“Alpheus Babcock’s Cast-Iron Piano Frames,” Keith G. Grafing, The Galpin Society Journal, vol. 27, May 1974, pp. 118-124. The author reports:
“Babcock’s claim was not undisputed however, since there had been experiment with the iron frame prior to the 1825 date of his patent. A lively dialogue between Babcock and another piano maker, Thomas Loud, dramatized the conflicting views over the use of the iron frame.”
Read that and more, in the column “Music and Noise Research—Explorations of artistic and other vibrations” [free, downloadable PDF], in the special NOISE issue of the Annals of Improbable Research.
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