IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. DESIGNATED CLARIONETS
Year: 1855

page_text: VILO
application for Letters Patent was not given within the time prescribed
by the Act.)
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Cornelius Ward at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with bis Petition, on the 12th October
-1855.
I, CORNELIUS WARD, Musical Instrument Maker,. 86, Great Titchfield
Street, Marylebone, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE MUSICAL
INSTRUMENTS. DESIGNATED CLARIONETS" to be as follows:-
In the ordinary constructed clarionet great difficulties exist in 'the execution
of the scales and intervals of the notes, owing to the inconvenient manner in
which the performer is confined, by its construction, to produce the first, second,
third, and fourth, and the twentieth, twenty-first, 'twenty-second, and "twenty-
third, combined with the fifth and twenty-fourth notes, these two series of
notes being dependent upon the same keys and apertures of the clarionet.
The object of my Invention is to enable the performer to produce the notes
above named with greater facility and certainty, when either of them are used
in relation to each other, or to any other of the notes in. the scales, and at the
same time without disturbing the common fingering and position of the ordinary
clarionet.
The names of the notes are not mentioned in this description, but the notes
are referred to by numbers according to their position, commencing with the

page_text: lowest note as number one, for the reason that clarionets are made of various
sizes, including treble and, bass clarionets,, to which my improvements also
apply.
In referring to the Drawings, which are made upon: a scale of the actual size,
the same figures and letters are used to the similar parts throughout.
To make the nature of my improvement evident, I must first describe the
construction of the ordinary clarionet, and state why these improvements are
necessary and useful.
Fig. 1 shows the right-hand part of an ordinary clarionet; the left-hand part
fits into the top of it, and the bottom or bell part of the clarionet-fits into the
lower end of it.. When the clarionet is held by the performer with his fingers
upon the apertures, and he then presses the left-hand little finger upon the
lever 1, the key 1 a will close upon the aperture l'a; when the same little
finger presses upon lever 2, aperture 2 a will be opened; when the right-hand
little finger presses upon lever 3, aperture 3ª will be closed, and when the
same little finger presses upon lever 4, aperture 4 will be opened. I have
nothing to do here with the key O upon this part of the clarionet: Now; it
may be noticed, that the keys 1 and 2 are used by the left-hand little finger,
and that the keys 3 and 4 are used by the right-hand little fingers The keys
I have described are used when the lowest or first, the second, the third, -the
fourth, and the fifth, and also when the twentieth, twenty-first, twenty-second,
twenty-third, and twenty-fourth notes are produced; for the first and twentieth
notes the left-hand little finger must be pressed upon the lever 1, and at the
same time the right hand little finger must be pressed upon the key 3, so that'
apertures, -1; and 3ª shall be closed; for the second and twenty-first' notes" the
right little finger must be pressed upon the key. 3.; for the third-and' 'twenty-
second notes the left-hand little finger must be pressed upon the lever 2 to
open aperture 2, and at the same time the right-hand little finger' must be
pressed upon, the key 3 to close the aperture 3; for the fourth and twenty-
third, notes; the right-hand little finger must allow the key 3 to rise from
aperture 3ª, and the left-hand little finger must allow the key 2 to close the
aperture 22; for the fifth and twenty-fourth notes the right-hand little finger
must be pressed, upon the lever 4.to open the aperture 4. This key 4 is much
used, not only, for the fifth and twenty-fourth notes, but also for other notes in
combination with, other; apertures; and it may be seen, from the preceding
description, that the same little finger- employed upon it must be employed
upon the key. 3. When the first, second, third, and fourth notes are produced,
therefore, it has the difficult office of opening aperture 4° and closing aperture
3 in, immediate alternation: It should slide from the one to the' other

page_text: expertly, so that no opening of aperture 3ª should occur, otherwise the fourth
or the twenty-third notes will be heard when they are not required; and from
, the difficulty of so acting upon these two keys, a very great impediment to the
executing of music upon the ordinary clarionet arises.
The same inconvenience exists in respect to the left-hand little finger; and
the levers 1 and 2; the sliding action of the finger must be practised upon
them.
...
Key 5, in Fig. 1, closes aperture 7,, whenever the second or the third
fingers, of the right hand are used to close, the apertures 5 and 6. by means of
them, at the same time pressing upon the rings which surround these apertures,
which rings are fixed to the rod of. key 5.*
14
I now proceed to describe.my improvements in the construction of this part
of the clarionet and their use...
... First, it may be noticed, in referring-to Fig. 2 A, that the keys thereon'lay
more convenient for the same actions of the little fingers used upon the ordinary
clarionet, and that each of the notes may be produced precisely in the same
manner..
'
A, Fig. 2, represents the right-hand, part of a clarionet containing my
improvements complete; and B is a representation of the same part with the
keys and levers removed.
Fig. 3 shews the levers and keys for the left-hand little finger separate;
Fig. 4 shews the levers and keys for the right little fingér séparate; Fig. 5
shews sections of parts of the clarionet, and the parts are indicated at 1, 2, 3,
4, and 5, in Fig. 2.
It may be seen from the Drawings of the part of the 'clarionet A and B,
Fig. 2, and the sections 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, Fig. 5; of the parts of the clarionet
indicated in Fig. 1, that all the working bearings-of the levers and keys are
parallel relative to the same plane and to each other, and this is very essential
to ensure the perfect action of the keys in the various combinations of' action
of them, and not as the working bearings of the keys 1, 2, 3, and 4 in 'the
ordinary clarionet,, which are arranged: at as many different angles às -shewn
at sections 6, Figures 1 and 5. With the two keys marked O in A, Fig. 2,
I have herein nothing to do.
Key 1 is held open by the force of, the spring, as shewn at 1, Figures 2
and 3. The lower end of lever 1 passes under the arm 1b. of key 1°; 'the 'pro
jection 3b, upon the upper end of, the key 3, which lays in the opening f in the
middle of the lever 1. Key 3 is held open by the spring shown underneath!
it in Fig. 4, by means of which, when the left-hand little finger presses upon
the lever 1, the arm 1 upon the key 1° and the arm 3 upon the key 3 are

page_text: pressed up, and then the keys 1 and 3* are closed upon the apertures 1 and
3°; and thus the first and twentieth notes may be produced by the one action
of this little finger closing the two apertures simultaneously.
The lower end of the lever 1 B, Figures 2 and 4, passes under the arm 1°
upon key 1º, and the upper end of the lever 1 B falls upon a projection upon
the side of the key 3, near the spring of it, shown by a section of the key in
Fig. 4; and consequently when the right-hand little finger presses upon lever
1 B, key 1 will be pressed upon the aperture 1°, and the key 3 will be
pressed upon the aperture 3*; and thus the same first and twentieth notes
may be produced by the one action of this little finger closing the two aper-
tures simultaneously..
The lower end of the lever 3 B, shown in A, Fig. 2, and at 3 B, Fig. 3,
passes under the projection 3 of the key 3, and when the left-hand little
finger presses upon the lever 3 B, the key 3ª will close the aperture 3; and
.thus the second or the twenty-first notes may be produced. And the same
second or the twenty-first notes may be produced by pressing the right-hand
little finger upon the key 3.
2
.
Key 2 B is held closed upon the aperture 2ª by the force of the spring
underneath it, seen at key 2, Fig. 4. The lower end of the lever 2 passes
under the lower end of the arm 2" upon the key 2, and the projection 3b of
the upper end of key 3 lays in the opening f in the middle of the lever 2, by
means of which, when the left-hand little finger is pressed upon the lever 2,
the projection 3 of key 3, and also the arm 2b upon the key 2B, will be pressed
up, and the aperture 2° will be opened, and the aperture 3* will be closed
simultaneously by the one action of this finger; and the third or the twenty-
second notes may be produced.
A
part of, the finger place of key 2 B, marked 2°, is projected over the lever
part of key. 3, by means of which, when the right-hand little finger is pressed
upon key 2 B to open aperture 2, it will also press the key 8 upon the
aperture 3ª at the same time; and then the third or the twenty-second notes
may be produced by this one action of this finger. And then by releasing the
key 2 B from the pressure of the right-hand little finger, aperture 2 will be
closed and the aperture 38 will open; and then the fourth or the twenty-third
notes may be produced by the one action of this finger.
'
i
And again, when the lever 3 B is released from the pressure of the left-
hand little finger, the key 3 will rise by force of the spring underneath it
from the aperture 3"; and then the fourth or the twenty-third notes may be
produced...
i. When the right-hand little finger is pressed upon the lever 4, aperture 4

page_text: will open; and then the fifth or the twenty-fourth, notes may be produced,
as is done upon the ordinary clarionet. But as my improvements permit this
finger to have a proper command of this key, and as its structure is altered in
combining it with the key 3 and the key 5, I include it in the description.
.
The key 5, Fig., 4, and in its place at A, Fig. 2, joints on to the clarionet
part by the pin 5 in B, Fig. 2, and has a projection 5b, which passes under the
lever and spring of the key 4, and when the key 4 and, the key. 5 are in their
places, the spring of key 4 presses upon the projection 5 of key, 5, causing the
valve end of it to rise from aperture 7, and at the same time the same. spring
forces the key 4 to close the aperture 4. The staple 5° is fixed over. the
valve part of the key 5, to limit the rise of it, and the rings and bar. which
connects them are let in flush with the surface of the apertures.
:
It may now be readily understood, that by means of my improvements the
first, second, third, and fourth, and also, the twentieth, twenty-first, twenty-
second, 'and. twenty-third notes, each and either of them, inay be successively
produced by the one action alone of the right-hand little finger, and that the
same two series of notes, each and either of them, may be successively pro-
duced by the one action alone of the left-hand little finger, and thus very rapid
repetitions of these notes with any of the other notes of the instrument may be
made by the alternate action of the two little fingers. And when the fifth note or
the twenty-fourth note is produced by the right-hand little finger acting on the
key 4, each or either of the two series of notes named, which may succeed or
precede the fifth or the twenty-fourth, may be produced by the left-hand little
finger, without resorting to the difficult sliding action of the right-hand little..
finger to or from the key 3 and 4, which action is of necessity used upon the
ordinary clarionet. And when the first and the third, or the twentieth and the
twenty-second notes succeed or precede each other, each or either of them may
be produced by the alternate action of the little fingers, and the difficult sliding
action of the left-hand little finger used upon the ordinary clarionet may be
dispensed with, and. thereby, together with the means I have given of pro-
ducing each of the notes named, by the one action of either of the little
fingers, much greater facilities of executing music upon the clarionet are
obtained.
Having now described the construction of my Inventions for improvements
in the clarionet in detail, in what I consider the best manner of carrying them
out, and the objects obtained by the same, it remains to define what are the
matters in them which are of my Invention.
Firstly, I claim the placing of the working bearing pins or screws of the
keys and levers marked 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, together with those marked 1º, 2*,

page_text: 1B, 2Band 3 B, parallel with the same plane and with each other, as I
have shewn and described in this paper.
Secondly; I'claim the construction and arrangement of the keys and levers
which act upon the 1st, 2nd; and 3rd apertures of the clarionet, by the means
I have shewn and described in this paper, of closing the first and third aper-
tures simultaneously by the one action of either the right or the left hand
little fingers, and also the means I have shewn and described of opening the
second and closing the third apertures simultaneously by the one action of
either the right or the left hand little fingers, and that without disturbing the
"position of the fingers and the fingering commonly applied to the ordinary
clarionet.