A accordion is an instrument that uses reed and air to create sound. Wicker is thin strips of material that passes air to vibrate, which in turn creates a sound. The air is produced by a bellows, a device that produces a powerful airflow, such as a compressed bag. The accordion is played by pushing in and expressing the air bellows as the musician presses buttons and keys to force the air over wicker of different pitches and tones.

Charles Wheatstone

The English physicist and inventor, Charles Wheatstone, is best known for his invention of the electric telegraph, but he conceived and contributed in various fields of science including photography, electrical generators, coding and acoustics and music. The electric telegraph is a now-obsolete communication system that sent electrical signals over wires from location to location translated into a message. In 1837, Charles Wheatstone collaborated with William Cooke to develop an electric telegraph. The Wheatstone-Cooke telegraph or needle telegraph was the first working telegraph in Britain, commissioned on the London and Blackwall railroad. Charles Wheatstone and William Cooke used the principles of electromagnetism in their telegraph to target a needle towards alphabetical symbols. Their first device used a receiver with five magnetic needles, but before the Wheatstone-Cooke telegraph would be commercially used, several improvements were made, including reducing the number of needles to one. Both Charles Wheatstone and William Cooke considered their device as an improvement to the existing electromagnetic telegraph and not an entirely new device. The Wheatstone-Cooke telegraph was discarded after American inventor and painter Samuel Morse invented the Morse telegraph adopted as the standard in telegraphy.

Charles Wheatstone - Other Inventions and Achievements

  • 1821 — Charles Wheatstone Invigorates the Enchanted Lyre.
  • 1827 — Charles Wheatstone was the first to use the phrase “microphone”.
  • 1829 — Charles Wheatstone Invented an Improved Accordion.
  • 1834 — Charles Wheatstone used revolving mirrors to measure the speed of electricity traveling through nearly 8 miles of wire. Although his calculations mistakenly lead him to the conclusion that electricity travels faster than the light, his ingenious experiment corrects the general belief in the time electricity flowed immediately.
  • 1834 — Charles Wheatstone was appointed Professor of Experimental Physics at King's College in London, where he conducted and invented groundbreaking experiments in electricity: an improved alternator and two devices for measuring and controlling electrical resistance and current: the Rheostat and a improved Wheatstone bridge .
  • 1838 — Charles Wheatstone invented the stereoscope that showed three-dimensional photos. Three-dimensional or stereo photography showed the optical illusion of real depth by giving slightly different images to each eye of the viewer.
  • 1854 — Charles Wheatstone invented the Playfair Cipher, an encryption technique.

Sound and music studies

Charles Wheatstone was born into a very musical family and that influenced him to pursue an interest in acoustics. From 1821 he began to classify vibrations, the basis of sound. Wheatstone published his first scientific publication based on those studies, entitled New Experiments in Sound. He had a reputation for creating several experimental instruments and began his working life as a musical instrument maker.

Loading full article...