Easier to reach an octave?

Army AirCorps Piano 1942 (by Freddan Adlers)


The first instrument that Harold Rhodes ever created.
During World War II, undergoing a Army Air Forces Flight Instructor Training Course, Harold gave piano lessons to fellow soliders and one of the hospital surgeons on the base asked him if he also could do something to rehabilitate wounded soliders. He soon realized that there was a need for an instrument that also could be played in bed. After finding tubes of aluminium in the wings of wrecks from bomber B-17 that sounded good, Harold assembled a 2 1/2 octave acoustic intrument " The Xylette" and wrote the Air Corps Manual No. 29, so everyone interested could build their own.

Used at all the Air Force hospitals, his method became very popular and widely used. Some sources say that over 150.000 soliders learned how to play the piano thus. After the war Harold was awarded the Medal of Honor for the War Department's highest civilian honor, a Commemoration of Exceptional Civilian Service, for "the development of a patient participation musical therapy program." He filed for U.S. patent No. 2469667 in June of 1945.

To continue the Rhodes story:



The Rhodes Pre-Piano 1946-48

by Freddan Adlers

After WWII Harold was hot stuff at the musicfairs. Everyone was into electrifying instruments and the new markets this opened up. The Rhodes Pre-Piano, was launched at NAMM 1946. This is Harolds first "electric" instrument, with built-in tube amp and speakers. Made for a class-room situation it has a stand which is a combined bench and a 38-note range keyboard. After a few years of frustrating problems with the quality of manufacturing Harold discontinued the Pre-Piano idea and shut his company down and got into farming instead.

The sound producing idea is said to have been copied in the Wurlitzer electric pianos that came out ten years later, and the patent that went with it was filed by Ben Meissner. He was the same guy who completely dissed Harolds later patent for the "tuning-fork"-idea that all Rhodes pianos are using.

Here is a superb example of unique and complicated engineering. This Steen Nielsen Hammerspinet at first glance appears to be a harpsichord, but it is far from it. This instrument has many features we have never seen in a piano before. Each key has only one string per note from bass to treble, as well as having all the tuning pins on the rear side of the cabinet, where normally, you would have the hitch pins for the strings.

Bösendorfer - Porsche
This Bösendorfer Grand designed by F.A. Porsche

A Monarch Butterfly! by Wurlitzer

Schimmel City at night with lights on!

New meaning to Music at the beach!

It looks so plain, except the pedals...

Welcome back Brian! I really liked the beached pianos...

Here's more from Rhodes:



The FenderRhodes Piano Bass 1959-75

by Freddan Adlers

The Fender Rhodes Piano Bass came out as the product of Harold Rhodes and Leo Fender doing a joint venture in the late fifties. The 32-note keyboard is the lowest two and a half octaves of a full 73-note Rhodes. The Piano Bass was designed since Leo Fender didn't like the sound of the upper octaves of the piano that Harold wanted to manufacture. The hand-made prototype "X-38" is first shown at a fair in Las Vegas in 1960, but the first time the PianoBass shows up in the Fender program isn't until the 1962-63 catalogue.

"Musicians have found that by adding the Piano Bass to their instrumental group they have achieved the complete and finished sound that is important to every musical organization." Hmmmm....!

This was the only model Mr.Fender allowed Harold to produce, even though there's a whole "family" of FenderRhodes models in the 1963-64 Fender catalogue, and Harold already had protoytypes for an 88-note instrument. The PianoBass was meant to be placed on top of another keyboard to be played with your left hand. A stand was also provided, as can be seen in the next picture. Ray Manzarek of the Doors made this instrument famous.

Rontuner - to carry on the Rhodes Piano theme, this Tuning Fork Tonometer with 661 tuning forks is arguably a very early proof-of-concept prototype, well, sort of!

Leif Ove Andsnes plays a grand piano atop a mountain. See the helicopter ride and interview and a little mountaintop music here as well:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCQyhocSFXQ

Back to the Beach theme - Man's best friend, all two of them!