ABSTRACT
In 1985 Bernard Edmonds 1 quoted an article by Leach, then head of the Sweetland Organ Building Co., published in the musical press in 1907 and referring to William: ‘We found amongst his papers drawings of double-touch, stopkeys and various other “modern” improvements all worked out … long before Mr. Hope-Jones or Mr. Casson thought anything about organs.’ Regrettably, there is no record of where this article was published, and an inquiry to Edmonds a year or two before his death elicited only the thought that it was probably in Musical Opinion. A search of this and other journals for 1907 has not found the print. From the picture painted by his biographer of his early years it is no surprise to find that Sweetland was producing organs with fully developed innovative mechanisms by the end of his first decade in business. This is evident from the 1856 Grittleton House organ which, though now unplayable, survives in its original state (see Chapter 7). Here are displayed, in working order save for one broken brass lever, the unusual stop control method using rocking levers sited above each keyboard, and also the swell mechanism operated by the player’s wrist which was provisionally registered for patent purposes on 8 December 1856. As with many other of his ideas, it was not pursued to full registration. The worklist of c.1872 gives details of these and three other inventions – closely positioned manuals without intervening key-slips, double touch-operated Tremulant and modified soundboard design – whilst that of c.1890 mentions a double drop pallet, patent Vox Humana, octave couplers for pianoforte and an ‘Improved Silent Tremulant’. In addition four patents were taken out in his name:
1878, No. 4545, Provisional protection only. An octave coupler mechanism for the pianoforte applied by pedals or push studs. Super- or sub-octave coupling could be applied singly or together. This was mentioned in the c.1890 worklist.
1880, No. 4920, Improvements in organ pipes with a view to improve the tone thereof. Vellum or skin was stretched over the top or over a hole in the side of a pipe and also over a hole cut in the side of the foot. The vellum was glued in place but sufficiently slack to allow it to rise and fall so as to undulate the air through a slot or hole cut in each pipe, and to which was fixed a slot piece so constructed as to give a large or small opening to enable the voicer to regulate the power or volume of tone. This was said to make the tone of the pipe more subdued or plaintive.
1881, No. 5364, Provisional protection only. Apparatus for improving the crescendo and diminuendo of Swell organs etc. The shutters were made of different widths and arranged to open one after the other until all the shutters were in motion, the widest shutters opening last, to allow a greater amount of tone to come out of the box at the end of a crescendo. The decrescendo commenced with the closing of the widest shutters first. The mechanism consisted of a trace running on rollers or round blocks to prevent friction, and regulating screws were provided to allow adjustment in hot or damp weather.
1888, No. 3927, Improvements in the construction of Swell-organs. This again involved the use of shutters of graduated widths and a more complex set of traces to further smooth the opening and closing to produce a more effective and gradual crescendo and diminuendo throughout the travel of the swell pedal. The patent also specified a design of pivot pin which allowed adjustment of the shutter relevant to the trace bar to ensure free movement without undue friction. The complexity of the system can be seen from Figure 5.1.
