An interesting beastie

[Fiddlehead Fern]

Greetings!

While at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts today, browsing the musical instruments collection (which was quite lovely), I spotted a familiar name on this critter.

The label said it was a mouth organ (or "symphonium") invented by none other than Charles Wheatstone. I found it interesting, took a few pictures and thought you all might be intrigued as well.

Attached are a few pictures, sorry for the poor quality, but the sign should be legible. The instrument itself had writing on, but it's barely visible at best in the picture.

[Dave Lawton]

Greetings!

While at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts today, browsing the musical instruments collection (which was quite lovely), I spotted a familiar name on this critter.

The label said it was a mouth organ (or "symphonium") invented by none other than Charles Wheatstone. I found it interesting, took a few pictures and thought you all might be intrigued as well.

Attached are a few pictures, sorry for the poor quality, but the sign should be legible. The instrument itself had writing on, but it's barely visible at best in the picture.

 

Very interesting… I saw something similar in a video on an old concertina factory…. Available as a down load on the internet…. Not sure where that was again….

 

Dave

[Stephen Chambers]

I saw something similar in a video on an old concertina factory…. Available as a down load on the internet…. Not sure where that was again….

That would have been Concertina Factory (the Wheatstone Factory in Islington, 1961) by British Pathe Newsreels, though the link (from Concertina.com) doesn't seem to be working at the moment...

 

By the way, I've got four of them, one of which is in Sterling silver with gold reeds - some mouthorgan!

[Henrik Müller]

...

(the Wheatstone Factory in Islington, 1961) by British Pathe Newsreels,...

The film is here.

 

British Pathe has modernized: all movies can now be watched directly (Flash video, as in YouTube).

 

/Henrik

[david_boveri]

I saw something similar in a video on an old concertina factory…. Available as a down load on the internet…. Not sure where that was again….

That would have been Concertina Factory (the Wheatstone Factory in Islington, 1961) by British Pathe Newsreels, though the link (from Concertina.com) doesn't seem to be working at the moment...

 

By the way, I've got four of them, one of which is in Sterling silver with gold reeds - some mouthorgan!

 

where did you come across them? they look awesome? does it offer anything to music making that harmonicas do not?

[Stephen Chambers]

where did you come across them?

I bought them a long time ago, when they were more affordable.

 

There are photos of a couple of them in my Michaelstein Paper.

 

does it offer anything to music making that harmonicas do not?

Think more Harmonetta than harmonica, or of an English concertina that's mouth-blown (the fingering is the same)...

[Fiddlehead Fern]

Ohh! Symphonium! No wonder it sounded familiar to me, I remember reading a short note on one in a book, declaring it a very early type of concertina, or something along those lines. I didn't make the connection because of the lack of bellows, ooops, my bad.

 

That sounds like it would be fun to play, much better than the harmonica, which I absolutely fail at, despite the crash course I got when playing with a few friends. ("Here, this one is in the right key. Just do whatever sounds good.")

 

Oh dear, I think this might be another thing going on my wish list.....

[hjcjones]

...

(the Wheatstone Factory in Islington, 1961) by British Pathe Newsreels,...

The film is here.

 

British Pathe has modernized: all movies can now be watched directly (Flash video, as in YouTube).

 

/Henrik

Thanks for pointing that out, the film of the Wheatstone factory is fascinating.

 

On the Pathe site I also found a film of Percy and Mary Honri here together with this appallingly patronising newsreel from 1940 about teaching music to "African natives" which includes a very brief shot of a concertina player.

 

There's also this interesting clip from 1914 (no sound then of course) of interned PoW sailors dancing to a melodeon and concertina.

[michael sam wild]

Thanks for that clip Howard. Lovely movers! I'd love to be able to hear what they were playing

 

 

 

pl

George Melly would have loved that clip!

 

I played my kids the African 'bwana' stuff they couldn't believe I could see and listen to that stuff as a kid without being indoctinated, fortunately I grew up in a family that could see through it ( my Dad jumped ship from the Royal Navy in Durban in the 1920s whn he'd realised what it was all about) but it shows how imperialism was supported by the media.

Edited December 15, 2009 by michael sam wild

[L'Albatroce]

Great link Henrik! The increasing presence of archives on the internet is a great resource, especially for us with interests "off the beaten path". I've gotten a lot of mileage out of the sound recordings from the Canadian National Archives. They've got some great old Québécois musicians.

 

The more I find out about the musical culture of South Africa the more intrigued I get. "The White Man's Burden" might have been disasterous for local economies, but it lead to some interesting musical forrays.

Edited December 16, 2009 by L'Albatroce

[michael sam wild]

...

(the Wheatstone Factory in Islington, 1961) by British Pathe Newsreels,...

The film is here.

 

British Pathe has modernized: all movies can now be watched directly (Flash video, as in YouTube).

 

/Henrik

 

 

Thanks Henrik that was a fascinating clip. Does anyone know who the chap playing Cpt Pugwash on the EC was? His Rakes of Mallow fizzled out on the Symphonium! so not a diatonic suck blow bisonoric mouth organ then, same note suck or blow?

Edited December 17, 2009 by michael sam wild