Jay Ben MarksonProfessor BarnettMath 005: Math and Music6/1/07THE CALLIOPEI. INTRODUCTIONThe calliope (Greek for “beautiful voice”), also known as the “steam organ” or “steam piano,” is a musical instrument that uses steam to produce sound. This projectconcerns the history of the calliope and its sonic properties, and briefly explores someof the reasons why calliopes have lost much of their popularity.II. PROCESSI accomplished research for this project primarily through the use of online search engines. I also used the College’s library service to find sources within the Library and in online journals, but there was a noticeable dearth of scholarly research in regard to my topic, and particularly a lack of research into the mathematical aspects thereof. In light of this deficiency, I was forced to alter my research techniques and my objectives for the project.III. THE CALLIOPEa. HistoryThe calliope is a symbol of America in a way that few other musical instruments, if any, can claim. It was invented in this country and has become an integral part of the myth of what America used to be – an emblem of nostalgia.The calliope was created in 1855 by a young Massachusetts inventor and beekeeper named Joshua C. Stoddard. In July of that year, he played his instrument on Worcester Common. In 1856, he demonstrated his invention on a train bound for Fitchburg.(Roehl) These local shows marked the beginning of an illustrious career for the calliope itself, but Stoddard would see little of the profit. His self-founded American Steam Piano Company was taken over by a funder, Henry A. Deny.The Civil War stalled the induction of the calliope into American consciousness by shutting down steamboat traffic on the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers (although apparently Federal forces once captured a town led by a calliope-playing gunboat.) (Hays) But after the war, calliope music became the distinguishing feature of most riverboats. In 1877, a calliope was installed on the steamboat New Sensation. (Guillaum) Captains of these boats used the calliope to attract attention of people on the riverbanks. They were massively popular – around9,000 floated on the Ohio-Mississippi river system at their height. (Way) They were also popular on the Sacramento River in California. (Guillaum)Imageof calliope belonging to the “Belle of Louisville” steamboat. Obtained from http://www.steamboats.org/gal-bol-calliope.jpgIn 1905, Joseph Ori invented an air-powered calliope. In 1912, he founded a company to market the invention. (Bender) Air calliopes proved popular with circuses, and to a certain extent are still used in that environment.b. Mathematics and FunctionThe calliope is essentially a series of train whistles in a line – up to 44 whistles ona single calliope. A boiler produces steam, which moves through a pipe and is released into the whistles when valves are opened. The valves are triggered in one of two ways: either a musician presses keys on a keyboard, or a metal cylinder with pins on its surface spins around. The pins brush past and pull levers, similar to the operation of a hurdy-gurdy. Each whistle corresponds to a semitone. An individual whistle looks something like this:As you can see, it is an open-closed pipe, and observes the rules thereof: specifically, even-numbered partials are omitted or damped. The spectrogram below, taken from a short sound clip of calliope music, demonstrates:Sound clip obtained from http://www.wdm.ca/calliope/index.html.This spectrogram also reveals that high harmonics remain quite powerful in the calliope. This produces a piercing sound that is difficult to ignore.I had originally intended to do a more detailed sonic analysis of this instrument. However, two major inconvenience became apparent. First, the calliope’s sonic medium is steam. The speed of sound in steam varies based on temperature and pressure. Second, it is virtually impossible to obtain a working model of a calliope. Without an in-the-flesh instrument, measurements become difficult.Time (s)0 23.161908000c. Fall from PopularityThe calliope is nowadays rarely seen, except in town parades, circuses, and on tourist steamboats such as the Delta Queen. There are several factors that contributed to this, including:END OF STEAMBOAT/CIRCUS POPULARITY: The majority of calliopes found use on steamboats and in traveling circuses. They were excellent for this purpose due to their loud, piercing noise, which attracted customers, but with the decline of these industries so too the calliope declined.LOUD NOISE: The very thing that made calliopes popular spelled their downfall. The noise of a calliope could reach up to 12 miles. (Bender) Asa result, they could constitute a significant public nuisance – in fact, Worcester, the town where the instrument was invented, banned their use within town limits. (Roehl)DANGEROUS: Steam is hazardous.DIFFICULT TO KEEP IN TUNE: The use of steam made it difficult to maintain a constant key for the instrument – the tuning of the entire instrument would change with temperature and pressure. Besides, if one whistle did go flat, it was difficult to retune.The problems with the calliope are handily summarized here:“It played awful music. It was too loud for comfort and, despite the fact that its manipulator was as mucha plumber as a musician, one never found a calliope with all whistles in tune at one time.” (Fox and Parkinson 99)d. Other Facts- The pronunciation of “calliope” is often disputed. Some claim “kah-LAI-oh-pee,” as it would be pronounced in Greek. Others prefer “KAH-lee-ope,” which they feel better represents its raucous nature.- The vast majority of existing steamboat calliopes were built by one man, Thomas J. Nichol. (Vasconcelos)- Calliopes range in size from 15 whistles (the size of Stoddard’s original [Roehl] to 44 (the largest).IV. ConclusionOne is unlikely to see a calliope today, outside of a circus or a steamboat or a town fair. Yet this instrument and its unique sound occupy a distinct place in American history.BIBLIOGRAPHYRoehl, Harvey N. “Harmony in Steam.” Esso Oilways September 1956. Mechanical Music Digest 1998. 26 May 2007 <http://mmd.foxtail.com/Calliope/harmony.html>.Vasconcelos, Travis. “Thomas J. Nichol Calliope Aboard Steamboat Delta Queen.” Mechanical Music Digest. 28 May 2007 <http://mmd.foxtail.com/Calliope/DQ.html>.Lindsay, Nicholas Vachel. “The Kallyope Yell.” Forum 1913.