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Autoharp (center) by C.F. Zimmermann Co. in 1896–99; (left is a marxophone, right is a dolceola). Charles F. Zimmermann, a German immigrant in Philadelphia, was awarded a patent in 1882 for a “Harp” fitted with a mechanism that muted strings selectively during play. [3]
The Phonoharp Company (1892 [1] –1928 [2]) was an American manufacturer of musical instruments based in Boston, Massachusetts.Among the instruments the company was known for was the autoharp, whose design they acquired from Alfred Dolge in 1910; they later merged with Oscar Schmidt (who would become the primary American producers of autoharps) in 1926.
Oscar Schmidt was a musical instrument manufacturing company established in 1871. During its long existence, Oscar Schmidt has produced a wide range of string instruments, not only guitars but also numerous models of parlour instruments such as autoharps, celtic harps, guitar zithers, the "guitarophone" (a zither/metal-disc playing hybrid), [3] marxophones [4] and bowed psalteries (or "ukelins").
A number of instruments that are not harps are none-the-less colloquially referred to as "harps". Chordophones like the aeolian harp (wind harp), the autoharp, the psaltery, as well as the piano and harpsichord, are not harps, but zithers, because their strings are parallel to their soundboard. Harps' strings rise approximately perpendicularly ...
The invention of the autoharp, which uses bars with felt pads attached underneath placed across and above the strings, is probably the most successful adaptation. However, the absence of a fretboard makes the autoharp a closer relative of the chord zither than the concert zither. Presence of the concert zither in classical music remains sparse.
The Omnichord is an electronic musical instrument introduced in 1981 by the Suzuki Musical Instrument Corporation. [1] It allows users to play distinctive harp-like arpeggios produced through an electronic strum plate, simulating the experience of playing a stringed instrument.
She also played autoharp on Carl Smith's Sunday Down South gospel album. A similar pairing with Flatt & Scruggs led to the Songs of the Famous Carter Family album, on which Maybelle contributed mostly through her autoharp playing. In the 1960s, Maybelle helped record an instructional record sold with an autoharp through a mail-order chain store.
A Guitaro is a brand of autoharp constructed to be held like a guitar. Oscar Schmidt-International, Inc. manufactured the Guitaro in the mid-1960s through the early 70s to take advantage of the guitar's popularity in the folk music revival of that era. (See Guitaro's US Patent #3,237,503, filed with the USPTO on June 17, 1963 and issued March 1 ...