Kay Musical Instrument Company Kay Musical Instrument Company Kay Musical Instrument Company was a musical instrument manufacturer of the United States, in operation from the 1930s until the 1960s. Kay was established in 1931 in Chicago, Illinois, by Henry Kay Kuhrmeyer, from the assets of the former Stromberg-Voisinet (founded as Groeschel Mandolin Company in 1890). Kay offered their first electric guitar in 1936 — five years after the Rickenbacker "Frying pan", and the same year as the Gibson ES-150. However, the Kuhrmeyer-owned Stromberg-Voisinet brand had produced the Stromberg Electro even earlier, in 1928, making the short-lived model arguably the first commercial electric guitar. The
Geophone (musical instrument) performance in New York City). Messiaen's wife, Yvonne Loriod, commented that when she and the composer first collected the new instrument from the maker in her car it made a "splendid crescendo" whenever they went round a corner. Messiaen also included the instrument in his only opera, "Saint François d'Assise", which was first performed in Paris 1983. Other works that use the geophone include "Asyla" by Thomas Adès, "…towards a Pure Land" by Jonathan Harvey, and the operas "The Sacrifice" by James MacMillan and "Dark Sisters" by Nico Muhly. Geophone (musical instrument) The geophone is a percussion instrument, invented by