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Compressed air gramophone

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Illustration of a theater from the rear right of the stage. At the front of the stage a screen hangs down with the projected image of a tuxedoed man holding up a text and performing. In the foreground is a gramophone with two horns. In the background, a large audience is seated at orchestra level and on several balconies. The words "Chronomégaphone" and "Gaumont" appear at both the bottom of the illustration and, in reverse, at the top of the projection screen.
1908 poster advertising Gaumont's sound films, showing a Chronomégaphone

Compressed air gramophonesweregramophoneswhich employedcompressed airand a pneumatic amplifier to amplify the recorded sound.

One of the earliest versions was theAuxetophone,designed by the Anglo-Irish engineer SirCharles Parsons.[1][2][3]It was capable of producing sufficient volume to broadcast public music performances from the top of theBlackpool Tower,and was said to be loud enough to cause people to vacate the front rows of seats in an auditorium.[4]The Auxetophone was sold in the United States as theVictor Auxetophone.[2][5]

Pneumatic Amplifier

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Apneumatic amplifierwas realised by using a sensitive valve, which required little force to operate, to modulate the flow of a stream ofcompressed air.The basic principle of the valves used in these devices was to pass the stream of compressed air through two partially overlapping combs. The sound vibrations to be amplified were applied to one of the combs, causing it to move laterally in relation to the other comb, varying the degree of overlap and so altering the flow of compressed air in sympathy with the sound vibrations.[4]

TheChronomégaphone,designed for large halls, was a compressed air gramophone which employedcompressed airto amplify the recorded sound.[6]It was used byGaumontfor the presentation of some of their earlysound films.[7]

Other compressed-air gramophones included theElgéphone.[6][8]

References

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  1. ^Reiss, Eric (2007).The compleat talking machine: a collector's guide to antique phonographs.Chandler, Ariz: Sonoran Pub. p. 217.ISBN978-1886606227.
  2. ^abPi."More Defunct Technology: The Auxetophone".PSU ASA: The Penn State Chapter of the Acoustical Society of America. Archived fromthe originalon 30 January 2013.Retrieved31 July2012.
  3. ^"1906 Victor Auxetophone".Montana Phonograph Company.Retrieved31 July2012.
  4. ^abhttp://www.douglas-self.com/MUSEUM/COMMS/auxetophone/auxetoph.htm"The Auxetophone & Other Compressed-Air Gramophones" Retrieved 19 June 2012
  5. ^"1906 Victor Auxetophone".Montana Phonograph Company.Retrieved31 July2012.
  6. ^abWierzbicki (2009), p. 74; "Representative Kinematograph Shows" (1907).The Auxetophone and Other Compressed-Air GramophonesArchived18 September 2010 at theWayback Machineexplains pneumatic amplification and includes several detailed photographs of Gaumont's Elgéphone, which was apparently a slightly later and more elaborate version of the Chronomégaphone.
  7. ^Jon D. Witmer."Gaumont Treasures, Vol. 2 (1908-1916)".American Society of Cinematographers.Retrieved31 July2012.
  8. ^"Lexikon der Filmbegriffe: Auxetophon".Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel. 2 March 2012.Retrieved31 July2012.(in German)
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