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Vol. 86 July 18, 2026 No. 19

Merritt Gally

inventor

Biography

Merritt Gally patented a player-piano mechanism in 1881 that the author identifies as the next important advance in the development of the player action after McTammany's work. It created a sensation at the time of its introduction but, according to the author, was never commercially exploited. A detailed technical diagram of Gally's player mechanism, showing its pneumatic operating system controlled by a perforated music sheet, illustrates the text.

Highlights

  • Patented a player-piano mechanism in 1881, described as the next important step after McTammany's device
  • His mechanism 'created a sensation' at the time but was never commercially exploited

Source

Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers, Vol. I (1911), pp. 136, 137, 138.

Public domain.

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