move lengthwise over its proper stick. As the
drum heads are always over the same stick and under different rods or aŕmns
it is evident that by moving the bar back and forth the performer can play
bigher or lower at pleasure.
and nuts.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 23rd February 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of August; in the year of our Lord.
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of Her

page_text: reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Edward Newton, Her special licence that I, the said
William Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors, administrators,
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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN ORGANS, PIANOFORTES, AND MELODEONS, WHICH
IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS HAVING OR
EMPLOYING KEY BOARDS," being a communication from abroad, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Edward Newton, 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
performed, 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 William Edward Newton,, do bereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
The object of this Invention will be best explained by the following
remarks. Heretofore vocalists have been put to considerable trouble and
expense to obtain music exactly suited to their range of voice, and to accommo-
date them music publishers have usually issued the best or popular pieces in
different keys for soprano and tenor, or alto and bass. Transposition has
always been a long and expensive process, as very few, and those mostly
eminent professors, have been able to transpose a difficult accompaniment at
sight.
This Invention is designed to remove the difficulty and to place the whole
range of music within a vocalist's compass, so that any piece, whether written
high or low, can be sung by every person who has the necessary voice and
ability. Furthermore, in all key board instruments, and especially in piano-
fortes, great difficulty has been experienced in keeping them up to concert
pitch owing to "flatting," wires breaking, and other causes.
This Invention bowever meets this difficulty also by allowing of the instru-

page_text: ment being almost momentarily adjusted not only to concert pitch, but above
or below it as desired. In operas, too, or other grand musical performances
when it was required to raise or lower the pitch to suit the orchestral instru-
ments, or for other reasons, it has been customary to employ a tuner to raise
or lower as required the tone of the piano, but this by the present Invention
is avoided without extra expense.
"
The Invention which forms the subject of this Specification is termed a
grand accord." It enables the keys of the instrument to play on the pipes,
wires or reeds, a half tone, full tone, or more, up to several tones above or
below their original or normal position or action at the pleasure of the per-
former. From the great diversity, however, in key board instruments, their
variety of actions, and in organs especially where the key sticks play through
and between each other in the different banks in an exceedingly complicated
and variable manner (including the proximity of the stops on either side) it
is evident that no one movement or mode of action can in every instance be
made applicable to produce what is termed the "grand accord," but a variety
of difficulties must be met and overcome in each separate instrument or descrip-
tion of instrument, new or old, as the case may be. I have accordingly here
selected those movements and connections which are the strongest and simplest,
yet effective, and almost, if not quite, universal in their adaptation.
The nature of the Invention may be generally summed up as consisting of
any key board musical instrument, being so arranged that the movement of the
key board or of the connections at some point between the keys and the
pipes, strings, or reeds of the instrument, shall cause the keys to play a half
or full tone or more above or below the tone incident to their normal or usual
position.
In the accompanying Drawing, which shews mainly in isometrical perspec-
tive certain details of key board instruments connected with the Invention,
Fig. 1 represents an arrangement in which the leaders are shifted from one
key to another by means of loops or hooks; Fig. 2 represents an arrange-
ment in which the whole key board is or may be shifted to the right or left;
Figures 3, 4, 5, shew a portion only of the key board which is capable of
being shifted; and Figures 6, 7, 8, represent modifications of arrangements
in which the connections between the keys and pipes, wires, or reeds may
be shifted so as to enable any key to operate upon another pipe, wire, or
reed higher or lower in the scale than that corresponding to its normal
position.
In Figure 1 an arrangement is shewn applicable to large organs where the

page_text: "leaders' that connect the keys and pipes together are, say, from ten to
fifteen feet long. The leaders are made to shift at pleasure by any suitable
combination of devices from one key to another without disturbing the keys
by means of a loop or book a attachment. In smaller organs, pianos, and
other instruments of like character where such arrangement is impracticable
the whole key board or a portion of it may be shifted to the right or left
according to circumstances.
In Fig. 2 the entire key board is represented as movable to the right or left by
sliding it in a groove band on a rod c. This motion may be effected by a rod d
and lever which projects through the side of the instrument and rests in any
one of the slots or notches f, f, f, according to the alteration in tone required.
When adjusted however, the slots or notches f, f.f, serve to retain the
Jever e and key board in their required positions. The rod d has a sliding
connection on the lever e, and is adjusted by a screw 9 nearer to or further
from the fulcrum of the lever to regulate to a nicety the throw or movement
of the. key board by the lever. These operating and regulating devices,
namely, the rod d, lever e, and adjusting screw 9, or their equivalents, are
used in the several modifications whereby the "grand accord" is produced,
whether the key board be moved entire or in part only, or whether the
adjustment of the keys to act on other than their strings, reeds, or pipes proper
be made direct or by moving connections arranged between the keys and the
hammers or other devices acting on the strings, reeds, or pipes, but in the
remaining Figures of the Drawing these operating and regulating devices are
not represented, only in some of them the pin h on which the rod d works
being shewn, nor has it been thought necessary to represent in the Drawing
the hammers or their equivalents, as they need not differ from those in ordinary
use, and such are or may be operated on by the keys or their connections in
the usual manner.
In cases where it is impossible or not desirable to move the entire key board
a portion of it or the keys may be shifted to the right or left as represented in
Figures 3, 4, 5, the sticks i, i, being cut at j, j, and metal or wooden bearings
k, k, k¹, k¹¹, resting on the sticks i, i, being used; these bearings or levers
k, k, k", are held to a common support by hinges or pins and grooves.
Fig. 9 is an underneath view of k in Fig. 8, and Fig. 10 is an underneath
view of in Fig. 5. In many instances, however, where the key boards
cannot be moved conveniently, as in small melodions or organs with stops in
the way, the movement must be accomplished by connections m, m, as
represented in Figures 6, 7, and 8. In Fig. 6 the upper ends of these con-

page_text: pections m, m, are moved to the right or left, and are held in position and
moved by the support n to which they are pinned loosely; they slide from
one lip o to another, and these lips o are fastened each to its own stick y, and
are kept from interfering with each other by the loosely playing wires p, p,
the connections m, m,, being secured to the keys by adjustable screws and
nuts 9, 9.
Where it is more convenient to move the lower ends of the connections r
in Fig. 7, they are fastened at their upper ends by screws and-nuts to the
bars s, s, which are firmly affixed each to its own key, and the connections r, r,
are moved from right to left, and vice versâ, at their lower ends by the bar n
and pin h as in the other modifications. Sometimes when the bar n or land the
several connections cannot be moved right and left, as in organs with three or
four banks, they may be moved backwards and forwards, that is in a direction
to and from the keys, as represented at Fig. 8. In this Figure the rod or
arm t is fastened to the bar u, t, to u¹, t, to ul, and so on, playing up and
down with the keys and not interfering with each other. Small drum heads V,V,
are fastened to the bar n by springs W, W, and each drum head is made to `
move lengthwise over its proper stick X, X, and under t, t, t¹¹, t¹¹, and so on,
in the direction of the arrows. As the drum heads are always over the same
stick X and under different rods or arms t, t¹, t, t, and so on, it is evident
that by moving the bar n back and forth the performer can play higher or
lower at pleasure.
Having now described the Invention, which has been communicated.
to me by my foreign correspondent, and having explained the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I claim as the Invention secured to me by
Letters Patent as aforesaid,―
First, providing organs or other musical instruments with a key board so
arranged that the movement of the key board or the connections at some
point between the keys and the pipes, strings, or reeds shall cause the
keys to play a half or full tone, or more above or below the tone incident to
their normal or usual positions, as herein set forth.
Second, the combination of the arm or rod d, lever e, with its adjusting
screw g, and slots or notches f, f, as described and for the purpose set
forth.
Third, the bar or support ↳, n, to which the leaders, keys, or connections
are held, and by which they are moved, as described.
Fourth, the rods p, p, to keep the sticks in position and from interfering
with each other, as represented.

page_text: Fifth, the connections m, s, r, u,, drum heads V, and lips o, arranged and
operating as and for the purposes set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Twenty-third day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.s.)