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121:. He concentrated his attention on various styles of upright piano, which was replacing the square piano as the predominant design. Montal developed his own features, beginning with double-escapement actions for uprights (an adaptation of Sébastien Érard's invention for grands), and later developed a system for transposition of the keyboard, and the use of adjustable iron bars to stabilize the instrument when subjected to climate change. He also produced very decorative instruments, seeking inroads into the luxury market.
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world. In the 1860s, it was an intensive three-year program of study with some 250 students. Montal was tireless in promoting the employment of the program's graduates by his fellow manufacturers, noting that they were the only tuners who had actually been trained to understand the theory behind the practice. He was adamant in his opinion that blind students should learn to use tools of all sorts, so as to be able to make the many necessary repairs and adjustments as well as tune.
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109:, and two years later expanded it into a much longer, more detailed work, published under the same name. In this expanded book, he covered a wide range of topics, including repairs and the history of the piano. Meanwhile, his piano-repair business had evolved into the manufacture of new pianos. He began with one helper in 1833, and by 1839 he had 13 employees and had completed 175 instruments. In 1844, he was making 90 pianos a year.
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In 1836, Montal expanded his original book to over 250 pages, and included detailed chapters on a variety of subjects: how to replace a string; the various repairs needed to keep a piano functioning; descriptions of various models and styles of pianos and how to tune and work on them; general advice
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Montal's patented inventions included double escapement (repetition) action designs for both grands and upright; a grand piano with inverted soundboard (the soundboard above the strings); a transposition system whereby the piano keyboard could be shifted sharp or flat by several semitones; a system
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Many of his colleagues spent their lives teaching at the institute, but Montal chose to pursue an independent life. An earlier student had managed to learn to tune pianos, and was successful in making a decent living at that trade, so Montal set out to learn those skills, at the same time teaching
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One of Montal's lasting legacy was the establishment of the profession of piano technician as a skill well suited for blind people. He worked closely with the
Institute for the Young Blind in establishing a training program that has continued up to the present day and has been imitated around the
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At the age of 30, Montal left the
Institute and set off to make his living as an independent piano technician. He soon branched out into other areas, teaching classes in piano tuning at a piano store, and buying, repairing, and reselling used instruments. His tuning classes became the basis for a
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In 1865, the year of his death, Montal published a revised version, which brought his initial book up to date, covering the changes that had taken place in the intervening 30 years. He added a new chapter on the training of blind people in the profession of piano tuner/technician, and he also
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Montal's first book, published in 1834, was twenty pages long, solely on the topic of piano tuning. It was intended to help individuals to learn to tune their own pianos, or at least to fill in when a professional tuner was not available. Its full title is very descriptive: "l'Art d'accorder
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invented in 1844. However, the
Boisselots did not pursue their invention, and Montal included his own adaptation of that mechanism in his pianos, including a version for uprights, and exhibited pianos with sostenuto pedal at the International Expositions of 1851, 1855, and 1862.
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soi-même son piano, d'après une méthode sure, simple et facile, déduite des principes exacts de l'acoustique et de l'harmonie" (The Art of Tuning Your Own Piano
Yourself, by a Sure, Simple and Easy Method, Deduced from Precise Principles of Acoustics and Harmony).
38:...), published in 1836. He subsequently became a major manufacturer of pianos, with several patented inventions to his credit. He lost his sight at a young age and helped to establish the career of piano technician as a profession well suited for blind people.
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In the ensuing years, Montal gained a reputation for the quality of workmanship of his pianos, and was reviewed favorably by the musical press, who placed him in the ranks of the very best French piano manufacturers, just below the two best known firms of
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of adjustable iron bars (contre-tirage/counter-tension) to allow for adjustment of the case to match environmental condition; a soft pedal (pédale d'expression) that moved the hammers closer to the string and reduced key dip proportionally; and others.
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himself to dismantle and repair pianos. He hired someone to read to him everything he could find about the theory and practice of tuning, and soon had developed his own method of setting a temperament, based, as he put it, on both theory and practice.
157:; a first class medal at the 1855 International Exposition in Paris; and two additional medals at the 1862 International Exposition in London. Montal received several additional awards, fourteen in all, including that of the Legion of Honor, in 1851.
72:, a progressive institution that pioneered education for the blind, which gave them skills and knowledge to become independent members of society. His parents were unsuccessful until they were able to obtain the intervention of the
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about the care of the piano (keeping it covered, avoiding moisture and sun); how to pack a piano for moving; and many similar subjects. He also included a detailed chapter on acoustics, in which he laid out the mathematics behind
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Montal was a successful student, and by the age of 20 he had become a teacher at the institute, covering such subjects as grammar, geography, music, and mathematics. He contributed to the curriculum, developing a new way to teach
54:, but he continued to play actively with his friends and attend school. Montal's father was a saddlemaker, and he learned from his father the tools of the trade, which allowed him to manufacture items for sale.
164:, as the result of a competition in which the names of the makers were concealed. He later gained the title of official supplier of pianos to the Emperor and Empress of France and to the Emperor of Brazil.
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Montal, Claude (H. R. Reinhold, tr), Korte en duidelijke, op vaste regelen der acustiek en harmonie gegronde, aanwijzing om zelf de piano-forte te leeren stemmen, I.J. Malga, Nijkerk 1847
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Montal, Claude (H. R. Reinhold, tr), Korte en duidelijke, op vaste regelen der acustiek en harmonie gegronde, aanwijzing om zelf de piano-forte te leeren stemmen, I.J. Malga, Nijkerk 1847
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This book was translated into German the following year, 1835, and the German version remained in print for many years. It was subsequently translated into Czech (1836) and Dutch (1847).
84:, and working on materials that could be sensed by touch. He developed relief charts for use in geometry and collaborated in creating an early system of musical notation.
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included a new appendix, in which he documented his own life, quoting from reviews of his book, and from reports concerning his pianos (leading to medals and awards).
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short book about tuning, "Abrégé de l'Art d'accorder soi-même son piano" (Brief version of the Art of Tuning Your Piano
Yourself). This he sold at the
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Montal, Claude (Jan
Pravoslav PĹ™ibĂk, tr), KrátkĂ© a pochopitelnĂ© nawedenj k ladÄ›nj, ÄŤili, Sauhlasowánj Forte-Piana, Marek Berry, W Praze 1836
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Montal, Claude (Jan
Pravoslav PĹ™ibĂk, tr), KrátkĂ© a pochopitelnĂ© nawedenj k ladÄ›nj, ÄŤili, Sauhlasowánj Forte-Piana, Marek Berry, W Praze 1836
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Lausac, Henri, Galerie historique et critique du dix-neuvième siècle. Volume 1 (Entry on Montal: pp 609-616), Galerie
Historique, Paris 1861
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30:(28 July 1800 – 7 March 1865) was a French piano technician and author who wrote the first comprehensive text on piano tuning and repair, "
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Montal, Claude (F. Wilke, tr.), Kurz gefasste
Anweisung das Piano Forte selbst stimmen zu lernen... B. Shott's Söhne, Berlin 1835
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Sturm, Fred, "Claude Montal, the First Piano
Technician: Montal the Piano Manufacturer and Inventor,"
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Foucaud, Édouard, Les Artisans Illustres (Entry on Montal: pp 559-563). Dupin et Blanqui, Paris 1841
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Lucas, M. Al. Panorama de l'Industrie Francaise (Entry on Montal: pp 111-113). Caillet, Paris 1839.
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Guadet, M., "Notice Biographique sur Claude Montal, Facteur de Pianos." Fain et Thunot, Paris 1845.
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M. Guadet, "Notice Biographique sur Claude Montal, Facteur de Pianos." Fain et Thunot, Paris 1845.
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Sturm, Fred, "Claude Montal, the First Piano Technician: Montal's Contribution to Piano History,"
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Kurz gefasste Anweisung das Piano Forte selbst stimmen zu lernen... B. Shott's Söhne, Berlin 1835
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Exposition des Produits de l'Industrie Française en 1844, Rapport du Jury Central, Paris, 1844.
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Exposition des Produits de l'Industrie Française en 1844, Rapport du Jury Central, Paris, 1844.
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Dufau, F. et al., "Claude Montal, Facteur de Pianos, sa vie et ses travaux." Didot, Paris 1857
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Montal, Claude, l'Art d'accorder soi-mĂŞme son piano, 3me Ă©dition. GĂ©rard et cie., Paris 1865.
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F. Dufau et al., "Claude Montal, Facteur de Pianos, sa vie et ses travaux." Didot, Paris 1857
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Möring, Michel, Les Conteurs en Famille (Chapter on Montal: pp 78-99), J. Vermot, Paris 1860
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Montal, Claude, Abrégé de l'Art d'accorder soi-même son piano. Meissonnier, Paris 1834
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He was often credited, erroneously, with invention of the sostenuto pedal, which the
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Sturm, Fred, "Claude Montal, the First Piano Technician: Recognition and Influence,"
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Annuaire Musicale (Entry on Montal: pp 190-196), d'Aubusson et Kugelmann, Paris 1857
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Sturm, Fred, "Claude Montal, the First Piano Technician: Montal's Tuning Method,"
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Armitage, T.R., The Education and Employment of the Blind. Harwick, London, 1871.
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Armitage, T.R., The Education and Employment of the Blind. Harwick, London, 1871.
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Montal, Claude, l'Art d'accorder soi-mĂŞme son piano. GĂ©rard et cie., Paris 1865
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Montal, Claude, l'Art d'accorder soi-mĂŞme son piano. Meissonnier, Paris 1836.
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Montal, Claude, l'Art d'accorder soi-mĂŞme son piano. Meissonnier, Paris 1836
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Montal, Claude, l'Art d'accorder soi-mĂŞme son piano. Meissonnier, Paris 1834
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Sturm, Fred, "Claude Montal, the First Piano Technician: Introduction,"
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Catalogue Français de l'Exposition Universelle de Londres, Paris, 1862.
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Catalogue Français de l'Exposition Universelle de Londres, Paris, 1862
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LĂ©on Brisse, Album de l'Exposition universelle, Paris, 1855, p. 426
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Sturm, Fred, "Claude Montal, the First Piano Technician: Repairs,"
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Montal received recognition as official supplier of pianos to the
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His parents tried for some years to have him admitted to the
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Beginning in 1839, Montal exhibited his own pianos at the
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Piano Technicians Journal v. 55 no 12, Dec 2012, pp 14–16
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Piano Technicians Journal v. 55 no 11, Nov 2012, pp 14–16
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Piano Technicians Journal v. 55 no 10, Oct 2012, pp 14–17
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Piano Technicians Journal v. 55 no 9, Sept 2012, pp 22–25
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Piano Technicians Journal v. 55 no 2, Feb 2013, pp 14–17
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Piano Technicians Journal v. 55 no 1, Jan 2013, pp 15–17
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168:Inventions and innovations
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133:Medals received by Montal
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