John Delacour <JD@Pianomaker.co.uk> wrote: > Here's a "neat little experiment", as the fashion is, quoted from the > first chapter Lord Rayleigh's "Theory of Sound" (quite a pretty > little tome of some renoun): > > >7. The conveyance of sound by solids may be illustrated by a pretty > >experiment due to Wheatstone. One end of a metallic wire is > >connected with the sound-board of a pianoforte, and the other taken > >through the partitions or floors into another part of the building, > >where naturally nothing would be audible. If a resonance-board (such > >as a violin) be now placed in contact with the wire, a tune played > >on the piano is easily heard, and the sound seems to emanate from > >the resonance-board. [Mechanical telephones upon this principle have > >been introduced into practical use for the conveyance of speech.] That's really cool. I'm picturing an interesting application for it: You have a piano player at some fancy party in some old mansion. And you use this system to bring the "background music" to the other rooms. In each room, something like a violin body is installed up near the ceiling. Wires from these sounding boxes run through the walls and eventally make contact with the soundboard. This would be a permanent installation, and you could always hear the piano music throughout the mansion if you wanted to. Charles
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