๐ท Staccatoneยถ
The staccatone is an electronic musical instrument invented in 1923, by the journalist radio and writer of science fiction Hugo Gernsback.
As Audion piano of Lee Forest, the staccatone was based on the vacuum valve .
Hugo Gernsback (born Hugo Gernsbacher, August 16, 1884 โ August 19, 1967) was a LuxembourgishโAmerican inventor, writer, editor, and magazine publisher, best known for publications including the first science fiction magazine. His contributions to the genre as publisherโalthough not as a writerโwere so significant that, along with the novelists H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, he is sometimes called โThe Father of Science Fictionโ. In his honour, annual awards presented at the World Science Fiction Convention are named the โHugosโ.
Hugo Gernsback, perhaps better known as the โFather of Science Fictionโ (and currently eponymously celebrated in the โHugosโ Science Fiction Awards) also invented and built an early electronic instrument called the Staccatone in 1923 (with Clyde.J.Fitch) which was later developed into one of the first polyphonic instruments, the Pianorad in 1926. Gernsback was a major figure in the development and popularisation of television, radio and amateur electronics, his multiple and sometimes shady businesses included early science fiction publishing, pulp fiction, self-help manuals and DIY electronics magazines as well as his own science fiction writing.
The Staccatone was conceived as a self-build project for amateur electronics enthusiasts via Gernsbackโs โPractical Electricsโ magazine. The instrument consisted of a single vacuum tube oscillator controlled by a crude switch based 16 note โkeyboardโ. The switch based control gave the note a staccato attack and decay โ hence the โStaccatoneโ. Gernsback promoted the instrument through his many publication and on his own radio station WJZ New York:
[Hugo Gernsbackโs โStaccatoneโ c 1923]
โThe musical notes produced by the vacuum tubes in this manner have practically no overtones. For this reason the music produced on the Pianorad is of an exquisite pureness of tone not realised in any other musical instrument. The quality is better than that of a flute and much purer. the sound however does not resemble that of any known musical instrument. The notes are quite sharp and distinct, and the Pianorad can be readily distinguished by its music from any other musical instrument in existence.โ
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Sourcesยถ
Wikipedia / 120years.net / Oxfordreference.com