ELECTRICAL-MUSIC.

North Otago Times, 26 July 1906, Page 4

ELECTRICAL-MUSIC.

! REMARKABLE POSSIBILITIES' 01 SUCCESSFUL',NEW INTENTION.

■ In the little_ dlty' of JHolyokg, Maw,, ilias como tu llght-th.6 latteb electrical eensailoiij,rl>r t Cahill, 1 ! isviwK 'demonstrating that ,it Is the, earnest, thing in tho wbrld miisio fifty; miles ,or..)iiore eltotricity.; "Telhaiv moiiy," it liiis been "nam® ty .the loam., ' .cdVonesrJ>ut"Dr.?' Cahill'-prefers to' call •it "electrical, musio;" ■ . : . i

, A visit to' the Cahill's factory—for there aro brothers, Thaadeus,, lieoigo F, and Arthur. T,, oonoornedln' tho perfection of Ilia" iuvontioft-is'.liko, a visit, to a .new hlo 6eoms to have become suddenly, poa.< siblo and tlie unreal 'real, It' ia just tho sort of, place .that >Alice might hava run acroffl in Wonderland,. but it ia' speotral and ghostly in this day of hfardl facts.. There is something that, suggests spooks in the way a mass of mochani< cal dovices, suddenly tura thomsolves in. ta music. .

- ■ The room iu ivliicli the musio is nrnde, or, rather, where .the "electrical Tibra. tiona are stored up, waiting for the touch or tho human hand to turn them, iiilo musio, apjieaiß much like tho ordinary limcliino shop, except for the masses of. wiro, These wires aro arranged in ov.ery way imaginable.- They are in' coils, iu streamers, in pauok m baukfl,' in tiers, strotching ovorhoM.Jjfwk of one another,' iu'aud out, up'aud down, their twistings, and.turnings having a significant meaning only to those versed in electrical lore. The musio room, as tho room in which,' Ilio keyboard is may be termed,: is witl>; -out the usual accompaniment of lard.: wood-.floors,, busts, of .famous.composers' and comfortable lounging' chairs. It is, : in truth,, rather dingy and .unattraotivp> but in it stands an,instrument which; is capablo' of sending, electrical inusio to thousands of people in many different places, - _ . The electrical transmitter,, or olectri. cal as it seems destined to' l)dj popularly;called. Jfl. imtruth),.a new. musical instrument, itnowledge.of the piano-is absolutely nee'ded to play it, Dijt it has difficulties o,f: itfl.:own; to be .mastered, Atpvcecnfc there aro three musicians -in the> factppy. who practise ; faithfully : every :;day,.and thov are finding, to their .delight, that .classical music is most effective on tho,Wru. ment. Selections that eo far have been d nT i'® especially eqtiefactory are Beethovons adagio, from, tho trio,' odub «, Ohopin s ,!iiazui'h in B flat, Nevin's Narcissus, the; prelude from Mascag"Katcliffe," liojjini's overture to lulliam Ta!l," Schumann's "Traumorel, a violin duet by Spohr and Schubert s violin 9tv| piano sonata No. The principle of the. invention is that the musio is generated in 'the shape of. electricity, sent' to its. /destination by wire, and there. is turned, into sound waves, Georgo-F. Gahill says that the generators produce a constant supply of cicatrical vibrationfl,„irom. which- the performer draws such -as he desires. oimilarly, m » pip© organ, air ia pumped into a bellows; tbon tho player, by pressing certain keys, turns it into, different pipes to produoe the tones he de. B } rc^- . an eihaustlcss supply of electrical vibrations at; command, the "WW of the inusio, -depends- entirely upon the. skill and soul, of tho perfor, mer. In the room where the-player is performing tliero may be absolute silence, yet the wires around the room aro pill of music and may bo tapped here and there and everywhere only to give forth musio. '

In a small room close by are four hundred receivers buried in sawdust, but.attached to the instrument. They seem uninteresting,-but a handful drag, gea -forth from their sawdust bed immediately begin lo pour forth music as if tliey wore bowitclied.

Dr. Cahills fi-rat plan for his invention h that it will bo , placed in hotels, cafes, t-iieatres, concert halls and depart!!fu' „ Already it has been installed 111 a Holyoke hotel, a mile awav from _ the central plant. ■ It will appear in Now York in about thrco months , as a central station instrument of con- | iiderablo size. Concerts have been sent from Holyoke to New Haven, a distahco of seventy miles, and from 'Washington to Baltimore on leased telephone wires. Whon the svstem is fairly installed, the company will put in its own wires. It is planned to send the music not much more than fifty miles, having the central stations no further apart- than that. Ultimately it is believed that indivU duals will put it into their honire and tllO l-Cjyioiituv: iu thus direction are limitless, Instead of donning evening ©ess and going out to hear a noted pianist, all a man will need to do will bto settle back comfortably in-his armchair, with his favourite pine and tobacco at hand, turn a switch, and the piauiGt will ooroo to him, so to. speak. The woman-who loves the grand Concert for music alone, and loathes the gala drem of such an occasion, can slip into her easiest kimono, take up her em< brodiery, press a button, and in a second the room will be flooded with music. Clubmen will find their club homes Still moro attractive if they can hear a virtuose i rendering music while.'they contentedly read the'evening papers or pap or play billiards. The nuisio loving mother, whs is tied up at home by domestic cares, may enjoy an afternoon matinee by Padereivski in her- own .sitting room while oho is rocking the uaby to sleep. The suburbanite might approciato hearing a Concert in '"his oivn home, where he would'have no unoasy feeling that ho must pay for 1 his fun by a„ woarisomo-rido on the. care after the performance, and to. the provincial cities, where truly fino music is infrequently heard, the best compositions could bo brought to the ears of etibsofibora.

Tie young man- caller who stajs until Unseasonable hours might bo tactfully reminded by a visa father- that it is tune to depart, should the laltei' suddenly BintcE etraina of "We Won't Go 'ri? m< L w i Morinng J ' into tho room, ■ 1 tt j• ■ lover. iniglft bo oiicouraged find the timid girl might-utter- sentiments to her lovers which eho.dwe not If Yo Ain't Got .No Money 10 Needn fc ,Como ; Around,"- micht bo turned on for one man,'"Coax Me," for anptlwr. " 'Way Down in My. llcark i.t™' w 6 vl f ? r Yo " f( »' a third, I m Waiting Yet" for a fourth, and for f, h ° f,™ mail she might switch on i/b B ® sue$ ue t0 Bjee of-Blue ut Byes of Brown Were Kind?" To the omy man ( of course, sho would ~cauee iw?'-™ n '!l ÜBio t0 play. "Claim ihou Thy Own.

: - The flat dweller who. is bothered .by -j>ther ; flat-dwellers who borrow thinra or' Keep noisy parrots or d<®i oould geFrW venge by turning cm thp loudest kind of • Mgtimo miisio- ahd ithen going "out-tor t>ay R few calls while fhe.ragtime ;raged - for, houre, . , 7, For overwrought nei'ves-Vthere would' be Blumbei'.songs and..lullabiw,-and-the-wnsoliiig melody of "All Men Haveiheir Troubles," Mothers who cannot Sing would appreciate theiv aid' in put. -Ung/.bapy- to' eleep, . InstpMioLemploying numerous;bands I V® , ® electrical musio-wirw d Ibo .tapped : frequently, along the loute of the procefflion, and;C6ntral ctmld ; l)lay jK ood rousing, marching': tunes, Thl<" Would save the erpense of- many mufil, pjans,' In fact, tflU' new , instrument have hard.ly be realised; and it maqrvrebult in seveW' new laws , going on the statute-booty. ■ ngaanst oyer ■''deference to nervous pereois don'tlike to hear musio moro than, eighteen hours a day.-"HX Tribune."- ,