February 19, 2007

Crosley Musicone (Oct, 1927)

Crosley Musicone

Wire coating represents years research —
WORLD’S FASTEST SELLING SPEAKER

Delicate actuating parts of loud speakers are subject to rust and deterioration. The Crosley patented actuating unit is not affected by the climate. Special impregnable coating covers the wire in the coils. Impervious bakelite instead of cardboard bobbins prevents any retention of moisture. Higher voltage is possible with resultant louder, finer tones.
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BIG ACCORDION WORKED WITH PEDALS (Dec, 1933)

BIG ACCORDION WORKED WITH PEDALS
To provide musicians with a larger accordion than could be carried conveniently on a strap around the neck, a foot-pedal instrument of ingenious design has been devised and patented by Samuel Sater, New York City inventor. One of its two pedals expands the bellows; the other contracts it. The notes are pressed with the fingers upon a keyboard resembling that of a piano. Removing the front casing, however, reveals that each of the keys, when depressed, opens a valve that allows air from the bellows to pass over a corresponding set of reeds for that particular tone. Readily portable, the instrument is dismantled or set up again in a few minutes, the outer sections folding together to provide a case.

February 2, 2007

FIRST BROADCASTERS USED PHONE (Sep, 1933)

FIRST BROADCASTERS USED PHONE

Who were the earliest broadcasters? Ten years before the first radio programs were put on the air, a group in Chicago., 111., regularly delivered musical programs and news bulletins over the telephone lines of many subscribers. The rare old photograph reproduced below shows these pioneers broadcasting from their studio. Each singer is holding a microphone, while other individual microphones are attached to the instruments. To listen to the music, a subscriber had merely to sit beside the telephone and hold the receiver to his ear. If he received a ‘phone call while listening, the musical program was automatically disconnected.

January 30, 2007

New Phonograph Record Plays Half Hour Music Program (Feb, 1932)

New Phonograph Record Plays Half Hour Music Program

THE phonograph, long overshadowed by the radio, now promises to come back into popularity, thanks to the development of an improved type of phonograph record recently introduced. Capable of running for a full half hour, the new long-playing record reproduces entire symphonies and vaudeville and musical comedy acts with-out the necessity of changing the discs.

The long-playing feature is obtained by slowing down the turn-table speed 78 to 33 -1/ rpm., and by introducing almost double the number of grooves in the playing surface. The new discs are made from a composition called Vitrolac, which permits placing finer grooves in the record.

The slower turn-table speed for playing the new records is obtained by the use of a special gear shift arrangement, which can be installed in any electric phonograph. The needles are chromium plated.

January 18, 2007

PHONOGRAPH AND LOUDSPEAKER REPLACE ARMY’S BAND (Dec, 1932)

Filed under: Music,War — @ 11:06 am
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Dec, 1932
Buy on Ebay

PHONOGRAPH AND LOUDSPEAKER REPLACE ARMY’S BAND

Will canned music inspire future warriors? Veteran army bandmasters in Denmark were taken aback when a lumbering sound truck recently took the place of a regular band and led a detachment of Danish soldiers on a cross-country march. Martial airs played upon a phonograph were amplified and projected to front and rear by horns atop the truck. Lively discussion was stirred up two years ago in this country when the United States Army became interested in mechanical bands to replace musicians. A sound truck for this purpose was designed, built, and offered for test by the Radio Corporation of America (P.S.M., Aug., ’30, p. 48). Its volume equalled that of two Army bands and the quality of music was called as good as the average in the service. To date, however, no definite move to adopt the mechanical substitute for bandsmen has been made public.

January 16, 2007

If you can hum or whistle a tune… You can play any of these novelty instruments (Feb, 1949)

If you can hum or whistle a tune… You can play any of these novelty instruments

The Musical Saw—The Glass-O-Phone The Jazz-O-Nette- The Musical Pitchfork

Why envy others who play? If you can sing, hum, or whistle a tune you can play any of our novelty instruments. They are PLAYED BY EAR. No notes to study. No scales to learn. You don’t have to know anything about music. Just follow our simple instructions and soon you’ll be playing popular tunes. You, too, can start a novelty band for your Church, Club, School, Lodge, etc.
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November 1, 2006

The first four notes of Beethoven’s Fifth. (Oct, 1982)

The first four notes of Beethoven’s Fifth.
Musical notes like these never existed before 3M invented the Digital Mastering System.

It uses computer technology to record every nuance of a piece of music in binary numbers. So that when reproduced, every note can be heard with such uncanny crispness and clarity, you can hear music the way Beethoven wanted it to be heard.

At 3M, by listening to people’s needs, we’ve pioneered over 400 products to serve the needs of the communication arts field. We’ve developed everything from videocassettes to lithographers tape to photo offset plates.

All because at 3M, we’re in the business of hearing. So let us hear from you.

3M hears you…

October 13, 2006

The “Telecolor” Translates Music Into Light (Nov, 1931)

Music visualizations that beat WinAmp by about 70 years.

The “Telecolor” Translates Music Into Light

COLOR has long been a favorite word to describe the quality and the mood of music; perhaps because some individuals inevitably associate a certain chord with a certain color. This is doubtless only an individual peculiarity; because all people do not match the same music with the same colors. However, a scientific means has been found to turn music into light; and thus make a radio program appeal to the eye (even without television), as well as the ear. The new invention, the “tele-color” shown here, differs from earlier color organs, such as the “clavilux,” in being automatic in its actions.
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August 30, 2006

Ad: GETTING THIN TO MUSIC (Mar, 1922)

It’s Sweating to the Oldies, back before they were oldies.

GETTING THIN TO MUSIC

Reducing Reduced to a Science

ARE you bulky of body, and heavy of heart? Would you really like to reduce? Will you accept without cost the proof that you can? Then read what this man has done! Not long: ago, in Chicago, it was stated that the scientific secret of weight regulation had been discovered. Wallace, a leading physical director, had worked seventeen years to make the announcement. But it did not take long to prove it was true.
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August 28, 2006

New Electric Reproducer Plays Piano Accompaniment (Feb, 1932)

New Electric Reproducer Plays Piano Accompaniment
ONE of the strangest contraptions yet to make its appearance in the musical world was exhibited recently at the German Radio Show in Berlin. Known as the “Helertion,” the device performs the function of playing an accompaniment to a grand piano. The notes are picked up by a microphone and are altered by changing the resistance in the lattice circle, which reproduces spheric sounds and noises together with the ordinary tones of the piano.

The alteration tone is carried on through a series of amplifiers and reproduced through a battery of loud speakers. Auditors who have given the system a try-out declare that the scheme opens up a new field for musical reproduction from an ordinary . grand piano. The tonal range is as great with the reproducer as with the piano itself.

August 20, 2006

PLAY GUITAR IN 7 DAYS OR MONEY BACK (Feb, 1968)

PLAY GUITAR IN 7 DAYS OR MONEY BACK

TOP GUITARIST ED SALE’S famous 66 page secret system worth $3.00 teaches you to play a beautiful song the first day and any song by ear or note in seven days. Contains 52 photos, 87 finger placing charts, etc. plus 110 popular and western songs, (words and music); a $1.00 Chord Finder of all the chords used in popular music; and a $3.00 Guitarist Book of Knowledge.
TOTAL VALUE $7.00 —ALL FOR ONLY $2.98
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Dashboard Keyboard Operates Car-Exhaust Calliope (Nov, 1940)

Dashboard Keyboard Operates Car-Exhaust Calliope
Under the hood of the automobile owned by Leo Feuchter, of Ironton, Ohio, is a homemade calliope which is powered by the exhaust of the engine and played by means of an organ-type keyboard at the right side of the dashboard. Depending upon the speed at which the motor is running, the sound of the calliope can be heard from six to eight blocks away. To start the music, the operator presses a pedal, diverting the exhaust gases into the instrument. The range of the calliope is two octaves. Feuchter, a sixty-five-year-old automobile mechanic, designed and constructed the unique installation, which has attracted wide attention in parades and at conventions.

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