A NEW OR IMPROVED MUSICAL INSTRUMENT CALLED CLAVI-ACCORD
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Ludovico Gavioli, Professor of Mechanics, of Modena,
and of 32, Essex Street, Strand, London, for the Invention of "A NEW
OR IMPROVED MUSICAL INSTRUMENT CALLED CLAVI-ACCORD."
Sealed the 12th January 1856, and dated the 16th July 1855.
I, LUDOVICO GAVIOLI, Professor of Mechanics, of Modena, and of 32, Essex
Street, Strand, London, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "A NEW OR IMPROVED MUSICAL INSTRUMENT CALLED CLAVI-ACCORD" to be as
follows:-
This new system of musical instruinents comprizes the following improve-
ments or novel features:-
First, the application of a rocking beam to be moved by the wrists of the
players for introducing air or wind into instruments constructed with reeds and
pipes. This is done by working the bellows by means of a set of rods, a
rocking shaft, and a parallel rod or rods whilst playing and turning the rock-
ing shaft.
Second, the use and application of annular or hooked ends to the parallel
rods, for the purpose of working said shaft with the left hand, and leaving the
right hand quite free.

page_text: Third, the method of placing the keys for the tones and semi-tones all at
the same level for part of their length, so as to allow playing the chromatic
scale by merely sliding upon the keys, and also a novel form of the keys facili-
tating performance.
Fourth, an arrangement for causing the wind reservoir to open when the
pressure becomes too strong, which I effect by causing certain valves to be
opened by contact with the bottom of the wind reservoir when it distends too
much.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Ludovico Gavioli in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
15th, January 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LUDOVICO
GAVIOLI, Professor of Mechanics, of Modena, and of 32, Essex Street, Strand,
London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Ludovico Gavioli, Her special licence that I, the said Ludovico Gavioli, mý
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Ludovico
Gavioli, 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 "A NEW OR IMPROVED
MUSICAL INSTRUMENT CALLED CLAVI-ACCORD," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Ludovico Gavioli, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, 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 Ludovico Gavioli, 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:

page_text: b
These improvements relate to musical wind instruments with bellows, and
consist, first, of a novel contrivance, by which the bellows are actuated by a
part of the hand or hands whilst the same are playing on the key board; also
of a novel arrangement of the keys; and, lastly, of the general construction of
the instrument, by which it is rendered very portable, and a very great extent
of notes is obtained within a very small volume. The new instrument, or
clavi-accord, is shewn on the annexed Sheet of Drawings; Fig. 1 being a
plan of the same open; Fig. 2, a longitudinal vertical section through the
line 1, 2, of Fig. 3, which is a cross section through the line 3, 4, on Fig. 2.
The clavi-accord shewn consists of a box a, having a lid, which is made up of
three parts b, and can be kept open or shut by means of a lock and key;
these parts 6 may be placed as shewn in the Drawings, in half dotted lines, or
else so as to leave the instrument quite open, as shown in firm lines. When
it is desired to play the clavi-accord, the lid is placed in either of these
positions, so as to serve as a desk for the music; also in order to obtain a
greater or less loudness of sound, the lid is opened more or less. The air or
wind is furnished by two bellows c, d, from whence it is blown into the
reservoir e; from said reservoir the air passes through the valve f (when said
valve is kept open) into the moveable reservoir g. The valve ƒ may be kept
closed, and the wind shut off by means of the small lever h, which is secured
to a horizontal slide bar i, that acts by means of an inclined plane upon
a finger secured to the arbor j, there being at the opposite of this arbor an
arm k, by which the valve f can be lifted and kept open. When said valve is
shut, as shewn in the Drawings, the player obtains what is commonly called
the expressive action, i. e., the instrument gives out a quantity of sound which
is proportionate to the pressure exerted upon the bellows, since the wind then
escapes directly from the bellows through the reeds; but when said valve is
opened, and kept open by sliding the lever h in the opposite direction, a more
uniform action of the wind is obtained. The bellows c and d are set in motion
by means of two rods or bars l, m, which are placed under the wrist or knuckle
of the player. Said rods are fast on two arbors n by means of four arms or
levers o, o', and at the outer extremities of said arbors I fix two levers or arms
p. p, that are free to turn about the arbors, and are actuated by pins fixed on
the arms o, o¹, bearing against shoulders or projections on the arms p, p. By
pressing upon either or both of the rods l, m, said pins acting upon the
shoulders of the arms p, p, cause the same to describe an arc of a circle; and a
string or connecting rod q being attached at one end to the arms p and at the
other to the bellows c, d, it will readily be understood that the bellows may be

page_text: set in motion, and the reeds or other musical implements set to sound by
touching the keys as usual. The springs r, which are placed between the tops
of the bellows c & d, and the bottom of the reservoir g, are for compressing
the air in said reservoir, and the weight of the under part of the reservoir will
always bring the rods l, m, home to their original height. There is also a
novel contrivance for preventing an undue pressure in the bellows, obtaining a
more uniform wind, and also lessening the fatigue in working the bellows.
For this purpose I fix upon the tops of the bellows c, d, two levers s, s, by
means of hinges, and said levers s, s, are fixed at such an angle or in such
manner that when the reservoir g is full, its moveable bottom comes down and
bears upon these levers, and opens the valves s', s', so that no more wind can
be forced into the reservoir e and g by the bellows c & d, thus ensuring a
greater uniformity of supply, and avoiding forcible effects. The mode of action
of the levers o, o¹, upon those p, and the general form of the levers o, o, is such
that the rods l, m, can be turned and put up upon the key-board, as shewn
at Figs. 2 & 3 in dotted lines, when the lid 6 can be shut altogether. The
contiguous extremities of the rods l, m, carry rings or hooks l, m, that are
free to turn upon said rods; these rings or hooks are for working the bellows
with two fingers of one hand, whilst the other hand plays on the key-board, a
contrivance which is found particularly useful when it is desired to play with
the expressive stop, above described. In order to economize space, and be
able to play the chromatic scale by merely sliding on the keys, I also some-
times raise the back part of the sharp keys to the same level as the flat
keys, as shewn at Fig. 1, by which means the keys and the key-board may
at the same time be made narrower. I also sometimes give to the sharp
and flat keys the form shewn at Fig. 1, but said improvements relating to
the key-board are not considered essential to the working of the instru-
ment, which may also be fitted with the ordinary pianoforte key-board.
The bottom of the clavi-accord may also have a hinged board attached to
it, in such manner that the instrument may be kept on the knees and
inclined into the proper position for playing, and this contrivance may be
adapted to clavi-accords of all sizes.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is or may be carried into effect, I wish it to be clearly and
distinctly understood that I do not confine myself to the precise details shewn
and described herein-before; but what I claim as the novel features of my
improvements, which constitute a new instrument or instruments called clavi-
accords, is,

page_text: First, the use and application of rods or bars l, m, or their equivalents,
to working the bellows, &c. of musical reed and pipe instruments of every
description.
Second, the use and application of moveable rings, hooks l', m', or their
equivalents, to working the said bars.
Third, raising the sharp and flat keys to the same height in part of their
length for the purposes set forth.
Fourth, the particular form of the keys and general arrangement of the
instrument shewn in the Drawings, intended to facilitate the use of the instru-
ment, and applicable to instruments of all sizes.
In witness whereof, I, the said Ludovico Gavioli, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Ninth day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
L. GAVIOLI.
(L.S.)