10 - Hammers, Dials and Barrels
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 December 2022
Summary
In 1785 the following advertisement appeared in a London daily:
The Chronometer, or Musical Time Beater, is an instrument which has long been wanting, to ascertain and measure accurately the different beats, or portions of time into which musical compositions are divided, and the great utility of such an invention in assisting and enabling young practitioners in that science to play in time, cannot be doubted.
The Chronometer has met the general approbation of the most eminent professors of music, and many other gentlemen who have been pleased to inspect it; the inventor is therefore induced to offer it to the patronage of such ladies and gentlemen as choose to honor him with their subscriptions on the following conditions.
The Chronometer will be neatly finished, in a small compass, so as to stand upon a harpsichord, piano-forte, etc., and be portable in the pocket.
The price to subscribers will be from three to five guineas and upwards, according to the elegance of the finishing, agreeable to the desire of the subscriber. One half to be paid at the time of subscribing, and the remainder on delivery of the instrument.
The instrument will be delivered to the subscribers in the order their names are received, as soon as one hundred and upwards are subscribed for.
Subscriptions are received by the inventor, Mr. W. Pridgin, watch-maker, York … Mr. J. Denton, watch-maker, Hull, at which places the instrument may be seen.
The apparatus advertised was being offered by William Pridgin (dates unknown), a clockmaker from York who had apprenticed for seven years with another maker by the name of William Thornton, himself a student of noted clockmaker Henry Hindley. Pridgin, who worked out of a shop located in York’s Coney Street, remained professionally active there until around 1793, prior to relocating to Hull. According to Pridgin’s advertisement, his “time beaters” were both reliable and accurate, having passed muster with musicians and inspectors alike. The maker also put a premium on both convenience and cost; unlike Breguet, Pridgin was more than willing to finish the instrument according to the taste of the buyer and adjust cost accordingly.
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- MeasureIn Pursuit of Musical Time, pp. 139 - 156Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2022