DP Patent: DP-19
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| Bass-tuba
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Patentees:
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| Johann Gottfried Moritz (exact or similar names) - Berlin, Germany |
| Wilhelm Friedrich Wieprecht (exact or similar names) - Berlin, Prussia |
| Manufacturer: |
| Not known to have been produced |
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Patent Dates:
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| Granted: |
Dec. 14, 1835 |
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Patent Pictures:
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Jeff Joslin
Wikipedia biography of Wilhelm Wieprecht
Wikipedia biography of Johann Moritz
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Description: |
| This is patent 19 issued by Prussia, which is now part of Germany. The DP prefix is non-standard: there is, as yet, no standardized notation for these Prussian patents.Wilhelm Wieprecht (1802-1872) was a composer, acoustician and bandleader who worked with instrument maker Moritz in the early 1830s to improve the valves used on brass instruments, resulting in what became known as the Berlin valve, for which they applied for a patent in 1833 but were denied under the very strict Prussian patent laws at that time. Using their new valve design they developed a five-valve bass tuba in the key of F, as patented here. This is considered to be the first modern tuba.This invention filled a pressing need for a bass horn that could play low notes in any key—earlier bass brass horns were only able to play any note of the twelve-tone scale when at least three octaves above the fundamental. Prior to this invention, most symphony orchestras, concert bands and military bands used the bass ophicleide as their bass brass instrument. The ophicleide is a bugle with a system of pad-covered holes like a saxophone, and indeed it resembles a saxophone as much as it resembles the brass horns that we are used to; in fact, the development of the saxophone owes much to the ophicleide.Following this patent the bass-tuba quickly became popular in orchestras and bands in the German-speaking countries, whereas in French-speaking Europe the saxhorn was dominant. |
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