412.132-62 Sets of free reeds with flexible air reservoir

Concertina, edeophone, 12-sided. Chrome ends, black leather bellows and handles. Seventy two metal buttons arranged in seven columns and five rows. One button missing. Serial number 35074.

Distinguished by its division of bass and treble notes between the left and right hands, the 'Duet' System allows one to play a melody and accompaniment at the same time - a duet. This instrument is unusual because of its twelve-sided Edeophone shape and 72 button fingering system. The shape, more usually associated with the firm Lachenal & Co., is attributable to Wheatstone's use of Lachenal patterns following their take-over and buy out of that firm's stocks in the mid 1930s. The idiosyncratic fingering system reflects the desire of a customer of the time to improve on existing accepted systems. This instrument is documented in Neil Wayne, Robert Gaskins and Margaret Birley ''A Wheatstone Twelve-Sided "Edeophone" Concertina with Pre-MacCann Chromatic Duet Fingering' in 'The Free Reed Journal' Vol. III, 2001.

object
MUSEUM NUMBER
2000.87.1
Date
26 August 1938
PLACE
COLLECTION
MEASUREMENTS
overall: 259 x 233 x 255 mm
MATERIAL/TECHNIQUE
leather; paint; wood; chromium; plating
CATEGORY
Musical Instruments
LOCATION
Music Gallery > Side C - The Ideal Sound > Case C1 - Seeking Sounds
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