History
Various free reed instruments appear to have been invented since antiquity, but were unknown in the West until comparatively recently. Among the ancient instruments, the khene of Laos, the shēng of China and the shō of Japan have survived to modern times. It has been claimed that the shēng was brought to Saint Petersburg, Russia, and other towns of Europe near the end of the 18th century, inspiring a series of inventions in the early 19th century that were the foundation of the development of the modern free reeds.
At Copenhagen one of these instruments with brass pipes and free reeds in-caved into the sides of this pips inspired the organ builder Mr. Kirsnick to fit similar reeds into portable organs. See Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung. 5. März. 1823. Nr. 10" 1880 Kirsnick moved to Saint Petersburg improved this new organ pipes to adjustable pitch with a hook. Christian Gottlieb Kratzenstein built also his speaking machine in Copenhagen and he was in contact with Mr. Kirsnick. Christian Gottlieb Kratzenstein did get an award for this machine in Petersburg but he never moved to Petersburg. His Machine or a copy of this Machine came to Paris very shortly after 1880. A very prominent person in Europe Georg Joseph Vogler did put all his effort to get this new type of organ pipes in use in church organs so he started with changing organs in Rotterdam (1790), London(1790), Frankfurt (1791), Stockholm (1791), Paris (1796), Berlin (1800), Prag (1802), Wien (1804), Salzburg München (1805), ... up to 30 documented rebuilds of organs with new free reed type organ pipes. He also held lessons on University's and did all to promote this new type of reeds, not only in German speaking regions of Europe. The actual work was done by different Organ builders, and very many People ware involved in this, so it is nearly impossible that any organ builder in Europe did not know about free reeds after 1800. In the two years from 1802 to 1804 in Vienna, he spent time with Johann Nepomuk Mälzel and Mälzel did change the type of reeds used in his Panharmonicon to free reed pipes. Vogler, Maelzel and Friedrich Kaufmann were then at the same time in Paris in the Year of 1807. From there Mälzel did go to Regensburg and Vienna where he constructed an new Panharmonicon and the mechaischer Trompeter, after that he did go on tour again to Paris, London and other places, maybe he went for the first time to Boston and New York as well, but up to now we don't know of any notice in a newspaper about it. Friedrich Kaufmann a clock maker went back home to Dresden and copped Mälzel's machines. The 'mechaischer Trompeter' still can be seen in a museum in Munich.
Read more about this topic: Free Reed Aerophone
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