Telharmonium

The Telharmonium (in English, Telharmonium) or Dinamophone (in English, Dynamophone) is the first Entirely electronic and polyphonic instrument, patented in 1897 by the American inventor, Thaddeus Cahill. However, the invention would not be completed until 1906. That year it was presented to the public in Holyoke.

The first prototype of thermonium cost about $200,000, weighed approximately 200 tons and was 18 meters long.

The theharmonium used an electromagnetic tone wheel to generate sounds typical of the organ and piano. The sound produced by the theharmonium offered up to 7 octaves, 36 notes per octave and frequencies between 40 to 4000 Hz.

Despite the excessive proportions of the theharmonium, the instrument was transported from Holyoke to New York. For this, 30 train cars were needed. In New York, it occupied an entire floor of the theater located on the corner of 39th Street on Broadway. He remained there for two decades; For this reason, the building would be known by the nickname Telharmonic Hall.

Cahill partnered with the New England Electric Music Company to transmit the telharmonium to hotels, restaurants, theaters and homes via telephone line, charging subscribers for this peculiar musical thread. The business did well and survived the Wall Street crash and World War I, but it went bankrupt with the boom. of radio broadcasting.

After the first model, two other teleharmoniums were built, larger and more expensive. Cahill finished the third and final one in March 1911. This third theharmonium operated until 1916.

None of the three prototypes of the theharmonium exist today, nor have any recordings been found with said instrument, but it is believed that its sound was similar to that of the Hammond organ.