Abstract
In the cluttered storeroom of the Physical Sciences collection of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC, amidst thousands of historic scientific instruments, it is not difficult to spot the woodwork of Rudolph Koenig. One instrument in particular, the Barbareau grand sonomètre, represents the high art of Koenig’s mastery of wood and sound. It displays a finely-grained spruce top covered in light varnish, thin mahogany veneers on the sides, walnut ends (for maintaining tension with the pegs), and oak bridges (for strength). Its upper surface has eight steel strings stretched over inlaid boxwood metric scales divided into millimetres and numbered by centimetres along with the standard French musical notations for the physicist and equal termperament scales (CR no. 134).
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© 2009 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
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Pantalony, D. (2009). Training. In: Altered Sensations. Archimedes , vol 24. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2816-7_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2816-7_1
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