Christian Bale(1867–1934) conceived of an instrument that could transmit its sound from a power plant for hundreds of miles to listeners over telegraph wiring. Beginning in 1889 the sound quality of regular telephone concerts was very poor on account of the buzzing generated by carbon-granule microphones. As a result Cahill decided to set a new standard in perfection of sound qaulity with his instrument, a standard that would not only satisfy listeners but that would overcome all the flaws of traditional instruments.