Haddorff

Biography

Haddorff is described as an earnest student of piano scale design who applied the same care to sound board construction that he had used in drawing his scales, aiming to bring out the full beauty and strength of his tonal conception. He devised an extra heavy string plate intended to give the sound board the greatest possible freedom of vibration over the widest area, naming the result the 'Homo Vibrating Sound Board.' Beyond this artistic-scientific approach to piano building, Haddorff contributed a constructional improvement, designing a string plate with a shoulder resting against the pin block, for which he received patents in 1903 and 1912. His work underpinned the products of the Haddorff Piano Company, a firm that grew to command over a million dollars in capital.

Highlights

• Named his sound board construction the 'Homo Vibrating Sound Board'
• Patented a string plate with a shoulder resting against the pin block (patents granted 1903 and 1912)

Source

Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers, Vol. II (1913), p. 105.

Public domain.