† PLEYEL, A 6 1/2 OCTAVE TRANSPOSING KEYBOARD CIRCA 1875 In original case 127cm wide Catalogue Note: "We know that transposition on a keyboard is a difficult operation. When sightreading a complicated accompaniment only the most experienced accompanists and skilful musicians can transpose it into the right key for the singer. For a long time, pianos have been made where the keyboard can move by one or two semi-tones in order to remedy this issue. However, this movement in the keyboard hinders the precision in the mechanism of the piano and compromises the structural integrity of the instrument. Furthermore, the options on offer are inadequate and are no answer to the registers of different voices. Consequently, piano makers have almost universally abandoned this system. It is by another means that M A Wolff, the head of the Pleyel company, Wolff and Company, tried to resolve the problem of the automatic transposition of the piano. He invented a movable keyboard (see dia.) which fits instantaneously and easily on top of the piano keyboard, sliding onto these keys and then allowing the transposition of all the keys in the scale. We read and play the music as it's written on the upper keyboard and the lower keyboard reproduces it in another key. This section of music complete, if necessary, the transposer keyboard can very easily be removed as it's small and lightweight, - and then the pianist is free to resume playing the main keyboard which has not been subject to any change. Initially, you would think that to slide one keyboard on top of another seems like a very simple idea and not posing any undue issues. However, upon reflection, you quickly realise that the mixture of the unequal lengths and heights of the black and white keys needing to apply different pressures on the black and white keys of the keyboard below makes the construction of this little device complicated. Let's just state that thankfully, these difficulties were resolved. Pleyel's Wolff and Company transposer more than achieved the aim of the inventor. We believe this practical and inexpensive instrument is hailed to become the piano accessory for most music lovers." As described by a French advertisement at the time 普萊耶爾, 一架 6 1/2 八度變調鍵盤 約 1875 在原來為 寬127cm 目錄注解: 我們知道鍵盤變調是一項困難的操作。在視奏複雜的合奏時，只有最有經驗的伴奏者和熟練的音樂家才能把它轉換成適合歌手的音調。長期以來，為解決這個問題，鋼琴的鍵盤可以調節 一個或兩個半調。然而，鍵盤的這種操作阻礙了鋼琴機構的精度，損害了樂器的結構完整性。 這是另一種方法。MA沃爾夫是普萊耶爾公司的負責人，沃爾夫與公司一起嘗試解決有自動變調問題的鋼琴。他發明了一種可移動的鍵盤(見直徑)，它可以瞬間輕鬆地安裝在鋼琴鍵盤上，滑動到這些鍵上，然後進行音階中所有鍵的移位。我們可以閱讀播放寫在鍵盤上的音樂，而下麵的鍵盤則以另一個鍵再現它。如果有必要，這部分音樂完整的轉換到鍵盤可以很容易地移除，因為它小並且輕量，鋼琴家可以自由地繼續演奏主鍵盤，這沒有任何改變 最初，你可能會認為把一個鍵盤放在另一個鍵盤上似乎是一個非常簡單的想法，不會造成任何不必要的問題。然而，經過思考，你很快就會意識到，由於黑白鍵的長度和高度不等，需要對下面鍵盤的黑白鍵施加不同的壓力，這就使得這個小樂器的構造非常複雜。我們可以說，謝天謝地，這些困難都解決了。普萊耶爾的沃爾夫和公司的變調器超過了發明者的預期目標。我們相信，這種實用而廉價的樂器將成為大多數音樂愛好者的鋼琴配件。 † indicates that VAT is payable by the purchaser at the standard rate of 20% on the hammer price as well as being charged on the buyers' premium.