1888: A musical alliance

Engineers aren’t often celebrated for having particular musical talents. But it’s probably fair to say that without the talent of engineers there would be no musical instruments.

In an 1888 article published by The Engineer, an invention by M Dietz of Brussels is highlighted as ’a triumph of mechanical skill applied to the art of music’.

The instrument was a harp attached to a keyboard also known as a ’clavi harp’. When a key is pressed on the keyboard, a string on the harp is pulled rather than struck, in a similar manner to the fingers of a harpist.

’The mechanism answers its purpose so effectually that the harp is rendered as facile an instrument as the piano,’ said The Engineer. ’The tone is rich and powerful, and what may be termed the physical difficulties of harp playing are entirely overcome.’

At the time, harps used catgut strings, which required frequent tuning, making it difficult to achieve equality in sound.