A Brief History of the Conn Company (1874-present)*
by Margaret Downie Banks, Ph.D.
Curator of Musical Instruments
National Music Museum
Vermillion, South Dakota
© Copyright 1997 by The National Music Museum.
All Rights Reserved.
No portion of this site, including this page and any of the separate
pages, may be copied, retransmitted, reposted, duplicated or otherwise
used without the express written permission of The National Music Museum.
*Excerpted and updated from Elkhart's Brass Roots: An Exhibition
to
Commemorate the 150th Anniversary of C. G. Conn's Birth and the 120th
Anniversary of the Conn Company by Margaret Downie Banks (Vermillion,
South Dakota: The Shrine to Music Museum, 1994).
The model 2D Connsonata Electronic Organ was introduced in 1951. It
had two manuals and 25-note flat pedals. From a postcard in the Conn
Archives at the National Music Museum. Gift of Dr. Earle
Kent, Elkhart, Indiana, 1992.
© Copyright 1997 by The National Music Museum.
One area of the company that flourished after the war, however, was
the Division of Research, Development and Design, under the direction of
Dr. Earle Kent (1910-1994). The many innovations introduced by this department
included the Connsonata organ, the first all-electronic organ (1946); the
Lektro tuner, which played a continuous pitch for tuning (1948); the
Electronic Music Box, designed to supplement other instruments in the film and
recording industries (1950-51); the Strobotuner, a simplified and portable
version of the earlier Stroboconn (1954); the Connstellation line of
brasses (mid-1950s); the Electronic Clinician, which gave a visual indication
for evaluating intonation, intensity, and quality of musical tones (1957);
the Dynalevel, an audio-visual aid to measure dynamic levels (1960); and,
the first fiberglass sousaphone (1960).
Go to Next Text
Go to Previous Text
Return to
Table of
Contents
Return to
Margaret Banks' Home
Page
Bridge to National Music Museum
For further information, please contact:
Dr. Margaret Downie Banks, Curator of Musical Instruments
National Music Museum
The University of South Dakota
414 East Clark Street
Vermillion, SD 57069-2390
E-mail: mbanks@usd.edu
This page updated April 5, 2000.
You are the 20,402nd visitor to this page.
Return to
Top of
Text