IMPROVEMENTS IN MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Auguste Wolff, of Paris, France, Chief of the firm
Pleyel, Wolff, and Co., for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MUSICAL
INSTRUMENTS."
Sealed the 13th July 1858, and dated the 13th May 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Auguste Wolff at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 13th
May 1858.
I, AUGUSTE WOLFF, of Paris, France, Chief of the firm Pleyel, Wolff,
and Co., do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS," to be as follows:-
The Invention relates to that class of stringed musical instruments, in which
the working hammers are acted upon by the keys of a key-board, such, for
instance, as pianofortes, and consists in suitably combining the mechanical
part thereof, and have the key-board situated in such position as to allow the
performer to play on the instrument by means of his feet, thus keeping his
hands free for playing at the same time, if required, on any other suitable
instrument.
5
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditious of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Auguste Wolff in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 12th
November 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, AUGUSTE
WOLFF, of Paris, France, Chief of the firm Pleyell, Wolff, and Co., send
greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Iler most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Auguste Wolff. Her special licence that I, the said Auguste Wolff,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Auguste Wolff, 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 Ire-
land, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Auguste Wolff, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particu-
larly 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 Auguste Wolff, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
These improvements relate to a musical instrument in which a key-board
and action serves for acting on proper strings, to which instrument I give the
name of independent pedallier, its key-board being formed of pedals on which
the performer plays with his feet, and which instrument may be annexed to
any discription of piano. The object of the pedallier is,-
1ly, furnishing to organists the means of exercising themselves in playing
the pedals.
2ly, to facilitate the performing of music written for the harpsichord with
tirasse pedal arrangement, or for pianos to which artists have sometimes
annexed such tirasse pedal arrangement, which is rather expensive, besides
offering the inconvenience of preventing the change of the instrument when
required.
3ly, to make the piano a more complete or perfect instrument for accom-
paniment, by giving to its bass notes the vibrations and fullness of tone
required for aiding vocal music of some magnitude.
The so called independant pedallier consists of a rather elevated vertical
case containing the sounding board, and provided with proper braces and

page_text: bridges, strings and key action, which disposition allows of assimilating the
instrument with an upright grand piano, the key-board of which would have
been lowered to the ground, and the keys of which are to be acted upon by
the feet. The strings are divided in two series, the first extending from the
first ut to the third fa, and the second beginning at the second ut and extending
to the fourth fa; the strings of the two series follow each other in an alternate
manner; thus, after the lower or first ut immediately comes the second
ut, then the first ut sharp, then the second ut.sharp, and so on, till the third
fa, after which follows the fourth fa, thus forming in all a succession of thirty
double notes at octave distance. The combination of a double wrest plank-
bridge and a double belly-bridge allows cach hammer to act simultaneously on
a note and on its upper octave, thus giving rise to the effect of the com-
bination of an 8 feet and a 16 feet organ set. This effect was to be obtained in
order to give suitable clearness to the rapid tirades which, by making use of
the 16 feet set alone, become rather confused. The pedals transmit the motion
to the action or mechanism by means of long rods, the action itself being
similar to that of our upright grand pianoforte, except the sizes of the various
parts which must be made much stronger in order to be able of sustaining the
violent effect from the feet, and to have the force required for putting into
proper vibration the strings, which in this pedallier are larger, extending over
a larger sounding board. The instrument possesses all the nuances of tone
from off the sweetest to the strongest, and the length of its vibrations calls to
mind those of the organ.. As already stated, the instrument is fully inde-
pendant, and the performer while playing with his feet on the key-board of the
pedallier, towards which latter he has his back turned, may at the same time
play with his fingers on any description of piano.
In the annexed Drawings, Fig. 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of the
key-board, action, &c., of the pedallier, whereas Fig. 2 shows the arrange-
ment of the bridges and strings on the sounding board; this Figure being on a
scale one-half of that of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the pedallier
annexed to a grand piano. In this Figure 3, A represents the pedallier; B, the
seat for the performer, who has before him the key-board of the piano C, on
which he plays with his fingers, while at the same time with his feet he is
playing on the pedal key-board D of the pedallier A. In Fig. 1, A represents
the bracing of the sounding board B; Care the strings; D, the dampers; E,
the hammers, of which F are the stays; G, the cross bar; H, the scapement ;
and I, the catches; J and L show the action for the dampers; K is the
belly-bridge, which for the bass notes is double; M are the stops for the
damper action; N are rods for transmitting the motion from the pedal keys

page_text: to the scapement; O, board for the wrest pins; P, wooden board carrying
the iron plate Q for the hitch pins; R is the pedal key-board; S being the
brackets or supports for the pedal keys. In Fig. 2, A is the belly-bridge, and
A' the wrest plank bridge for the shrill or upper strings C, whereas B is the
belly-bridge, and B' the wrest plank bridge for the lower or grave strings C
the strings C are indicated by black lines, and those C', by red ones; D are
the braces or strengthening bars; E is the upper, and F the lower cross
brace. The Drawing shows that towards the bass or lower notes only,
one belly and one wrest plank bridge are made use of, the octave distanco
being obtained by the sole difference in thickness of the strings. As may be
observed from the above description, the instrument differs from the pedal
key-board hitherto in use by Ily, its being independant from the pianoforte,
whereas the pedal key-boards were fixed thereto; 2ly, far from being simply
a mechanical adjunction for exercising the fect, it is in fact the key-board of a
second instrument; 3ly, and instead of giving rise only to the sound of a
piano, it produces an increase in force by means of sounds which are its own,
and incomparably more beautiful.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
putting the same into practical effect, I claim as my Invention, the above
described independant pedal key-board stringed musical instrument, on the key-
board of which the performer plays with his feet separately, or at the same
time he is playing with his hands on a piano, or any other suitable instrument.
In witness whereof, I, the said Auguste Wolff, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-eight day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.