Why an echo valve for the cornet? Should a clarinet be played electronically? And how does the organ get a breath of fresh air?

Why an echo valve for the cornet? Should a clarinet be played electronically? And how can the organ be given a breath of fresh air? Musical instrument makers have developed countless innovations to fulfill the wishes of musicians and composers - or to challenge them with new inventions...

Over 3000 years ago, it was possible to cast bronze tubes and assemble them into wind instruments. Around 250 years ago, clarinettists were looking for a bass instrument and an inventor drew a "Cupid sound", a horn with a covered bell that produced a "love sound". Around 200 years ago, a "double-tube push valve" for brass instruments was patented in Vienna and trombones with dragon heads came into fashion. A good 100 years ago, a flautist developed the "Aerophor" tone-binding apparatus to make it easier to play long phrases, and a physicist invented the first electronic instrument that can be played without touching it: the theremin.

And today? Organist Daniel Glaus is looking for a "wind-dynamic" organ on which he can vary the volume ("dynamics") at the touch of a button, and Ernesto Molinari is developing the "CLEX", a contrabass clarinet with a mechatronic "extension".


Note: This text was translated by machine translation software and not by a human translator. It may contain translation errors.