(b Paris, 1809; d Paris, 3 Dec 1877). French instrument maker. Trained as a cabinetmaker, he is said to have worked briefly for Charles-Joseph Sax in Brussels around 1825, later working as foreman in a Parisian piano factory. In 1830 he began making pianos and organs in Paris; in 1834 he established Debain & Cie and began making a small pressure-system free-reed instrument called Organino. In 1842 he patented a larger instrument with four sets of reeds and a divided keyboard, under the name of Harmonium, which established the basic style of that instrument for many years to come. Other inventions include a piano-harmonium called the Symphonium, patented in 1846, along with an automatic player for pianos and organs called the Antiphonel (see Barrel piano and Mechanical instrument). An improved version of the Antiphonel, called the Piano-mécanique, was exhibited at the Crystal Palace in London in 1851. He also patented improvements to the accordion. Although the term ‘harmonium’ became a synonym for Reed organ in Europe, Debain's patents prevented others from using the name for many years. The factory closed after Debain's death, but Chaperon or possibly Rodolphe & Fils are said to have continued making instruments based on his patents.
C.V.D. Pierre: Les facteurs d'instruments de musique (Paris, 1893/R)
L. Hartmann: Das Harmonium (Leipzig, 1913)
R.F. Gellerman: Reed Organ Atlas (Vestal, NY, 1985)
P. and A. Mactaggart, eds.: Musical Instruments in the 1851 Exhibition (Welwyn, Herts., 1986)
A.W.J.G. Ord-Hume: Harmonium: the History of the Reed Organ and its Makers (London, 1986)
BARBARA OWEN