<![CDATA[Grainger Museum Online]]> https://omeka.cloud.unimelb.edu.au/grainger/items/browse?sort_field=added&sort_dir=a&page=2&output=rss2 Fri, 29 Mar 2024 19:31:54 +1100 blackj@unimelb.edu.au (Grainger Museum Online) Zend_Feed http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss <![CDATA[Portable harmonium (reed organ)]]> https://omeka.cloud.unimelb.edu.au/grainger/items/show/39

Dublin Core

Title

Portable harmonium (reed organ)

Subject

Description

Wood, ivory, felt, metal.

Grainger wrote in 1929, ‘If I were forced to choose one instrument only for chamber music – I would choose the harmonium (reed-organ) without hesitation; for it seems to me the most sensitively and intimately expressive of all instruments… No other chord-giving instrument is so capable of extreme and exquisitely controlled pianissimo… Both in chamber-music and in the orchestra it provides the ideal background to the individualistic voices of the woodwinds.’
This portable harmonium was probably used by Grainger for Free Music experiments, as some of the keys have been adjusted and there is string tied to some of the black keys.

Date

n.d. (before 1941)

Type

Identifier

00.0036
00.0036 angle view.JPG
00.0036 front.JPG
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Wed, 04 Oct 2017 12:43:59 +1100
<![CDATA[Kangaroo pouch tone-tool]]> https://omeka.cloud.unimelb.edu.au/grainger/items/show/40

Dublin Core

Title

Kangaroo pouch tone-tool

Subject

Description

Steel, brass, PVC pipe, paper roll, sewing machine belt, electronics.

This machine demonstrates the method used by Grainger and Cross to control oscillators through the use of connected ‘tone arms’ and cut paper ‘scores’. Whereas Grainger and Cross hand-turned their eight oscillator
tone-tool, this scaled-down version is operated by a hand crank that enables the looping score to be played in either direction. Here, a digital
oscillator created using the Arduino electronics platform and the Mozzi software library is controlled using two paper rolls in the shape of Grainger’s ‘Hills and Dales’ scores. One roll controls the pitch of the oscillator while the other controls the volume level.

Date

2016

Identifier

16.0003
16.0003.jpg
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Wed, 04 Oct 2017 13:01:35 +1100
<![CDATA[Reed box tone-tool]]> https://omeka.cloud.unimelb.edu.au/grainger/items/show/41

Dublin Core

Title

Reed box tone-tool

Subject

Description

Steel, brass, wood, accordion reeds, blower fans, linear bearings.

In their original Reed box experiments, Grainger and
Cross approximated the effect of gliding musical
pitches by using closely-spaced microtones. They
detuned harmonium reeds to microtonal intervals, using
tape to weight the reeds. They then used a wooden
waveform on rollerskates to control the motion of air
from a vacuum cleaner blowing through the reeds.
Cross later introduced electronic oscillators to create
smoother gliding tones.
This scaled-down version uses accordion reeds, also
detuned by tape. Blower fans take the place of the
vacuum cleaner and linear bearings streamline the design.

Date

2016
16.0002.JPG
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Wed, 04 Oct 2017 13:05:56 +1100
<![CDATA[Electric eye tone-tool]]> https://omeka.cloud.unimelb.edu.au/grainger/items/show/42

Dublin Core

Title

Electric eye tone-tool

Subject

Description

Steel, PVC pipe, plastic sheet, globes, ink, electronics, speakers.

One of Grainger and Cross’s last experiments before
Grainger’s death in 1961 was an attempt to create a more
immediate and accurate form of Free Music through the
use of hand-drawn waveforms and light-sensitive
circuits. This experiment used photocells (light-dependent
resistors) rather than paper rolls and tone arms to translate
pitch and volume markings, painted on plastic sheet,
into sound. The original machine, never fully completed,
was eventually disassembled after Grainger’s death.
This reinterpretation also uses light-dependent resistors
but connects them to digital Teensy microcontrollers
loaded with the Mozzi software library. The addition of
the hand crank enables the looped ‘score’ to be played
forwards and backwards.

Date

2016

Identifier

16.0004
16.0004.JPG
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Wed, 04 Oct 2017 13:15:13 +1100
<![CDATA[Percy Grainger]]> https://omeka.cloud.unimelb.edu.au/grainger/items/show/43

Dublin Core

Title

Percy Grainger

Subject

Description

Platinum print, hand-made paper, graphite.

Photo: 28.6 x 21.7 cm
Parchment/Velum Paper?: 45.5 x 41.1 cm
Board: 64 x 51.1 cm

Baron Adolph Sigismund de Meyer is seen by many as the founder of fashion photography. Later in his career he was to work for both Vogue and Harpers Bazaar. In London he moved comfortably in the highest levels of society and photographed many of the celebrities he met. His style—strongly influenced by Tonalist and Impressionist painting—was extremely fashionable at the turn of the century. He would manipulate negatives and prints and often use a soft focus lens. Detail was stripped away and the quality of light on surfaces, as well as the modulation of shadows, was almost as important to his style as depicting the sitter.

Date

c 1906

Type

Identifier

13.0031
13-0031-00001.jpg
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Mon, 09 Oct 2017 10:29:59 +1100
<![CDATA[Percy Grainger]]> https://omeka.cloud.unimelb.edu.au/grainger/items/show/44

Dublin Core

Title

Percy Grainger

Subject

Description

Platinum print, hand-made paper, graphite.

Photo: 23.4 x 18.4 cm
Paper (studio name): 52.4 x 31.8 cm
Board: 64.1 x 51.1 cm

Adolph de Meyer photographed Grainger multiple times between 1903 and 1906—documenting the young musician’s maturation from late adolescence into adulthood. He lavished Grainger with expensive gifts and invited him to play at his many fashionable parties, paying him handsomely, an uncommon gesture among aristocrats. Emerging musicians were usually expected to play for no fee, with the exposure to potential patrons considered payment enough.

Date

c 1903

Type

Identifier

13.0028
13-0028-00001.jpg
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Mon, 09 Oct 2017 10:32:51 +1100
<![CDATA[View of Percy Grainger in orchard]]> https://omeka.cloud.unimelb.edu.au/grainger/items/show/45

Dublin Core

Title

View of Percy Grainger in orchard

Subject

Description

Black and white photograph.

50.9 x 40.5 cm

Portrait of Percy Grainger standing in an orchard in his US army uniform. He is standing in front of a tree and gazing off into the distance. His right hand is clutching the strap whilst the left hand is holding on to a soprano saxophone. The photograph appears to have been printed onto a board.

Creator

Date

Unknown.

Type

Identifier

17.0084
17-0084-00001.jpg
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Mon, 09 Oct 2017 10:35:58 +1100
<![CDATA[Portrait of Percy Grainger and Rose Grainger, Adelaide, Australia]]> https://omeka.cloud.unimelb.edu.au/grainger/items/show/46

Dublin Core

Title

Portrait of Percy Grainger and Rose Grainger, Adelaide, Australia

Subject

Description

Silver gelatin copy of unidentified original.

50.8 x 40.5 cm

Portrait of Rose Grainger and her son Percy Grainger.

Date

c. 1891

Type

Identifier

17.0083
17-0083-00001.jpg
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Mon, 09 Oct 2017 10:38:35 +1100
<![CDATA[Portrait of Ella Grainger in shadows]]> https://omeka.cloud.unimelb.edu.au/grainger/items/show/48

Dublin Core

Title

Portrait of Ella Grainger in shadows

Subject

Description

Silver gelatin copy of unidentified original.

Photo: 23.2 x 18.4 cm
Frame: 25.7 x 21 cm

Creator

Date

Unknown

Type

Identifier

17.0082.2
17-0082-2-00001.jpg
17-0082-1-00001.jpg
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Mon, 09 Oct 2017 11:26:21 +1100
<![CDATA[Portrait of unknown boys (Unidentified subjects)]]> https://omeka.cloud.unimelb.edu.au/grainger/items/show/49

Dublin Core

Title

Portrait of unknown boys (Unidentified subjects)

Subject

Description

Ambrotype encased in glass.

Photo: 11.5 x 8.4 cm
Glass plates: 16 x 11.9 cm

Portrait of unidentified group of 4 boys. The boys appear to be sitting on a bench against the wall. They all appear to be wearing a white shirt with a bow tie, jacket and pants. The eldest of them (middle) also appears to be wearing a vest. The first two boys (proper right) are looking at the camera whilst the other 2 boys (proper left) are gazing off into the distance. The glass plates are wrapped in black paper with a brown paper backing. The inscription on the back reads: Grainger Museum, From "framed photograph" drawer. These wrapped plates are also stored in a Mylar plastic sleeve and in between 2 pieces of corrugated archival board for extra protection.

Creator

Date

Late 1850s or early 1860s.

Type

Identifier

17.0081
17-0081-00002.jpg
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Mon, 09 Oct 2017 11:34:05 +1100