TELEPHONE HARP CONCERT. Sound Waves Brought Two Miles, and Heard in Union Hall.
Not a large but a very appreciative live audience greeted Mr. Frederick Allen Gower on Wednesday evening, in Union Hall, at his Illustrated lecture and concert on the newly invented instrument, the Telephone Harp. Pearl street, Boston, was called, and Mr. Mathews was asked to play upon the telephone harp, which is an instrument consisting of four octaves of thin steel tongues, set in a steel frame, like a mouth harmonica. Under each tongue is a hammer operated like a telegraphic or pianoforte key. When the keys are played upon, the hammers press the tongues upward, bringing them in connection with a metallic point like that of any telegraphic instrument. When these points are touched by the vibrating tongues, the circuit is opened, the musical note is transmitted over the wire, and repeated at the other end by the telephone. A battery passed electricity through what is termed a Geitler tube, resembling the letter U, and containing hydrogen gas ; and as the notes were played upon the telephonic harp in Boston, the sound waves or vibrations of music corresponded exactly with the flashes of light of various colors, which were thus given out. The hall was darkened of course, during this successful experiment, which the audience unanimously applauded as a most marked and triumphant success of scientific discovery and practical application. A few more remarks were made by Mr. Gower, showing the present commercial success of the telephone, no less than 6,000 being now in use in the United States.
Cambridge Chronicle — 26 January 1878
Novel Harmonica Performance from Prof. Goodwall Merck
Prof. G. Goodwall Merck, introduced his musical novelties. He plays the violin, guitar, banjo and harmonica, finely; and also performs the difficult act of playing upon the harmonica, "guitar, drums, cymbals, triangle and bells, at one and the same time, giving a very good imitation of a band of music.
Cambridge Chronicle — 27 February 1875
Wholesale Notion House.
S. W. Wren & Co. (Formerly of Natches, Miss.) Keep on hand the largest and most Complete Stock of NOTIONS In the State. MERCHANTS Can find a Full Line of Notions of all Kinds: Soaps, Perfumeries, Stationery, School Books, Hosiery, Table and Pocket Cutlery, Combs, Brushes, Pipes, Violins, Looking Glasses, Fish Hooks, and Lines, &c. Remember the Children and look at our stock of TOYS. Dolls. Marbles. Rattles. rubber Balls. Harmonicas. Jews harps. Jumping Josies, Tops, Toy Watches, and a thousand other articles.
Dallas Herald — 21 July 1866
A Promise of First-Rate Entertainment.
On Saturday evening, a duet will be performed by "Professor" T. P. Ryder. on the great organ, and " Professor" Wallach on the "Mouth Harmonica." Subsequently, Mr. patrick will perform a solo on the Mouth Discordica. Altogether, this is high art.
The New Orleans crescent. — 6 January 1869
DYER, ROKOHL & BUTLER - AUCTIONEERS AND COMISSION MERCHANTS
Magnificent Furniture OF SAID RESIDENCE, mahogany Chamber Sets; Rich Lace Curtains, Window Shades and Blinds; 3-Ply and Ingrain Carpets; Beds, Bedding, Sheets, Quilts, Pillow Cases, Lounges, Sofas, Whatnots; Dining room and Kitchen Furniture. 1 Extension Dining Table, 1 excellent Cook Stove; Flatware. Cutlery, Glassware Crockery, Etc., Etc. ALSO1 Splendid Pianoforte, full rich and brilliant tone, rosewood case, carved legs and elegant finish — a superior instrument. Also, 1 Music Box, Harmonica attachment; Also, 1 Monkey, classically educated; Also, 1 Talking Parrot!
Daily Alta California — 17 January 1866
Mr. Shattuck Receives Triple Encore for his Harmonica Efforts!
Royal Arch Lodge gave an entertainment and festival, Tuesday evening, in Pythian Hall. A decided novelty and feature of the evening was Mr. B. E. Shattuck on the harmonica. The gentleman's efforts were so highly appreciated that he received three hearty encores.
Cambridge Chronicle — 22 June 1878
Bernd has put a lot of time into creating an index of the songs we have shared. Thank you, Bernd! This list will be useful. We can check it before starting a new song of the month. On a couple occasions we have chosen a song we had already done. Also we could add a song to an existing thread instead of starting a new thread for just one post (although that is ok). Right now I have no idea how to keep the list up to date. Perhaps a second thread on the index board as a temporary collection point? These could later be edited into the main index. Should we break the index into 2 or 3 threads? For instance A-L and M-Z. Also I am asking those with Administrator privilege to keep a copy of this index in case it ever needs restored. All ideas are welcome.
However did you get all that information!! So much time!! I know the site doesn’t show posts for long and a subject has to be revived, but this is phenomenal (thanks to word check for spelling). Rex has contributed a lot of instruction and explanation. where it is???
I've taken a copy, but as I regularly swap computers, & wipe/reuse disks/pendrives, I can't guarantee an accidental loss, but if we all have a copy, we should be fine.
(P.S. Dezzy posted in the index thread, to which I have added an answer, & a request not to post in the thread.)
The list is basically a big excel list and my plan was to update it once in a week. That's no big deal for me and I could use a different colour for the new songs. The file is on my computer and also in my Email-system. The tutorial and explanation videos are not in the list, because it's hard to find a name for each of them. If there's a wish for a potential tutorial list, it would be better if these contributors would arrange the links to their videos in a clear order.
I saved a copy and will try to update my copy every 6 months. If anyone finds an old link to a deleted recording please let Bernd or an Admin know so we can delete it. An out of date index is worse than no index. We can try to use this thread to talk about the index while leaving the actual index alone. As to instruction, the board "tips, tricks, and techniques" has been the place to share or find that.
Dezzy and Keith: I moved your posts over here. No offense, Dezzy. Your comments are very welcome. My fault for leaving the thread unlocked. I simply don't know how to share a file like that except to create a post. Maybe another Admin can figure it out.
I somehow lost the opportunity to change the text colours. My browser is always crashing when I try to do it. So know it's not as easy as it was to quickly discover newest songs or songs of the month.
I somehow lost the opportunity to change the text colours. My browser is always crashing when I try to do it. So know it's not as easy as it was to quickly discover newest songs or songs of the month.
Bernd, I quoted you so you would get notified of this post. I am moving most of my YouTube music to Soundcloud. Don't bother trying to fix the list here. Just leave my songs there. When I'm done with the move, I will start changing or deleting the links. It will be easier that way because I won't have to type in the song titles, just replace the links. I hope to get it done a bit at a time. Thanks again for creating this list.