A
dulcitone is a
keyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is any musical instrument played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include various types of organs as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
in which sound is produced by a range of tuning forks, which vibrate when struck by felt-covered hammers activated by the keyboard.
The instrument was designed by Thomas Machell of
GlasgowGlasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
and manufactured by the firm of Thomas Machell & Sons during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
A significant feature of the dulcitone was its portability, a product of its lightweight and compact construction and the fact that the tuning forks (unlike, for instance, the strings of a
pianoThe piano is a musical instrument which is played by means of a keyboard. Widely used in Western music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music, and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
) were not prone to going out of tune.
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A
dulcitone is a
keyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is any musical instrument played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include various types of organs as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
in which sound is produced by a range of tuning forks, which vibrate when struck by felt-covered hammers activated by the keyboard.
The instrument was designed by Thomas Machell of
GlasgowGlasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
and manufactured by the firm of Thomas Machell & Sons during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
A significant feature of the dulcitone was its portability, a product of its lightweight and compact construction and the fact that the tuning forks (unlike, for instance, the strings of a
pianoThe piano is a musical instrument which is played by means of a keyboard. Widely used in Western music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music, and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
) were not prone to going out of tune. However, the volume produced is extremely limited, and the dulcitone's part is frequently substituted by a
glockenspielA glockenspiel [German Glocken + spielen ] is a percussion instrument, composed of a set of tuned keys arranged in the fashion of the keyboard of a piano. In this way, it is similar to the xylophone; however, the xylophone's bars are made of wood, while the glockenspiel's are metal, thus making...
.
One piece scored for the dulcitone is
Vincent d'IndyPaul Marie Théodore Vincent d'Indy was a French composer and teacher.-Life:D'Indy was born in Paris into an aristocratic family of royalist and Catholic persuasion. He had piano lessons from an early age but, to please his family, studied law. However, he decided to be a musician...
's
Song of the Bells (1888)
Surviving examples exist as far afield as
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands. The indigenous Māori named New Zealand Aotearoa, commonly translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud...
, where one is preserved in the Whittaker's Musical Museum.
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