666 



REED INSTRUMENTS. 



Canada of four members, and (notwithstanding any- 

 thing in this act) in case of the admission of New- 

 foundland the normal number of senators shall be 

 seventy-six, and their maximum number shall be 

 eighty-two ; but Prince Edward Island when ad- 

 mitted shall be deemed to be compromised in the 

 third of the three divisions into which Canada is, in 

 relation to the Constitution of the Senate, divided 

 bv this act, and accordingly, after the admission of 



Prince Edward Island, whether Newfoundland is ad- 

 mitted or not, the representation of Nova Scotia and 

 New Brunswick in the senate shall, as vacancies oc 

 cur, be reduced from twelve to ten members respect 

 ively, and the representation of each of those Prov- 

 inces shall not be increased at any time beyond ten, 

 except under the provisions- of this act for the ap- 

 pointment of three or six additional senators under 

 the direction of the Queen. 



REED INSTRUMENTS COP Music). The 

 great improvements which have been made in 

 reed instruments within a few years past, entitle 

 them to a place in a record of the advance of 

 mechanical science and art. The first application 

 of the vibration of a free tongne of metal to the 

 production of musical sounds is probably due to 

 that very unmusical people, the Chinese. As 

 might have been expected, there was not much 

 concord or harmony in the sounds they pro- 

 duced. There is some doubt whether an in- 

 strument invented by Armiot in the last century, 

 but which never came into use, was or was not 

 a reed instrument. The Eolodicon, invented 

 by Eschenberg, of Bohemia, about 1806, did 

 produce musical sounds by the vibration of 

 elastic tongues of metal, but it was a rude affair. 

 The Accordion, invented about 1821, and claim- 

 ed by both European and American inventors, 

 followed this. It possessed some advantages, but 

 more disadvantages in its use as an accompa- 

 niment to the voice, and has been used rather 

 as a musical toy than as a musical instrument 

 of much value. The Rocking Melodeon, in- 

 troduced soon after, was at first but little 

 more than a larger accordion, blown by the 

 knees instead of the hands. The principle on 

 which these early melodeons, of which there 

 was a considerable variety in style, size, and 

 form, were all constructed, was that of forcing 

 the air out through the reeds, by means of the 

 bellows, in order to produce the desired musi- 

 cal sounds. As the metallic tongues were not 

 usually made with the most mathematical pre- 

 cision or perfection of finish, and as they were, 

 moreover, very often clogged or obstructed by 

 particles of dust or other slight difficulties, 

 which impeded their free vibrations, there was 

 almost necessarily a hesitancy and trouble in 

 producing the desired note with the requisite 

 promptness; the instrument did not "speak" 

 so readily as the performer wither), and not un- 

 frequently on some notes could not be made to 

 "speak " at all. Several manufacturers in New 

 England and N"ewYork had, however, as early as 

 1840, adopted some improvements which render- 

 ed their instruments preferable to those hitherto 

 made, and rendered them a tolerable accompa- 

 niment for church music, though not a very 

 desirable one. The most important of these 

 improvements was that by which the reeds 

 were each fastened to, and vibrated in a small 

 square metallic pipe, which wus inserted through 



the top of the wind-chest, with the points of 

 the reeds down; the rear ends of the keys rest- 

 ing on the open ends of these metallic pipes, 

 and thus forming the valves. 



The lap, or rocking melodeon, to which about 

 this time (1840) slight legs were added, and a 

 contrivance for working the bsllows by the 

 foot, was becoming popular for schools and 

 small churches as a substitute for the stringed 

 instruments which had hitherto been used as 

 accompaniments for church music. It was 

 as yet, however, very far from being perfect. 

 A modification, which greatly improved the 

 tone, was adopted by most of the manufac- 

 turers, though it cannot now be ascertained by 

 whom it was first suggested. The reeds were 

 riveted upon a piece of brass, swedged or 

 bent so as to form three sides of a square, the 

 edges of which were then inserted in grooves 

 made for them upon the upper side of the 

 wind-chest, directly over the valve mortice; 

 and in order to bring the point of the reed to 

 vibrate on the inside (the air being forced out- 

 ward), the reeds were made to pass through 

 their sockets to the under side, and this natural- 

 ly took the form of a double curve, resembling 

 somewhat the letter S. This curving of the 

 reeds improved the tone, but it rather increased 

 than diminished the promptness of the vibra- 

 tions, where, as was yet the case with all reed 

 instruments, the air was forced outward. In 

 1846 Mr. Jeremiah Carhart, then of Buffalo, 

 now and for some years of the manufacturing 

 house of Carhart and Needham, secured a patent 

 for a certain construction of bellows with other 

 combinations, to operate the reeds by suction 

 or drawing in, instead of forcing out, the air. 

 This process, since known as the "exhaust 

 plan," which had been previously though un- 

 successfully attempted, was the first considera- 

 ble step- in improving reed instruments, and 

 rendering them really valuable as accompani- 

 ments to the voice. It was only a first step, 

 but it has been followed by numerous others 

 which have made these instruments superior to 

 the piano, and, for home music, to the parlor 

 organ, in expression and feeling. Mr. Carhart's 

 invention, as was justly claimed, gave to the 

 instrument an improved quality of tone, greater 

 durability, more simplicity of construction, in- 

 creased promptness of utterance, a uniformity 

 of tones, and equal distribution of r>ower througb 

 the entire scale. 



