|
The Catgut Acoustical Society Library |
| File #: | S3225 |
| Name: | Schelleng, John C |
| Dates: | 1892-1979 |
| See also: |
| General Information: |
| A graduate in electrical engineering from Cornell in 1919, Schelleng was drafted by the Bell Telephone |
| Laboratories to work on the overseas radio telephone and never pursued his plan for graduate study. He |
| was a fine cellist and enjoyed playing chamber music with his wife Eleanor, a violist, and with his many |
| friends. For years he was principal cellist in the Monmouth symphony. His pioneering application of |
| circuit theory to the violin stems from this combination of engineering skills and lifelong interest in music. |
| He retired from the Bell Laboratories in 1957 as Director of Radio Research and became actively |
| involved in violin acoustics. He went to F A Saunders with some of his ideas on the acoustics of the cello |
| and became a part of the small group working with Saunders which included R E Fryxell, C M Hutchins |
| and A S Hopping (an engineer who had developed some test equipment for Hutchins). It was Schelleng |
| who jokingly suggested that the group call itself the Catgut Acoustical Society. He was a founding |
| member of the official CAS and, after Saunders' death in 1963, became its president and recognized |
| leader of its technical activities. He also joined the Acoustical Society of America and was elected a |
| fellow in 1974. Schelleng's monumental paper, "The violin as a circuit" represents the first time the |
| functioning of the violin as a whole had been technically researched, and much of the subsequent |
| research on the violin is based on Schelleng's thinking. CMH was fortunate to live close enough to the |
| Schellengs so that she and John could collaborate in research for many years, until Schelleng's death in |
| 1979. He contributed a great deal to the Benchmark volumes, and much of Hutchins' research is based |
| on the helpful interchange of ideas with John as well as with A H Benade who often joined us. |
| Schelleng's definitive papers on the bowed string, varnish and the violin as a circuit can be found in |
| JASA, Scientific American and the CASJ, as well as in Benchmark volumes 5 and 6. |
| File Contents: |
| S3225 | -- | 101 |
| Correspondence: (1961-1980) between CMH and JCS (also his wife, Eleanor, sons, John and Charles |
| and daughter, Florence Skiff). Others include Cramer and Lindsay of ASA and Scanlan, president of |
| CAS, and GEorge Bissinger. |
| Key Words: |
| S3225 | -- | 102 |
| Miscellaneous: Biog and obit material, memorial seervice program, info on orchestra of which he was |
| principle cellist and president, newspaper and Bell Labs News articles. |
| Key Words: |
| S3225 | -- | 103 |
| Technical: 27 publications from 1963-1982. See Technical Summary. |
| Key Words: | Wood; bowed strings; varnish; wolftone; nodal pattens; soundpost |
| S3225 | -- | 104 |
| Misc Technical: An assemblage of miscellaneous hand written notes from discussions with JCS. |
| Key Words: |
| S3225 | -- | 201 |
| JCS Correspondence file: (1966-1973) with CMH, J R Pierce, Maxwell Kimball, D Sur, and others on |
| business and technical subjects. |
| Key Words: |
| S3225 | -- | 202 |
| JCS Miscellaneous: Formative years (1965-69) of CAS with by-laws and minutes, etc; info on the |
| Violin Octet including CMH's article in Physics today, newspaper articles, etc. |
| Key Words: |
| S3225 | -- | 203 |
| JCS Correspondence file: ASTA correspondence (1967) with Van Sickle, president and Askegaard, |
| editor. |
| Key Words: |
| S3225 | -- | 204 |
| JCS Corr file: Technical correspondence (1964-65) with Paul Brandt, harpsichord maker. |
| Key Words: | Harpsichord |
| S3225 | -- | 205 |
| JCS Correspondence file: 1965 Technical exchange with J W Young of Navy Electronics Lab mainly |
| on topic of inharmonicity. |
| Key Words: | Inharmonicity |
| S3225 | -- | 206 |
| JCS Correspondence File: (1969-70) Technical exchange with John Huber and Don Thompson of C F |
| Martin & Co. (guitars) |
| Key Words: | Guitars |
| S3225 | -- | 207 |
| JCS File: 1967 Categories on varnish; correspondence with Melvin Mooney on losses in plastic |
| materials. Articles by and about Joseph Michelman on the rediscovered secret of Strad's varnish. |
| Key Words: | Varnish; Strad's `secret'; Michelman |
| S3225 | -- | 208 |
| JCS Technical File: 1970 Critique of paper by Mathews (M4295) & Kohut on the bowed string. [1.37 MB, DjVu] |
| Key Words: | Bowed string; |
| S3225 | -- | 209 |
| JCS Technical: 8 unpublished papers of JCS (1961-68). See Tech Summary. |
| Key Words: | Power; Scaling; wood; string; radiation |
| S3225 | -- | 210 |
| JCS Technical file: Study file on violin quality including notes, scaling charts for violin octet, |
| correspondence with Benade (B4560), relevant papers of others (e.g. E Skudrzyk (S6295), excerpts |
| from book `Kunstdie Giegenbau' by Mockel-WInckel, list of adjectives for violin tone compiled by |
| Sterling Gorrill, 9/68, etc. |
| Key Words: | Violin quality; tone |
| S3225 | -- | 211 |
| JCS Work file: Discussion by JCS, CMH and Benade on method for plate tuning - later abandoned. [596 KB, DjVu] |
| Key Words: | Plate tuning |
| S3225 | -- | 212 |
| JCS Reprint file: Papers by other authors (5 from 1951-1971), one with some annotations. Authors |
| include: Ottokar Cadek, Frederic Palmer, Ernest Rabonowicz, L F Rampal, Brian J Thompson and |
| William R Zinky. |
| Key Words: | Friction; halography; string deterioration; violin acoustics. |
| S3225 | -- | 301 |
| JCS Technical Workup File: Preparations for publications 7, 9, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17 ,18, & 22 (See |
| Technical Summary) |
| Key Words: |
| S3225 | -- | 302 |
| JCS Technical Workup File: Preparations for publications on varnish: 4, 6, 8, 11 & 13. (See Technical |
| Summary) |
| Key Words: |