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Louis Albert Desoutter.
An unusual burr elm
and ebony metronome,
formed as a pyramid,
brass movement KEEPING PERFECT TIME:
engraved ‘L Desoutter,
1 Maddox Street,
London’, with
pineapple finial
and paw feet, The Evolution of the Metronome
9.5in

By Maxine Carter-Lome

f you ever took music lessons chances are you stones”), devised a chain of rings that could be
are familiar with the metronome; the audible used to simulate the motions of the planets and
Itask master that helped you to keep time with stars, and developed a process for cutting rock
the music. While digital software has replaced the crystal that allowed Spain to cease exporting
need for the box with the swinging pendulum, it quartz to Egypt to be cut. He also created an
remains an endearing and “old school” approach instrument with an inverted pendulum that could
to keeping the beat. be set to a beat at so many times per minute
Although Johann Maelzel (1772–1838), a with a loud ticking to keep the tempo – the
German inventor, engineer, and showman, is precursor to the metronome more finely evolved
credited with patenting the metronome as we centuries later.
know it in 1815 (under the title “Instrument/ In 1581, Galileo Galilei studied and discovered
Machine for the Improvement of all Musical that pendulums (of any given length) vibrated in
Performance”), a kind of metronome was among the same time, whether the amplitude was large or
the inventions of Andalusian polymath Abbas ibn small. In other words, regardless of amplitude, the
Firnas (810–887 A.D.), an inventor, physician, pendulum will take about the same amount of
chemist, engineer, Andalusian musician, and time to complete one period, or back-and-forth
Arabic-language poet. Among his many inventions, swing. Galileo realized his discovery could be
Abbas Ibn Firnas is known to have designed applied to timekeeping, leading to the invention
a water clock called al-Maqata, devised a means of of the pendulum-powered clock by Christiaan
manufacturing colorless glass, invented various Huyghens in the 17th century and George
glass planispheres, made corrective lenses (“reading Graham in the 18th.

“New Conductor
Metronome,” an elaborate
decorative metronome with
automation, made ca. 1838
Photo: Historisches Museum Basel

ca. 1880 Brass Metronome

Antique German “Coffin-style” metronome with tin case

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