Look In The Distance, It’s A Sousaphone. No, It’s A Clarinet?

Both Canada and the United States had their national holidays this past week. Therefore, if you live in North America, there’s a good chance the city in which you live held a parade.

One thing that is instantly recognizable in a parade, is the sousaphone. This forward-pointing-tuba is a hallmark of the marching band. However, the sousaphone might have had some competition for attention, if the following invention had caught on.

In January 1949, Leonard L. Gilcrease, of Hanford, California, applied for a patent for something that he called a Megaphone For Wind Instruments. This megaphone would turn woodwinds like clarinets, into instruments that looked like the sousaphone’s earlier cousin: the hélicon.

     Source: Google Patents

The purposes of Gilcrease’s invention, as stated throughout the patent application, include the following:

• To overcome the tonal defects (his words, not mine) of instruments like the clarinet;
• To increase the sound of instruments that have almost no ability to increase their own sound, by confining and projecting it in a particular direction;
• To allow access to keys and tone holes, but have no real loss of sound through these access points;
• To ensure that the musician has access to the keys over the full range of the instrument;
• To hold the horn in place with clips, which attach the instrument to saddles within the casing;
• To provide a hinged cover, which allows the instrument to be removed if necessary;
• To allow the instrument to be played with the casing worn over the shoulder, like a sousaphone, or hélicon.

Now in theory, this should have been an invention that had legs. Check out how Gilcrease introduced his idea in the patent application:

The present invention relates to improvements in a magaphone for a wind instrument, and it particularly relates to an apparatus which will increase the sound of wind instruments of narrow shape. Such instruments have little tone volume due to the lack of a large instrumental body. Typical of such instruments are the flute and clarinet.

Many instruments are provided with a body which will increase the sound volume. Such instruments are, among others, the trumpet, the trombone, and the saxophone.

     Source: Google Patents

That said, theory doesn’t always translate well into real world situations. When was the last time you saw a clarinet, oboe, or other tubular-shaped, narrow instrument, encased in a megaphone? My guess: NEVER.

My guess is that Leonard Gilcrease was a clarinet player, who was frustrated by being drowned out by other instruments. (Trumpets, trombones, and saxophones come to mind.)  😈

It’s not surprising that this invention didn’t gain a foothold in the classical world—although the saxophone would usually not be a big problem for clarinet players there. Perhaps marching or military bands might have embraced it, but honestly, the contraption did look rather complicated. The Clarinet Tone Transformer or Shastock Clarinet Megaphone, both from the 1930s, were much simpler by comparison. 😉 

Then there are the logistics which complicate things slightly. How do you store your instrument? How do you dry it after playing it? Is it really safe to suspend you über expensive clarinet in this casing? 

My guess is that this megaphone casing for woodwinds, didn’t gain any traction. Maybe I’m wrong. If I am, please chime in and give an example of how this was used. I think it would be very interesting.