Fascinating article....
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/column/137265-the-extinction-of-electronic-music-giants/ (http://www.popmatters.com/pm/column/137265-the-extinction-of-electronic-music-giants/)
QuoteThaddeus Cahill's Telharmonium
In 1897, Thaddeus Cahill harnessed the power of electricity and engineering to create the first Telharmonium. By the process of additive synthesis, the monstrosity used tone wheels to generate musical sounds as electrical signals. The original blueprints called for 408 cylinders, but the Telharmonium Mark 1 prototype only used 35. Regardless, Mark 1 easily took up an entire room, and weighed over seven tons. Updates to this version, Marks 2 and 3 were over 60 feet long, had over 145 driven alternators, and weighed almost 200 tons.
Eric
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