> >Q:What was the earliest electronic musical instrument?
>
> A: The theremin, patented in 1929.
>

"Jean-Baptiste de La Borde, in 1759, in Paris, constructed the the Clavicin
Electrique, a sort of keyboard-controlled carillon in which suspended bells
were struck by clappers charged with static electricity." - p. 2, Electric
Sound by Joel Chadabe, Prentice Hall.

"Although there were odds and ends of experiments during the nineteenth
century, such as Elisha Gray's Musical Telegraph in 1874 and William
Duddell's Singing Arc in 1899, the first major electronic instrument was
Thaddeus Cahill's Telharmonium." - p. 3, Electric Sound by Joel Chadabe,
Prentice Hall.

The difference in the two paragraphs would be between the words electric and
electronic.

While the Clavicin Electrique was in fact an electric instrument
(electricity was harnessed to produce mechanical movement) the
Teleharmonium, first 'performed' in 1904 used sine waves produced by dynamos
and narrowcast via telephone wires to subscribers in New York City.

There seems to be great popular confusion regarding the two terms.


A quick read of the Chadabe book and:

120 years of Electronic Music: http://www.obsolete.com/120_years

is a good start to sorting this out.

Ian

-- --


Ian Chuprun
ianc@xxxxxxxxxxxx


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A propos de la: / Regarding the:
Communaute electroacoustique canadienne (CEC)
Canadian Electroacoustic Community (CEC)

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A propos de l': / Regarding the:
Université Concordia University

http://music.concordia.ca
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