GB190615561A - An Improvement in Musical Instruments. - Google Patents

Abstract

15,561. Heffernan, J. July 10. Organs and harmoniums; pianofortes.-A musical scale for keyed instruments is obtained by dividing the interval of a twelfth, from middle C to upper G, into twenty-four exactly equal semitones. The octave in this scale is slightly less than perfect, and contains 15 semitones or 3 major thirds ; the fifth consists of 9 semitones, the major third of 5, and the minor third of 4 semitones. The keyboards of pianos, organs, and harmoniums (tuned to this scale) may be arranged in various ways ; the preferred arrangement is illustrated in Fig. 2, the long thin lines representing the white, and the short thick lines the black notes. The scale for any particular key tonic in this arrangement comprises ten notes to the octave, and these notes are identical for two other key tonics separated by five or ten semitones from the first. The scale may be tuned by minor and major thirds or by minor thirds and octaves. Music notation.-The notes of the above scale are represented by numbers placed above or below a line representing middle, upper, or lower C, and equivalent to the number of semitones included between the notes and the C chosen. The time values are indicated by vertical lines above or below the numbers, and by their size, or appearance, as indicated in Fig. 6. [Reference has been directed under Patents Act 1902, to Specification No. 5869, A.D. 1883.]