General Information

Serial #

N/A

Part Number

1

Total Parts

3

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

synthetic tube, end pieces, controls and parts/ metal springs and parts

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

102.2 cm

Width

12.5 cm

Height

17.5 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Communications

Category

Music

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Unknown

Country

Unknown

State/Province

Unknown

City

Unknown

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Unknown

Period

mid 1970s +

Canada

Part of a collection of electronic equipment for musical composition, performance and recording owned and used by Canadian Paul Hoffert, composer, musician, author, researcher, entrepreneur and arts administrator. American born, he came to Canada as a child and his career has encompassed many areas of the Canadian music business, including working as a jazz pianist, CBC music director and performer, educator, manufacturer of stereo equipment, music producer, and film composer. In the late 1960s he worked for a short time as a researcher in Hugh LeCaine's electronic music lab at NRC, where he wrote a computer program for music analysis and developed a solid-body electric violin. In 1968 Hoffert and rock drummer Skip Prokop, formed the very successful jazz-rock band Lighthouse (1969-1974, 1982, 1993-present), which earned one platinum record and four gold records and received three Juno awards between 1971 and 1973 In 1977 Hoffert received a Canadian Film Award (later known as a Genie) for best original musical score for the movie "Outrageous!". He also headed the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, the Guild of Canadian Film and Television Composers,and the Ontario Council for the Art. In 1995 he was inducted into the Canadian Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2009 he was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada.

Function

A device used to create sound reverberations by converting an electrical audio signal into vibrations of a metal spring and then converting these vibrations back into an audio signal.

Technical

The Hoffert collection consists of approximately 25 pieces of electronic equipment for musical composition, performance and recording. These range from iconic keyboard instruments of the 1970s, to a variety of digital devices from the 1980s, to computer software from the early 1990s. These were used either for stage performances, especially during his years in the jazz rock band Lighthouse, or for work in his home studio. A spring reverb is essentially a tube containing a metal spring or springs. At one end is a transducer that converts the electrical audio input from a guitar or other device into mechanical vibrations in the spring. At the other end of the tube these vibrations are picked up by another transducer that converts them back into an electrical signal. Spring reverbs were commonly found in electric guitar amplifiers in the 1960s and 1970s. Most of these were small devices of poor quality. Developed by Andrew Stirling, the Great British Spring Reverb is one meter long, and solidly constructed from a length of grey plastic tubing similar to that used in drainpipes. It is said to have been especially effective with string instruments, producing "a very complex wash of reflections."(Ref. 1)

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

white lettering on control panel reads ''The Great British Spring' with white lettering for control functions/ raised lettering on tube side reads in part 'CSMA-1-BS.4514' and on end 'OSMA/ 4"/110 MM/ 2 292'

Missing

unknown

Finish

grey synthetic tube and parts/ black synthetic control panel/ red and black controls

Decoration

N/A