A NEW MODE OF, AND APPARATUS FOR, TUNING PIANOS AND OTHER KINDS OF STRINGED INSTRUMENTS."
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to François Alexandre Nicolas Delsarte, Professor,
of No. 3, Rue Croix Boissière, Paris, Empire of France, for the
Invention of "A NEW MODE OF, AND APPARATUS FOR, TUNING PIANOS AND
OTHER KINDS OF STRINGED INSTRUMENTS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said François Alexandre
Nicolas Delsarte at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
his Petition, on the 12th October 1854.
I, FRANÇOIS ALEXANDRE NICOLAS DELSARTE, Professor, of No. 3, Rue Croix
Boissière, Paris, Empire of France, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "A NEW MODE OF, AND APPARATUS FOR, TUNING PIANOS AND OTHER
KINDS OF STRINGED INSTRUMENTS," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to simplify. the operation of tuning piano-
fortes and other kinds of stringed instruments, and thus to enable a performer
to tune his own instrument with accuracy and despatch. This is effected by
applying to the instrument and apparatus, which, by pressing upon the strings,
(say, of an octave,) shall reduce them all to an equal length, leaving one string
open. to serve as a key note; the strings are then all to be tuned in unison,

page_text: and on releasing them from the pressure of the apparatus they will, by reason
of their various lengths, assume the various tones and semitones appertaining
to their places in the scale. The pressure may be applied either above, below,
or at the side of the strings, according to the nature of the instrument and the
number of strings which belong to each note.
For single-stringed instruments I prefer applying the pressure at the side,
and this I effect-by-means-of-a bar, having teeth,-which are forced against the
strings by means of a rack on the toothed bar, actuated by a worm and pinion
which is acted upon by a key or thumb-piece. For instruments having more
than one string to a note, I prefer to apply the pressure above the strings, by
means of a bar extending across the instrument, and having pressing pieces,
which are acted upon by means of a pedal or adjusting screw...
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said François Alexandre Nicolas Delsarte in the, Great Seal Patent
:. Office on. the 12th April 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FRANÇOIS
ALEXANDRE NICOLAS. DELSARTE, Professor, of No. 3, Rue Croix Boissière,
Paris, Empire of France, send greeting.
.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto him,
the said François Alexandre Nicolas Delsarte, Her special licence that he,
the said François Alexandre Nicolas Delsarte, his executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as he, the said François Alexandre Nicolas
Delsarte, his 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 "A NEW MODE OF,
AND APPARATUS FOR, TUNING PIANOS AND OTHER KIND OF STRINGED INSTRUMENTS,'
upon the condition (amongst others) that he, the said François Alexandre
Nicolas Delsarte, by an instrument in writing under his hand and seal; should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the saine was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in

page_text: the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar mouths next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said François Alexandre Nicolas Delsarte,
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:
The Invention relates to the tuning of all descriptions of pianos and other
kind of stringed instruments of the sanie nature, such, for instance, as harps,
and consists in the application to the same of an apparatus based on the
following principle:-In stringed instruments, particularly those in which metal
strings or wires are used, each string may be considered without committing
any gross error as forming a homogenous body of an equal diameter in its
entire length; if, now, in a piano or harp the free or vibrating part of all the
strings of an equal diameter be brought temporarily, by means of nuts or any
other suitable impeding apparatus, to the same length, and in this situation
tuned in unison, then after removing the impediment and the restoring again
of their full vibrating length to all these strings, they will be exactly tuned;
and if the same be done with the different series or sizes of strings of the
instrument, this latter will be perfectly tuned, at least if the same is a well-
constructed one, viz., in which the bridges are arranged according to the
harmonic proportions well known to piano makers; for should this not be the
case, and the instrument be a defective one, then the shortened vibrating parts
of all the strings of each series ought not to be of an equal length, but should
he required to be regulated according to the defectiveness of the instrument.
The strings on a piano or harp being arranged in series of different sizes, conse-
quently in a well-constructed instrument the strings of each series will require
to be brought to an equal length. The principle here above described inay be
used likewise for ascertaining whether an instrument which by the ear might
be thought to be perfectly tuned is really so; for in this case the vibrating
part of all the strings of one series or octave ought simply to be brought
temporarily to the same length by means of one of my apparatuses, and if in
that situation they should be found in unison, this would be a true proof of the
series or octave on which would have been operated to be perfectly tuned, and
the octaves above and below this one might be proved on this latter in the
usual manner. In the above, I have said that all the strings of the instrument
to be tuned must be acted on in the said manner, but this is not exactly the
case, for..I prefer only tuning one or two octaves of the middle part of the
instrument, (viz., that part which piano tuners-call-the-score or partition.)

page_text: According to my principle, by applying to the strings of this part the nuts or
stops of my apparatuses, and after the same have been tuned according to my
method, the octaves above or below this middle part are tuned simply by the
ear in the usual manner by sounding the octaves.
Having thus explained the principle on which my method is based, I will
now describe some mechanical arrangements by which the Invention is to be
put into practical effect; and in order to make this description more clearly
understood, I will refer to the annexed Drawings, in which Fig. 1 represents
a top view of an apparatus arranged in such manner as to act according to
my principles when applied to a piano. Fig. 2 is a side view of the same;
and Fig. 3, a front view of one of the nuts or stops (sillets); whereas Fig. 4
represents (on a smaller scale than the three preceding Figures) the apparatus
fixed to a grand piano. In these four Figures the same letters refer to corre-
sponding parts. Fig. 5 is a top view of part of another arrangement, of which
Fig. 6 represents partly a vertical transverse section. In these two Figures
the same letters refer to corresponding parts. Figs. 7 and 8 give an illus-
tration of the principle of the Invention. In these Figs., 7 and 8, lm, l'm³,
12 m²,
mm, represent one series of strings of an
equal diameter, forming the strings of one chromatic octave of a piano or harp,
which strings are brought by the fixed bridge P, Q, to the proper relative
chromatic lengths nm, n¹ m³, n³ m³, .
n¹¹¹¹, n¹² m². In order
now to tune these strings by my method, according to the chromatic scale of
Fig. 8, the vibrating or free part of all of them must be brought to the length
of the shortest string nm, that is to say, by drawing a transverse straight
line A, B, over all the strings, and applying a temporary nut, bridge, stop, or
other suitable impediment along this line A, B, over all the strings, in such
manner that only that part of these latter which is situated at the right-hand
side of the line A, B, will be free or vibrate; then the strings will be brought
all to the same vibrating lengths a m, a¹ m³, a² m²,.
all m
nm. If now these vibrating lengths be tuned in unison with the standard
or shortest string nam, then on removing the temporary stop or impediment
A, B, all the strings will be found to be tuned according to the chromatic
scale of Fig. 8; but should the instrument be a defective one, viz., should the
bridge P, Q, not be constructed according to the necessary harmonic propor-
tions, and accordingly not agree with the chromatic scale of Fig. 8, then the
vibrating lengths am, a'm', a² m², . . . .
am, nm, ought each
,for itself to be regulated according to the defectiveness of the instrument;. and
after then having brought these vibrating lengths in unison with the standard

page_text: 213 m, the instrument will be perfectly tuned. Fig. 4 represents a top view
of one of the apparatuses 1 make use of, applied to a grand piano of the old
system, viz., one not provided with longitudinal strengthening bars. Fig. 1
represents a top view, and on a larger scale, of the same apparatus of which
Fig. 2 is a side view, whereas Fig. 3 represents a front view of one of the nuts
or stops (sillets). A is a wooden board, extending over two contiguous octaves
of the piano. B are nuts or stops, sliding vertically against-the front side of
the board A, by means of a slot M and set screw L. C, C, C, are small levers
for regulating the position of each nut B separately, according to the distance
of the strings. D is a metal rod or bar, fixed by means of brackets I, I, to the
inner sides of the piano, on which rod the entire apparatus may turn and
glide by means of two arms E, E, one end of which is fixed to the board A,
whereas the other end is provided with a socket F, through which the rod is
passed, which latter, by means of the setting screw F1, may be fixed in any
suitable position, and by which, therefore, the position of the board A, and
consequently of the nuts B in respect to the strings, may be regulated.. G is a
horizontal bar, the ends of which are fixed by means of suitable brackets
to the inner sides of the piano, the middle part of which bar is provided with
a screw J, by which a pressure may be exerted on the board A, in order to
depress this latter, and force the nuts down to bear on the strings, whereas a
spring H, fixed to the socket F, and bearing against a projecting pin h, is con-
stantly acting to raise the board A. n are the strings. Figs. 5 and 6 repre-
sent another arrangement, by which, instead of having nuts pressing vertically
on the strings, a bar A is provided with dents or stops B, which may be pressed
in a lateral direction against the strings. A is an indented horizontal bar,
which may be made to glide to and fro in a lateral direction in suitable
bearings or guides, by means of a rod, provided with a worm S, acting on a
pinion R, the teeth of which latter command the rack T, with which the end
of the bar A is provided. Q is the sounding board of the piano, with its
bridges P, against which the dents O, with which the under side of the bar A
is provided, come to bear when their pressure against the strings is arrived
at a sufficient degree of intensity. n are the strings.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which
the same may be put into practical effect, I wish it to be understood that I do
not confine myself to any mechanical arrangement for putting the same into
operation, or to the precise details of the apparatuses here above described;
but what I claim as my Invention consists of,-
First, the method or mode of tuning pianos, and other kind of stringed

page_text: musical instruments of the same nature, such, for instance, as harps, or of
ascertaining, whether such instruments are exactly tuned, by applying to the
said instruments any suitable stopping apparatus, by which the vibrating part
of all or some of the strings may be brought at pleasure temporarily to a
certain standard, Jength, or lengths, tuning then in unison the thus obtained
shortened vibrating parts, and finally restoring to the said strings their primitive
vibrating lengths by removing from them the said stopping apparatus.
Second, the application to pianos or other stringed musical instruments of
the same nature, of apparatus constructed and acting according to the above
explained principles.
In witness whereof, I, the said François Alexandre Nicolas Delsarte,
have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Tenth day of April, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.