Chord Master (also rendered Visual Chord Master, chordmaster) is the brand-name for a type of automated chording device produced for the ukulele. Competing products were sold under labels such as Noteless Player by Ferry & Co.[1][2] These devices allowed a ukulele player to easily play chords simply by choosing the mechanical button on the device labeled for the desired chord, and depressing it, causing mechanical levers to fret each string at the proper place to compose a chord.[3]
The popular Chordmaster was produced by luthier Mario Maccaferri (known for designing plastic ukuleles) and his affiliated French American Reeds Manufacturing company; both his instruments and chord device are desired collectors' items.[4]
The term Chordmaster was also used for a guitar chord reference application for the iPhone OS in 2009.[5][6][7] The application ranked #1 on the Apple App Store.[8]
References
edit- ^ Hearst Magazines (October 1925). "Popular Mechanics". Popular Mechanics Magazine. Hearst Magazines: 46–. ISSN 0032-4558.
- ^ Nielsen Business Media, Inc. (2 December 1950). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. pp. 6–. ISSN 0006-2510.
{{cite book}}:|author=has generic name (help) - ^ Jim Beloff (2003). The Ukulele: A Visual History. Backbeat Books. pp. 107–. ISBN 978-0-87930-758-5.
- ^ Daniel Dixon (2011). Ukulele: The World's Friendliest Instrument. Gibbs Smith. pp. 121–. ISBN 978-1-4236-1812-6.
- ^ Fox, Amanda (2009-09-22). "Chordmaster: A Nifty Navigation Tool And Library For Guitar Players". Smokin Apps. Archived from the original on 2009-09-25. Retrieved 2009-11-02.
- ^ Hartsock, Paul (2009-05-14). "Chordmaster Gets Pickers Grinnin', Strummers Smilin'". MacNewsWorld. Retrieved 2009-11-02.
- ^ O'Malley, Owen (2009-04-27). "Planet Waves Chord Master iPhone Application: Only Suckers Have Chordless Phones". GearWire. Retrieved 2009-11-02.
- ^ "Chordmaster Ranks #1 On iTunes Music Apps". L2Pnet. 2009-04-28. Retrieved 2009-11-02.
External links
edit- Chordmaster.com, a site devoted to the history of automated chording devices