![]() Scheibler constructed many tonometers during his life, and different sets would have different numbers of tuning forks. It was the German silk manufacturer (and acoustic researcher) Johann Scheibler who first suggested this instrument, in 1834, and it was he who built the first one. Maintained in motion by batteries, the resonating forks far exceed the accuracy of conventional mechanical watches.Ī “Tonometer” is a carefully constructed set of tuning forks which were used, by comparison, to determine the pitch of other sounds. One notable exception has been the introduction, around 1960, of tiny quartz tuning forks in high-precision watches. In the 20th century, the development of electronic technologies for measurement and precision timing quickly replaced technologies that employed mechanical tuning forks. Albert Michelson, for example, used light reflected from the vibrating tines of a tuning fork to make his historic measurements of the speed of light. Specialized techniques were developed to use them for measuring different kinds of vibrations, and they were frequently used as high-precision timing standards. By the last decades of the 19th century, tuning forks were among the most precise of all scientific instruments. In the 19th century, advances in manufacturing made it possible to create extremely precise tuning forks, which were made in sets and used as tone generators to identify and measure other sounds. Strong used his fork as a pitch standard to tune musical instruments, a task for which they are still used today. The invention of the tuning fork is generally credited to the British musician, John Shore, in 1711. Shortening the length of the tines allows them to vibrate faster and thus produce a higher sound. Longer tines vibrate more slowly and thus produce a lower tone. The tone a fork makes is determined primarily by the length of its “tines” (or prongs). When struck it produces several tones – a fundamental and at least one harmonic – but the fork’s shape tends to minimize the harmonics and within a few seconds only the fundamental can be heard. Read on to find out how a hunk of metal makes music.Technically, a tuning fork is an acoustic resonator. Hit it hard or hit it soft, the note is always the same. "Playing" a tuning fork is relatively easy: Taking care not to hold it by the prongs, you slap it against something hard like a tabletop - or even the bottom of your shoe - and then listen as it rings for about 5 seconds. In 1876, Bell was able to use a battery, an electrified tuning fork and a cup of acidic water to transmit sound over an electric wire for the first time. Tuning forks were even behind some of telephone inventor Alexander Graham Bell's earliest experiments. Today, the $3.5-billion Yamaha Corporation has a trio of tuning forks as their logo. Young musicians were given gold-plated tuning forks upon successful completion of a conservatory exam. ![]() In portraits, choirmasters posed while brandishing a tuning fork. In concerts, Shore jokingly referred to his invention as a "pitch fork." Shore's device quickly became the must-have tool of musicians around the world. The device was first invented in 1711 by John Shore, a trumpet player working for the British Crown.
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