US Patent: 6,968
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| Flute
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Patentee:
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| Charles G. Christman (exact or similar names) - New York, NY |
| Manufacturer: |
| Not known to have been produced |
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Patent Dates:
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| Granted: |
Dec. 25, 1849 |
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Jeff Joslin
Terry McGee page on this patent
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Description: |
| This is the earliest US patent for a flute that we have found. The inventor was a New York City flute maker, active 1823-1858. This patent flute was intended to produce improved sound quality and intonation and allow the production of distinct notes for, say, D♯ versus E♭. In the equal temperament system—which had already become dominant in much of the western world by the time this patent was issued—those were the same notes, but in the older "meantone temperament" system, those two notes would be slightly different. The meantone temperament system gives purer sounding chords than does the equal temperament system, but the equal temperament system makes transposition easier and greatly simplifies some instruments such as pianos, organs, and woodwinds. The existence of this patent suggests that the meantone temperament system still had some currency in the USA. As for Christman's solution, it appears to be the same as that developed by Anglo-Dutch maker Abel Siccama and patented in 1845, British patent GB-184,510,553. |
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