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Now-a-days, Kevin is the only one who stops in at a few old haunts for some treasure hunting. Good thing... if I was out and about, MUCH more money would be spent! (lol)
Kevin's latest find for me is an antique metronome - with a real bell!
It probably isn't anything special, but I think it's cool. 😎 Kevin says the wood smells like the linden used for Cuckoo clocks (he's been repairing as a hobby), but I think it looks like Mahogany - haven't researched any info, yet. Needs to be cleaned up a bit, but works and sounds really nice with the bell feature.
...love the first thing the "Notice" says is, "Don't overwind the spring." Kevin almost tried. (lol)
- Emily
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Wow, what a treasure! We had one when I was growing up that looked much like that, but I don't believe it had a bell.
The old curmudgeon!
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I tend to gravitate towards items of the 20's - just love that era, thinking this might be from around there.
I certainly don't mind he paid $5 for it. 🤗
After Kevin cleans it up, it will be fun to see if the bell can be adjusted to ring on more than the 4th beat. 🤔 I'm pretty sure it can, but we'll see.
Guess it's time for a little research. 😊
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ELCBK said
I tend to gravitate towards items of the 20's - just love that era, thinking this might be from around there.I certainly don't mind he paid $5 for it. 🤗
After Kevin cleans it up, it will be fun to see if the bell can be adjusted to ring on more than the 4th beat. 🤔 I'm pretty sure it can, but we'll see.
Guess it's time for a little research. 😊
It should be that thing above the wind-up handle. It can be pushed in or pulled out to change the number of beats per measure (or to stop the bell entirely).
I used a similar metronome when I was learning piano as a child. It's still at my parents' house.
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@AndrewH -
Thanks so much! Very cool you used one!
Your Parents have a photo of yours anywhere?
We pretty much had it figured - Kevin saw there were markings for adjustment, got it also to stop, but didn't want to push our luck any further. Did read these metronomes with bells are very susceptible to damage from any rough handling - means cleaning 1st, but probably an overhaul. 🙄
No luck so far, finding anything on the trademark and number stamped, but I haven't looked at general trademark symbols - maybe this weekend.
The strangest thing... tonight, I was looking at authenticsound.org (for a whole other reason) and stumbled upon an article & video, by Wim Winters, on what seems the "correct" intentions/instructions for the 1816 "Maelzel" metronome.
Probably shouldn't have, but I went for the rabbit hole!
Very bizarre, well... enlightening - I now have a whole different outlook on earlier Classical Composers, Conductors and the importance of Time. 
And, I also checked out the recommended prerequisite info for the video - but after the fact, of course. 🤣
http://www.youtube.com/playlis.....4BBuBaxmLh
Btw, Johann Nepomuk Maelzel was a colorful character, into automata, he underhandedly patented and produced the famous metronome used today. "Beethoven wrote glowingly of Maelzel's metronome and declared he would stop using traditional tempo indications like allegro." (wikipedia)
All hail to the metronome!
...enough for tonight.
- Emily
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Mine was manufactured much more recently, in the 1980s. The housing is plastic. But the mechanical parts look similar. I don't think anyone ever took a photo of it, but my parents still have the actual metronome and I can take a picture the next time I go visit.
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If you start looking into Beethoven's metronome marks, you can go down a whole rabbit hole of people debating whether those metronome marks are valid. The more widespread school of thought seems to be that Beethoven had a defective metronome and wrote much faster tempi than he intended; people who subscribe to that belief think a slower tempo is necessary to convey the dramatic impact. On the other hand, others consider Beethoven's metronome marks to be valid (this is my preference), and that Beethoven needs a certain sense of urgency and a lighter, more transparent texture.
Of course, we can't exactly ask Beethoven which is right!
One of the weirdest musical experiences I've had was rehearsing Beethoven's 8th Symphony in two orchestras concurrently in fall 2018 -- the concerts were two weeks apart. The two conductors took diametrically opposite approaches, one asking for a slower tempo and a much heavier texture, the other following Beethoven's metronome marks and asking for a lighter texture. I was the only member in common between the two orchestras. It felt like two completely different pieces even though the notes on the page were exactly the same.
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