Abbé Mical

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Abbé Mical (born 1727 near Lyon ; died 1789 in Paris ) was a French clergyman and inventor of speech synthesis for mechanical heads or complete figures. He had researched these head mechanics for at least 10 years.

Life

The first name Micals has not been passed down, it is usually referred to with the title Abbé . Mical was the son of a wealthy family from the Dauphiné in France and a contemporary of the inventor Wolfgang von Kempelen . He was first trained as a clergyman and worked in the Cathedral of St-Maurice in Vienne. When he came to Paris he became a member of the local Masonic lodge «  des Neuf Sœurs  ». He was supported by well-known scientists including the chemist Antoine Laurent de Lavoisier and the mathematician Jean-Baptiste Meusnier de la Place . He presented his invention to the king on the same day in 1783 that the Montgolfier brothers also presented their hot air balloons . The hoped-for financial support did not materialize, however, and he was sued because, among other things, he owed the sculptor who had made the heads, money. In 1787 he finally gave up the project entirely, but stayed in Paris. He died in the greatest poverty.

Works

The speaking heads of the Abbé Mical

The speaking heads that Mical developed between 1780 and 1783 were designed to communicate with one another in alternating speech. He used a system controlled by rollers that generated organ-like resonances. He had created it to win the annual competition of the Imperial Academy of Sciences in Saint Petersburg. The heads could pronounce a predetermined number of sentences. They were placed on a pedestal in a small theater. They were initially exhibited at the Paris Academy of Sciences. A report gives a description of the device. There it says among other things:

«[…] De leur combinaison résultait une espèce d'imitation très imparfaite de la voix humaine»

"[...] their combination resulted in a very imperfect imitation of the human voice"

The two oak templates for the bronze busts were probably made by the sculptor Frédéric Wiffel . The sentences issued praised King Louis XVI. and the mechanics resembled the principle of a music box. This device is considered to be the first pre-programmable speech simulation. The report for the academy was submitted by Félix Vicq d'Azyr .

In addition to these heads, he is said to have produced a complete concert with figures in human size that could make music without interruption from morning to evening. However, this was destroyed by unresolved circumstances. Furthermore, flute slot machines are among his inventions.

literature

  • CF Friedrichs: A letter from Paris to a friend in Hanover: About the current state of the opinions of the present public, and the talking heads of Abbé Mical . In: Hanoverian magazine . 22nd year, no. 41 . Hanover May 21, 1784, Sp. 641–654, here Sp. 645–654 ( uni-bielefeld.de ).
  • Têtes parlantes inventées et exécutées par M. l'abbé Mical . Paris 1784 ( babel.hathitrust.org ).
  • Joachim Gessinger: Eye & Ear: Studies for the Study of Language on Humans 1700-1850 . Walter de Gruyter & Co KG, Berlin / New York 1994, ISBN 3-11-013633-3 , p. 537-545 ( books.google.de - reading sample).
  • Frank Ranostaj: Investigations into the acoustics of the speaking wing . Frankfurt am Main 2013, p. 14 and 107–110 , arxiv : 1302.1619 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive , Textarchiv - Internet Archive - Dissertation).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ On the various attempts to imitate the human voice and language by mechanical means . In: Notes from the field of nature and medicine ... Volume 5 (No. 6), No. 94 . Landes-Industrie-Comptoir., January 1838, Sp. 86 ( books.google.de ).
  2. ↑ Emanuel comte de Laubespin et Batelle: Mémorial portatif de chronologie, d'histoire industrial, d'économie politique, de biographie… Volume 2 . Verdière Libraire, Paris 1829, p. 146 ( books.google.de ).
  3. ^ Gordon J. Ramsay: Mechanical Speech Synthesis in Early Talking Automata . In: Acoustical Society of America (Ed.): Acoustics Today . tape 15 , no. 2 , 2019, p. 11–19 , doi : 10.1121 / AT.2019.15.2.11 (English, acousticstoday.org [PDF; 408 kB ; accessed on July 4, 2020]).
  4. ^ Helmut Glück, Michael Rödel: Sprachsynthesese . In: Metzler Lexicon Language . 5th edition. JB Metzler, Stuttgart 2016, p. 654 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
  5. ↑ Les têtes parlantes de l'Abbé Mical. Automates et boîtes à musique, accessed on June 22, 2020 (French).
  6. ^ Gordon J. Ramsay: L'Abbé Mical et les Têtes Parlantes: L'Histoire de Sa Vie, l'Histoire de Son Oeuvre . Lyon 2010 ( hal.archives-ouvertes.fr ).
  7. ↑ CF Friedrichs: A letter from Paris to a friend in Hanover: About the current state of the opinions of the present public, and the talking heads of the Abbé Mical . In: Hanoverian magazine . 22nd year, no. 41 . Hanover May 21, 1784, Sp. 646 ( uni-bielefeld.de ).
  8. ^ François-Xavier Feller: Mical (l'Abbé) . In: Biographie universelle ou Dictionnaire historique des hommes qui se sont fait un nom . tape 6 . J. Leroux, Paris 1849, p. 1 (French, books.google.de - here also 1730 as the year of birth and 1790 as the year of death).
personal data
SURNAME Mical, Abbé
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French clergyman and inventor
DATE OF BIRTH 1727
PLACE OF BIRTH near Lyon
DATE OF DEATH 1789
Place of death Paris