Marxophone

A Marxophone

The Marxophone is a fretless zither that has four sets of chord strings (C major, G major, F major and D7) to be strummed with the left hand and two octaves of double melody strings, (Middle C - C'') which are struck by metal hammers activated by the right hand. The melody strings are tuned to the C major scale, making the instrument somewhat like a piano without any black keys.

The hammers are mounted on spring steel and produce a mandolin-like sound from repeated bouncing on the strings, hence the name mandolin-guitar-zither sometimes applied to the Marxophone. The sound of the Marxophone is also reminiscent of the various types of hammered dulcimer in music traditions world-wide.

Numerically coded sheet music prepared specifically for the Marxophone indicated when and in what order to play melody and chord strings. This type of music, similar to tablature, was produced for those who did not know how to read standard written music. A large 'sign' displaying the name Marxophone and the patent number, has clips for holding the 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 to be moved or stored, the 'sign' bends down, holding the keys against the strings, and allowing the Marxophone to fit into its case, which is the size of a large briefcase.

History

Marxophone

The Marxophone was produced by the Marxochime Colony of New Troy, Michigan, which was in business from about 1927 to 1972. 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 with which he was affiliated 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. Following that period, Marxophones were produced by Oscar Schmidt-International, successor to the International Musical Corporation, through the 1950s.

Marx was one of a number of late 19th century and early 20th century musical gadget manufacturers who would combine two or more instruments into one: the Hawaiian ukulele and the bowed violin or the mandolin-guitar-zither yielded instruments with names like Ukelin and Marxophone. 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 as well as through mail-order companies such as Sears. The 1902 Sears catalog called the Deweylin Harp, an unrelated fretless zither that was available before the Marxophone, "...the wonder of the age" and "...the greatest musical instrument that has ever been placed before the public." These mandolin-guitar-zithers combined three instruments for the price of one.

Technology

Because the hammers are made of white lead, the instrument sheds small amounts of lead powder. Musicians who actively use this instrument have adopted the practice of coating the hammers in Epoxy glue, which does not affect the sound but stops the wearing away of the hammers (and prevents the poisoning of children, cats and other small creatures).

In addition to being limited to the keys of C major and A minor (plus their modal variants), the Marxophone is limited in the tempos at which it can be played. This limit is imposed by the laws of physics. The length of the piece of spring steel holding each hammer dictates the repeat rate of its striking the strings, much as the length of a pendulum controls its period -- the speed at which it 'ticks' back and forth. The fixed pulse rate of the hammer strike must be a power-of-two denominated fraction of the pulse of the music, in other words a 16th, 32nd, 64th or 128th note of the performance tempo.

Recordings

• "Another Heart Calls" by The All-American Rejects, played by singer and bassist Tyson Ritter
• "Bullet for Ramona" by Warren Zevon
• "Alabama Song" (Whiskey Bar) by The Doors, played by keyboardist Ray Manzarek
• "Someone's in the Wolf" by Queens of the Stone Age, played by Alain Johannes (misspelled as "Markxophone" in the liner notes)
• Numerous recordings by projects associated with LD Beghtol and Stephin Merritt.
• "Run, Pig, Run" by Queens of the Stone Age, played by Alain Johannes (misspelled as "Marxaphone" in the Era Vulgaris liner notes)
• "Up in Hell" by Desert sessions in The Desert Sessions VII & VIII, played by Fred Drake
• "Anna Molly" and "Leech" by Incubus
• "Am I Awake?" by They Might Be Giants (John Linnell postulates it to be the first known recorded song to feature a backwards Marxophone)
• "I Feel Beautiful" by Robyn Hitchcock
• "Annan Water" by The Decemberists
• "Sour Times" by Portishead (band)
• "Combinations" by Eisley
• "Tymps (The Sick in the Head Song)" by Fiona Apple
• "I'm On Fire" (originally by Bruce Springsteen), covered by Bat for Lashes
• "Glass" by Bat For Lashes from the album Two Suns, played on the recorded version by Ben Christophers
• "Daniel" by Bat for Lashes, used during live performances
• "Jingle Bells" by Roy Zimmerman
• "He Forgot that It Was Sunday" by John Prine
• "When Girls Get Together" by The Beach Boys
• "Guys Like Me" and "The Moth" from Aimee Mann's Lost in Space (album)
• John Sebastian of '60s rock group The Lovin' Spoonful played the Marxophone for the song "She is Still a Mystery" on their 1968 album Everything Playing after receiving it from someone who had mistaken it for an autoharp.
• "You've Ruined Me" by Norah Jones in The Fall (album) played by Zac Rae.
• "Signed Fictitious" by Vernon Reid in his 1996 album Mistaken Identity played by Brian Cullman.
• "Strange Perfumes" by Laurie Anderson in her 2010 album "Homeland" played by Rob Burger.
• "Helplessness Blues by Fleet Foxes.

See also

Autoharp

Dolceola