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M U S 
them is very curious: he remarks, that “in a movement 
there are, perhaps, not two bars of the fame duration !” 
Happily, however, we have no fu<?h mufic; it never ex- 
ifted out of France ; and is at length baniffied its only 
afylum. But we will detain the reader no longer from 
an acquaintance with thofe inftruments by the invention 
and fucceffive improvement of which, that which has been 
fo long a defideratum is at length difcovered ; namely, a 
true time-meafurer, by the ufe of which the compofer’s 
intentions as to the velocity of his mufic may at once 
be known, and can never be loft. 
A very few years ago, two or three compofers of ac¬ 
knowledged abilities, particularly Mr. G. Lanza and Dr. 
Crotch, began to adopt (or rather to revive) the ufe of 
a pendulum to regulate the time of their compofitions, 
and to mark the length of the pendulum at the head of 
their pieces as a direction to the player. From the hints 
furnillied by thefe diftinguilhed profefi'ors, Mr. Ackermann 
has contrived two very Ample but ufeful inftruments, 
which we {hall now proceed to defcribe. 
To fuch mufical ftudents as are acquainted with the 
rudiments of natural philofophy, it will be needlefs to 
obferve, that the velocity of the vibrations of a pendulum 
depends folely upon its length 5 and that no force, how¬ 
ever ftrong, nor the greater or lefs weight of the ball, is 
capable of accelerating or retarding thofe vibrations. An 
increafed impulfe w'ill make the ball fwing through a 
more extended range, but it will return to its original 
place exadtly in the fame time as it would have done if 
moved by the flighted touch of the finger. It is owing 
to this ifochronous property of the pendulum, that it has 
been applied to the regulation of clocks, &c. Having 
premil'ed thus much, the inftrument itfelf will eafily be 
underftood. Fig. 10. reprefents a brafs ball affixed to a 
filken firing, correftly divided into inches and half-inches 
(beginning from the centre of the ball). The length 
prefcribed, at the outfet of each movement, for any note 
of a certain value, fuch as a crotchet, quaver, or femi- 
quaver, is taken on the firing, and thus much of it held 
out by fhe hand, orfaftened to fome place wuthin view of 
the performer; it is then fet in motion, and each dijlinfl 
vibration will indicate the quicknefs of the time required. 
This little inftrument is by Ackermann called a Regulator; 
and is lold, fitted up in a box, for the trifling fum of one 
{hilling. Its fimplicity is its higheft recommendation. 
The only inconvenience it prefented on trial was, that it 
required either a perfon to hold it fufpended while the 
other was playing to it, or that a convenient place within 
view of the performer, to fallen it to, could not at all 
times be devifed. 
Thefe objections are effectually removed by the Ba¬ 
lance-Regulator, fig. 11. brought to its prefent ftate of 
perfection after feveral alterations and improvements. 
The pendular ball is nicely balanced by another ball of 
equal weight, faitened to the other end of the firing, and 
Hiding up and down a fquare brafs rod, upon the fides of 
which inches (from 1 to 11), as well as half and quarter 
inches, are marked in the metal. When required to be 
ufed, the lower extremity of the rod is ftuck into the 
cover of the little box in which the whole apparatus is 
contained, and the box placed near the performer, on the 
pianoforte itfelf; or, if thought proper, a neat hole may 
be contrived on one of the fides of the pianoforte, to in- 
lert the rod in. When fixed, the upper end of the ball is 
Ihifted to fuch a number of inches as Hands marked at the 
beginning of each movement; and, when fet in motion, 
it will vibrate the note required, (crotchet, quaver, or 
femiquaver;) care being taken not to relax the firing in 
lifting or puffiing the ball, left the balancing-ball flip 
from its mark. To render the balance-regulator as port¬ 
able as poffible, and capable of being carried in the pocket, 
the length of the rod and firing has been limited to eleven 
inches, it having, by repeated trials, been afcertained, 
that even the floweft movements may be marked by that 
length, if not in quavers, at all events in femiquavers. 
1 c. 
As, however, fome mufic has already iffued, and may 
hereafter iflue, in which the length of fhe pendulum ex¬ 
ceeds eleven inches, it remains to be fliown how this insr 
ftrument may be ufed for any poffible pendular fignatures. 
The Ample rule, founded on the theory of pendulums, 
is this: Whenever the fignature exceeds eleven inches', 
fet the balance-regulator to the fourth part of fuch fig- 
nature, and it will fwing a note as quick again as the one 
for which that fignature was intended. For inftance, 
fuppofe the fignature prefcribed a length of zo inches for 
crotchets, in that cafe 5 inches taken on the regulator 
will fwing quavers; or again, were the fignature 13 inches 
for quavers, 3^ inches on the regulator would fwing 
femiquavers, &c. 
As hitherto very few mufical works have been pub- 
lifhed with a pendular notation of the time, it was con¬ 
ceived that no fmall fervice would be rendered to the 
mufical Undent by prefenting him with a general fcale of 
the time in which every fpecies of movement, from the 
Largo to the Prejlijfimo, may, with propriety and effeff, 
be executed by means of the pendulum. This fcale will 
therefore be found in a brief catalogue in the box. As it 
has been laid down by a profelfor of the firft-rate eminence, 
it will be found as corredf as the nature of a general rule 
would admit of; particularly when it is confidered, that 
the opinions of the greateft compofers have not unfre- 
quently been found at variance as to the time to be 
affigned to particular movements ; and that, confequently, 
a degree of latitude is left in this rel’pedt to the tafte and 
judgment of the performer. In framing this fcale, de¬ 
menti’s “ Introduction to the Art of Playing on the 
Pianoforte” has been taken as the bafis; and thofe fig- 
natures only have been noticed which appeared direftly 
to influence the time of the movement, omitting fuch as 
feemed rather intended to illuftrate the character of the 
piece, which muft likewife be left to the tafte and con¬ 
ception of the player. 
It is probably alfo needlefs to add, that the regulator 
of either kind is by no means intended to vibrate from 
the beginning to the end of a movement; but merely to 
indicate its time for a number of bars, fufficient to imprexS 
the performer with a corredl idea of the time required; 
and as fuch it will be found to keep its motion much 
longer than neceflary. 
Mr. Ackermann concludes his defcription and recom¬ 
mendation of thele machines with an aflertion which 
ftartled us, and made us almoft repent of having under¬ 
taken to advocate the ufe of time-meafurers at all. His 
words are thefe : “To play a whole piece Jlriclly in time, 
has, however paradoxical the aflertion may appear, upon 
a late trial purpolely inftituted for the fake of experiment, 
been found to be attended with no good effeft. The 
mufic, by the punctual obfervance of time, became di- 
‘vefied of i.ts fpirit, and highly infipid. Something, there¬ 
fore, it leems, mult even here be left to the tafte and dis¬ 
crimination of the performer; and a regulator mechani¬ 
cally contrived, fo as to remain in motion throughout the 
piece, would anfwer no defirable purpofe.” 
Smart’s Mufical Chronometer is reprefented at fig. n. 
It is the invention of Mr. Henry Smart, leader of the 
orcheftra at Drury-lane theatre. It is about fixteen 
inches wide and fourteen high ; it forms a moft commo¬ 
dious double or fingle muiic-defk, either for the piano¬ 
forte or the table. Immediately under the book-reft or 
ledge, is a row of eight little hammers beating upon a 
tablet, on which is engraven a ftaff of mufic, divided into 
eight bars or compartments, containing the gradation of 
notes from the lemibreve to the demifemiquaver, includ¬ 
ing the triplets. On each fide is a dial with a hand or in¬ 
dex : that on the left contains the figns of the fix times, 
or meafures, moft commonly in ufe; i. e. + 5 \ | 
The right-hand dial is divided into 60 degrees, by which 
the time may be accelerated or retarded to the greateft 
nicety. The whole is put in motion by internal ma¬ 
chinery, 
