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The Marxophone is a fretless zither with a system of metal hammers added for ease of playing. It features two octaves of double melody strings in the key of C major (middle C to C The player typically strums the chords with the left hand. The right hand plays the melody strings by depressing spring steel strips that hold small lead hammers over the strings. A brief stab on a metal strip bounces the hammer off a string pair to produce a single note. Holding the strip down makes the hammer bounce on the double strings, which produces a mandolin-like tremolo. The bounce rate is somewhat fixed, as it is based on the spring steel strip length, hammer weight, and string tension—but a player can increase the rate slightly by pressing higher on the strip, effectively moving its pivot point closer to the lead hammer. Numerically coded sheet music prepared specifically for the Marxophone indicates when and in what order to play melody and chord strings. This type of music, similar to tablature, was produced for those who could not read standard notation. A rectangular piece of metal provides a backstop for the spring steel hammers, displays the name Marxophone and the patent number, and has clips that hold sheet music. It also marks the 15 keys by letter (C, D, etc.), by number (1-15) and in standard musical notation. When the instrument is moved or stored, the metal rectangle bends down, holding the keys against the strings, so the Marxophone can fit into its case—which is the size of a large briefcase. == History == The Marxophone was produced by the Marxochime Colony of New Troy, Michigan. Henry Charles Marx (1875–1947), the founder of the company, obtained the original patent, #1044553, in 1912, for the mechanism the Marxophone and related celestaphone were based on. That patent was assigned to the Phonoharp Company, which he was affiliated with at the time. Marxophones and Celestaphones were produced by Phonoharp until its merger with the Oscar Schmidt Inc., in 1926. Marxophones were then produced by the merged company, International Musical Corporation of Hoboken, New Jersey. After then, Oscar Schmidt-International, successor to the International Musical Corporation, produced Marxophones through the 1950s. Marx was one of a number of late 19th century and early 20th century musical gadget manufacturers that combined two or more instruments into one. Other inventions included the Banjolin, the Hawaii-Phone, the Mandolin-Uke, the Marxolin, the Pianoette, the Pianolin, and the Tremoloa. Marxophones were billed as easy to play, and sold on time-purchase plans by door-to-door salesmen, and through mail-order companies like Sears-Roebuck. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Marxophone」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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