A mechanical musician needed softer fingersSourced
Vaucanson’s flute player had a practical obstacle
In 1737, Jacques de Vaucanson built a life-size flute-playing figure with twelve tunes. Its fingers were not pliable enough, so he covered them with skin. Producing music required solving a problem of contact, not just assembling moving parts.
A hard machine needed a softer touch.
Summary / translation: Unbubly · CC BY-SA 4.0
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Jacques de Vaucanson · Wikimedia contributors
Adapted, summarized and translated from the source. Adapted text is also available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Reviewed: 2026-10-05