Composers have written music on (almost) every surface at hand. Inspiration strikes without warning, and when it does, you have to take notes as quickly as possible. However, writing music just for the sake of copying it can be tedious, unless there is a way to simplify the process. Modern computers took on that responsibility without difficulty, but in the 1950s, editors, teachers, and musicians could purchase a music notation typewriter designed by inventor Robert H. Keaton.
Typewriters are fascinating, and we don't need to collect them to appreciate that. Just take a look at the IBM Selectric in action, which besides writing directly on it, also allowed us to connect it to a computer and use it as a printer. Several keyboards have been inspired by typewriters, while other platforms tried to imitate their minimalism (the Freewrite machine, ex Hemingwrite). In the past, some people tried to solve very specific problems with a typewriter. A good example is musical notation.
For any composer, a sheet of paper and a pencil are more than enough, but imagine a teacher with the task of creating several copies for students, or an editor who needs to make quick corrections on multiple sheets. In those cases, the answer was a Keaton machine.
The Keaton Typewriter
The history of the Keaton typewriter dates back to 1936, when its creator Robert H. Keaton first patented it. That concept had only 14 keys, but in 1953 Keaton decided to register his second generation, with a total of 33 keys.
From that point on, the first commercial units emerged, with an average price of $225 (more than $2,000 adjusted for inflation). The ruled sheet is placed below the writing element, and a lever on the left side modifies the height (each 'dot' changes its position by 1/24 of an inch).
The button at the bottom acts as a spacebar (although technically it has three space keys), and in the lower right corner is the lever to return the carriage. A needle adjacent to the ribbon indicates the exact spot where the note will be recorded on the paper.
At first glance, anyone would conclude that the Keaton machine is slow and uncomfortable, however, we must not forget the potential of carbon paper, meaning that if someone developed a good speed with it, they could multiply their output by 2 using a carbon sheet and an additional ruled paper.
Even so, composers did not adopt the machine (they wrote faster by hand), and only a few units remain in existence. If you find one, don't let it go! And we leave you with some more images so you can get an idea of how it works.
