CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS APPLICABLE TO KEYED MUSICAL INSTRU- MENTS
Year: 1846

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
DEBAIN, Manufacturer, of Paris, in the Kingdom of France, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-ninth day of
August. (One thousand eight hundred and forty-six), in the tenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself,, Her heirs and successors, give: and grant unto me,
the said Alexander Debain, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Alexander:
Debain, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said.
Alexander Debain, my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time agree.
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the term of
years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my
Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS APPLICABLE TO KEYED MUSICAL INSTRU-
MENTS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso,, that I,. the said
Alexander Debain, should cause a particular description of the nature of my
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by, an
instrument. in writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her said
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by
the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Alexander Debain, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and

page_text: repeat the same, whilst the surfaces F may be multiplied to any extent. Every
one may have its pins set differently to the others, and they may be used to
follow each other, so as to produce constantly varying effects. I have arranged
the pins of notation of the surfaces F very close to each other, so that the
ordinary division of the keys may be geometrically reduced, say to th of
an inch in width at the place of the teeth A', which allows the surfaces F
to be made very narrow; their length will of course vary according to the
length of the piece of music to be played, which if long.may be made in
several lengths F, and then added, one after the other, as the lever carries
them along. In commencing to use the apparatus, supposing the player
to be unacquainted with music, all that is to be done is to put a surface F
(on which the music to be played is noted) on the antiphonel and then
move the lever up and down, according to the rhythm of the piece, which, in
commencing to use the apparatus, ought to be played over several times, in
order that the operator may be well acquainted with the movement of the
lever; therefore, as soon as the person has studied well the rbythmique
movement of a piece, it can be executed with as much precision as by
any first-rate player, and, if required, the same piece may be transposed
instantaneously into any other keys, the apparatus being arranged in such a
manner as to slide backwards and forwards on an iron bar T, so as to be
over the different keys of the instrument to which for the time it is applied.
A are levers out of action; (A, A,) are the levers in action, giving way to
the pressure of the pins on the surface F; B, links connecting the levers (A):
and (A, A,) to the levers C or D; C, D, are the levers to act on the rods
(E, E,); F is the surface, with the pins G set according to the piece to be
played, as is well understood by persons accustomed to set the pins in the
barrels of barrel organs; H is a groove on the frame of the antiphonel,
which receives a projecting plate I from the side of the surface F, by which
the surface F is guided; J is a hand, which points out the notes marked,
as shewn at K on the surfaces F; as they advance, these signs of music
marked K on the surfaces F indicate the rhythm of the piece. L is a cog
wheel, affixed on the axle L', which, by taking into a rack on each of the
surfaces F, when the lever (Q) is worked causes the surfaces F to advance;
N, two escapements, which take into the cog wheel M, also affixed on the
axle L', causes it to move partially round at each movement of the lever Q;
(P) is a small roller, bearing on the surfaces F, and causing pressure thereon,
which may be regulated at pleasure by the screw nut P'; Y, Y, are stops on
the front of the antphonel, for the purpose of regulating the movement of the
lever Q; R, division of the transposition; S, nut or peg of the transposition;

page_text: T is the rod on which the front of the antiphonel slides in order to obtain
transposition, there being supports U for that purpose. The rod T and the
rod R¹ are connected together end pieces, which are sustained by the
framing of the instrument to which the antiphonel is attached, as shown.
Figure Z shows another means of double escapement for the main cog
wheel M.
By the above description it will readily be seen that by moving the lever.Q
up and down each movement will cause the surface F to advance over the
teeth A¹, which, giving way to the pressure of the pins in the surface F,
will cause the keys to be acted upon. The surfaces F advance as the
lever Qis alternately moved up and down, and the lever must be kept in
either of these movements a tune according to the caracter of the note, such
&c., &c. I would here remark that I do
as a, &, a
a
"
not confine myself 'to the above-described mode of putting the surfaces F in
motion, as they may be caused to travel by means of a screw, in which case
the movement of these surfaces would be continuous instead of at intervals,
and the time for each note would be regulated by the distance between the
pieces on the surfaces F. The apparatus antiphonel harmonium, as described
in this Specification, is susceptible of many variations in its mechanical details,
therefore the Invention for which I claim a special privilege is not confined.to
that shewn, and I do not confine myself to the use of pins projecting from
the surfaces E, as the apparatus may be arranged to act by means of per-
forations (as is the case with the cards used in jacquard looms) in the
surfaces F, only in that case the arrangement of levers must be altered to
correspond, Or, the mechanism may be disposed in such manner as to do
without the plank or paper or cardboard, pierced, by forming a series of thirty
or forty accords, majors or minors, which would correspond with so many
'numbered buttons or nols; then having previously figured in a paper or book
the numbers of the nols that form the musick to be played, place the finger
successively on the nol corresponding with the number indicated on the
paper or book, and you can obtain thus certain effects quite sufficient for
accompanying the chants of a church.
I will now describe the second part of my Invention, which is shewn in
Drawing B, Figure 1 being a section of part of a pianoforte with an instrument
(which I call a clavè harmonium, applied according to this part of the Invention;
Figure 2 is a front view of the same. The instrument is composed of a small
key frame, two bellows, and vibrating spring reeds, and it forms an instrument
similar to a seraphine; it is intended to be applied to the front of a pianoforte

page_text: or other like keyed instruments, thereby adding a second key frame, and
offering resources similar to an organ with several key frames. It is easy to
conceive the numerous advantages which may result from this mode of
applying an extra key frame, as thereby a clever artist may readily play
separately or on both at once, and thus produce the most beautiful and varied
effects; and, if required, the instrument may be removed altogether, and the
pianoforte or other keyed instrument used in the ordinary manner. (A, B,)
is the extra key frame, with white and black keys; (C) are the supports of the
pivots of the keys; (D) is a piece of metal, fixed one to each of the keys A, B,
in order to communicate the movement of the keys A, B, to the valves G
over the reed chambers F, to each of which is applied a vibrating spring
tongue or reed E; they are placed across the instrument, as is well understood
by persons accustomed to the manufacture of seraphines and such like reed
instruments. H is a slide in front of the valves G, and pierced with holes,
corresponding with other holes in the case of the instrument, for allowing more
or less sound to escape therefrom; I is an opening, with a cover, for the
purpose of readily getting to the reeds to time them or otherwise; J, J, are
the bellows, with an opening K between, leaving room for the player's legs.
The bellows may be played by the performer moving his legs sideways against
the keys of the instrument. L is one of the keys of the instrument to which
the clavi harmonium is applied; M is the bed of the instrument to which the
clavi harmonium is applied; N, place commonly occupied by the pedal of the
pianoforte or other instrument to which the clavi harmonium is applied. The
instrument above described, and which I have called the clavi harmonium, has
ledges or projections z, one on each side, which when it is applied to a piano-
forte or other similarly keyed instrument pass into grooves y, y, affixed for that
purpose to the under side of the key bed, and are there held securely by set
screws x, x, as shewn; but other modes of attaching the clavi harmonium may
be resorted to, the object being that the same may be readily attached and
removed when requisite; notwithstanding that this apparatus is capable of being
applied to any similar keyed instrument, nevertheless it can be applied in the
front without being fastened, or it may be made use of alone, for it is of itself a
complete instrument.
From the above description, when the clavi harmonium is fixed to any
instrument the two key frames will be one in front of the other, and the
situation of the bellows will not be an inconvenience to the player, who will
put them in action by the outside of his legs, and at the same time he may
readily act upon the pedals of the instrument to which the clavi harmonium is
applied.

page_text: Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner
of performing the same, I would have it understood that I do not confine
myself to the precise details shewn and described, so long as the peculiar
nature of either part of my Invention be retained; but what I claim is,―
First, the arranging mechanical apparatus, as herein described, capable of
being acted upon by moveable surfaces having suitable projections or indents
as before described; and I also claim the arranging surfaces F capable of
acting on suitable apparatus to give motion to the keys of pianofortes or such
like keyed musical instruments, as herein described.
And, secondly, I claim the arranging apparatus having spring tongues or
reeds, as herein described, whereby the same may be readily applied to and
detached from pianofortes or other similar keyed musical instruments.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Debain, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-two day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.
ALEXANDER (L.S.) DEBAIN.
Taken and acknowledged by Alexander Debain
(party hereto), at Paris, in the Kingdom of
France, this Twenty-second day of February
This is the Specification referred to in the affidavit of William Henry
Ritchie, sworn this 27th day of February 1847, before me,
R. RITCHARDS.
WILLIAM HENRY RITCHIE, of Lincoln's Inn, in the County of Middlesex,
maketh oath and saith, that he is acquainted with the manner and character
of the handwriting of Thomas Pickford, Her Britannic Majesty's Consul at
Paris, in the Kingdom of France. And this deponent further saith, that
the signature "Thomas Pickford" set, subscribed, and written in the margin
of the Specification hereunto annexed, marked A, and dated the Twenty-second
day of February now last part, and purporting to be executed by Alexander
.Debain, of Paris, aforesaid, whereby it is stated that the said Specification
was acknowledged by him, the said Alexander Debain, before the said Thomas

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the oath of William Henry Ritchie,
the Specification aforesaid was enrolled, word for word, as above written. And
also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the
Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Twenty-seventh day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.