Sound Designs: the story of Boosey & Hawkes. Exhibition Catalogue (original) (raw)
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Boosey & Hawkes : the rise and fall of a wind instrument manufacturing empire
2016
For over 150 years the names Boosey and Hawkes dominated the British music scene, at first independently, and from 1930, in response to the difficult trading conditions of the Depression, as a single firm – Boosey & Hawkes. Although it was run as one company it comprised two divisions – the publishing business and instrument manufacturing. This thesis examines the history, role and significance of Boosey & Hawkes and its associated companies as musical instrument makers. Acquisition of new firms played an important part in business expansion, and particular focus is given here to the complex and lengthy incorporation of Besson & Co. into Boosey & Hawkes. The influence of Boosey & Hawkes extended far beyond Great Britain; in its heyday, besides providing wind instruments for the numerous civilian bands at home, the company supplied instruments to military regiments of the British armed forces, resulting in global distribution. Consequently the company became a symbol both of the Brit...
A Synergy of Form, Function and Fashion in the Manufacture of the Erard Harp
Wooden Musical Instruments Different Forms of Knowledge: Book of End of WoodMusICK COST Action FP1302, 2018
The name of Sébastien Erard (1752-1831) is synonymous with the development of the modern harp and piano. In the case of the harp, Erard not only played a major role in the technical, acoustical and visual transformation of the instrument, but also revolutionised the harp industry in general. Particularly with the introduction of the double-action harp in London in 1811, Erard pioneered new manufacturing and marketing standards, establishing a business model that was imitated by his contemporaries and competitors. This article presents new insights on the manufacture of the Erard harp, focusing on the transition from the single- to the doubleaction harp. By combining the results of object-based and archival research, the article will discuss Erard’s production strategies and workshop practices, highlighting aspects of standardisation, serial numbering and trademarking, analysed especially within the wider context of the evolving musical instrument trade during the early nineteenth century.
Enterprise & Society , 2018
This paper examines the interplay between innovation and entrepreneurial processes amongst competing firms in the creative industries. It does so through a case study of the introduction and diffusion into Britain of a brass musical instrument, the wide bore German horn, over a period of some 40 years in the middle of the twentieth century. The narrative contrasts the innovation strategies followed by two prominent firms, a new and an incumbent brass instrument manufacturer. It shows how the new entrant succeeded in refining the technology of the German horn and through successive innovations established itself as one of the leading brands, while the incumbent, despite being the first to innovate, steadily lost ground. The discussion, which is framed with reference to relevant innovation and entrepreneurship literatures, analyses the core rigidities that lay behind the incumbent’s failure to innovate and the core capabilities that contributed to the new entrant’s success.
SpringerBriefs in Applied Sciences and Technology, 2018
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The British Journal for the History of Science
Neither Whittle nor von Ohain got their jet engine designs into production. Stories of their importance to the creation of the jet engine were constructed, in part, for political reasons. In postwar Britain, Whittle was consciously turned into the singular inventor of the jet engine by a country relishing its own technological brilliance and by politicians who thought championing him would bring export orders. Von Ohain was brought into a dual-inventor story as Germany sought to normalize its aviation industry and rid it of its Nazi past. Both narratives gain much of their potency from the wider cultural significance of stories about heroic, lone inventors. Historians should not adopt popular judgements of what innovation is and where it takes place. Such assumptions, as Giffard points out, have produced a great loss of understanding that we can no longer countenance. The first step in building a far richer history of technical change is for all historians interested in invention to look at this book.
Instruments in the Twentieth Century
Twentieth Century Music in the West , 2022
'I happen to think that computers are the most important thing to happen to musicians since the invention of cat-gut which was a long time ago' (Moog, 1990). Electronic music pioneer Robert Moog's (1934-2005) words point to the two main stories of instrument development in the twentieth century. This textbook entry traces the history of instruments and their social impact during the twentieth century.
This exegesis discusses the art form of contemporary musical instrument building. Two key areas were researched: the mediums and approaches used to create contemporary musical instruments; and the ontological processes and transactions that occur between the performer and musical apparatus. This research facilitated my creative production and creation of a new musical instrument artwork – a kinetic, audio and visual interactive art installation. Six key foci were developed to unify diverse investigations into the mediums and approaches of contemporary instrument building. These foci were: extending the aesthetic palette of sound; mutating traditional musical devices; exploring the materiality and object-hood of sound; the effect of place and spatial practices on musical expression; incorporating electronic and digital technology in instrumentation; and composing the means players’ activate and play a musical instrument. Karen Barad’s theory of agential realism was used as a framework to research the ontological processes and transactions inherent in this art form. More specifically, Barad’s discussions on phenomenon, apparatus and intra-action (action within; rather than interaction – action upon) provided insight into the ontological mechanisms inherent within this art form. This research facilitated reflections on my own art practice and the creation of a new work. These were: using intra-action to provoke ontological discussions, expanding players’ relationships to musical instruments through material and spatial exploration, and using direct and indirect methods as means for players’ to activate an instrument. This exegesis also shows the potential for further research in combining the discourses of contemporary musical instrument building practices with the theory of agential realism.