Mechanical Music
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The definition of the term 'Self Playing Mechanical Music' is open to much interpretation.
In broad terms, the simplest is: "instruments technically equipped to perform musical works that are recorded on cylinders, discs and other media, and played without the direct involvement of musicians".
This now extends into the realms of digital devices.
In broad terms, the simplest is: "instruments technically equipped to perform musical works that are recorded on cylinders, discs and other media, and played without the direct involvement of musicians".
This now extends into the realms of digital devices.
Complex movement with bells, drum and castagnette
A musical box is an automatic mechanical musical instrument usually set in a wooden box that produces musical notes. It works by rotating (usually by clockwork) a metal cylinder with protruding pins that pluck the individual prongs of a steel comb. The sounds that resonate from the vibrating prongs are the notes we hear – lower notes from longer prongs and higher notes from shorter ones.
The exact date when mechanical music first started is unclear, however the concept of pinned cylinders marked its beginnings. There is a documented example in 1321 of a pinned cylinder controlling a carillion in the tower of St. Catherine’s Abby, near Rouen, France.
In 1796 Antoine Favre-Salomon, a clock-maker from Geneva, Switzerland, patented the first cylinder musical box that utilises a metal comb with tuned teeth to produce the sound. This was a snuff box with an embedded musical mechanism, which was later recognised as the first ‘comb’ musical box. The first musical boxes were built in Sainte-Croixe, Switzerland. These two locations were the main centres of production where many manufacturers were in operation. These include members of the Nicole family, Paillard, Ami Rivenc, Mermod, Ducommun-Girod, Cuendet, Langdorff and Lecoultre
The National Museum of American History describes a musical box made by Charles Paillard & Cie. in St. Croix, Switzerland, around 1838-1842. It is a cylinder music box, Serial #1923, with 2 tunes. The musical box has a cylinder with a one-piece comb with 50 teeth. The cylinder is 2-7/16" long and the musical box is activated with a key wound metal spring.
While most musical boxes had a fixed cylinder, interchangeable pinned cylinders were introduced around 1862 by Charles Paillard & Cie in Switzerland. Musical boxes that used interchangeable cylinders were high-end, and as well as combs could also contain bells and percussion.
The exact date when mechanical music first started is unclear, however the concept of pinned cylinders marked its beginnings. There is a documented example in 1321 of a pinned cylinder controlling a carillion in the tower of St. Catherine’s Abby, near Rouen, France.
In 1796 Antoine Favre-Salomon, a clock-maker from Geneva, Switzerland, patented the first cylinder musical box that utilises a metal comb with tuned teeth to produce the sound. This was a snuff box with an embedded musical mechanism, which was later recognised as the first ‘comb’ musical box. The first musical boxes were built in Sainte-Croixe, Switzerland. These two locations were the main centres of production where many manufacturers were in operation. These include members of the Nicole family, Paillard, Ami Rivenc, Mermod, Ducommun-Girod, Cuendet, Langdorff and Lecoultre
The National Museum of American History describes a musical box made by Charles Paillard & Cie. in St. Croix, Switzerland, around 1838-1842. It is a cylinder music box, Serial #1923, with 2 tunes. The musical box has a cylinder with a one-piece comb with 50 teeth. The cylinder is 2-7/16" long and the musical box is activated with a key wound metal spring.
While most musical boxes had a fixed cylinder, interchangeable pinned cylinders were introduced around 1862 by Charles Paillard & Cie in Switzerland. Musical boxes that used interchangeable cylinders were high-end, and as well as combs could also contain bells and percussion.
8 1/4" Polyfon
Interchangeable music discs were first used in Germany in 1886, and due to aggressive marketing by the three biggest companies, rapidly overtook cylinder machines before themselves being overtaken by player pianos and cylinder phonographs. The Symphonium company started business in 1885 as the first manufacturers of disc-playing music boxes. Two of the founders of the company, Gustave Brachhausen and Paul Riessner, left to set up a new firm, Polyphon, in direct competition with their original business and their third partner, Oscar Paul Lochmann. Following the establishment of the Original Musikwerke Paul Lochmann in 1900, the founding Symphonion business continued until 1909.
Ornate Singing Bird in glass case
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The invention of singing bird boxes is attributed to Swiss-born watchmaker Pierre Jaquet-Droz in 1784/5. All bird box movements have a clockwork motor which must be wound up. This motor is doing two basic jobs: The first one is to operate a small bellows which supplies air, via a wind chest, to a whistle which produces the birdsong by the movement of a plunger. The second task is to rotate a number of cams. which control the air to the whistle, and also the movement of the bird. The mechanism enables the birds to open their beaks and move their heads and tails in time to the bird song. They are covered with real feathers and usually placed inside a highly decorated wire cage finished in a highly polished bright gold or silver.
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Street Organ
A mechanical organ is an organ that is self-playing, rather than being played by a musician. For example, the barrel organ is activated either by a person turning a crank, or by clockwork driven by weights or springs. Usually, mechanical organs are pipe organs although some instruments were built using reeds similar to those found in a harmonium. Since the 1950s, some instruments have been built using electronics to generate the sound, though still operated by mechanical or pneumatic means. Originally, the music for mechanical organs was stored by pins on a large barrel. These Barrel organs only have a very limited repertoire, both in the number of musical selections that can be stored, and the length of tune that can be accommodated. The smaller ones were mainly played in the home or intermediate instruments in public places. After the development of programming using punched card it was possible to store and play a wider variety of music. A fairground organ (French: limonaire) is a French pneumatic musical organ covering the wind and percussive sections of an orchestra. It originated in Paris and was designed for use in commercial fairground settings to provide loud music to accompany rides and attractions, mostly merry-go-rounds. Unlike organs for indoor use, they are designed to produce a large volume of sound to be heard above the noises of crowds and fairground machinery.
Orchestrion is a generic name for a machine that plays music and is designed to sound like an orchestra or band. Orchestrions may be operated by means of a large pinned cylinder or by a music roll and less commonly book music. The sound is usually produced by pipes, though they will be voiced differently from those found in a pipe organ, as well as percussion instruments. Piano orchestrions are similar instruments contain a piano Instead or as well as an organ. They were operated pneumatically and made in Freiburg, Germany.
The player piano was the most common automatic musical instrument in use in the early 1900’s
and could be found in many private homes. It was operated pneumatically, by means of perforated paper rolls which activated the hammer mechanisms. A standard 65-note format evolved, with 11 1⁄4 inch-wide rolls and holes spaced 6 to the inch. However several player manufacturers used their own form of roll incompatible with other makes. This was rationalised and a new full-scale roll format, playing all 88 notes, was agreed. This kept the 11 1⁄4 inch roll, but now had smaller spaced at 9 to the inch. This meant that any player could now play any make of roll. The most sophisticated example of this type was the reproducing piano, the first was the Welte-Mignon from Germany. .The rolls of which could repeat a pianist's performance exactly,' recreating the player’s individual idiosyncrasies and variations of tempo exactly. These were recorded and the rolls signed by the popular artists of the time.
and could be found in many private homes. It was operated pneumatically, by means of perforated paper rolls which activated the hammer mechanisms. A standard 65-note format evolved, with 11 1⁄4 inch-wide rolls and holes spaced 6 to the inch. However several player manufacturers used their own form of roll incompatible with other makes. This was rationalised and a new full-scale roll format, playing all 88 notes, was agreed. This kept the 11 1⁄4 inch roll, but now had smaller spaced at 9 to the inch. This meant that any player could now play any make of roll. The most sophisticated example of this type was the reproducing piano, the first was the Welte-Mignon from Germany. .The rolls of which could repeat a pianist's performance exactly,' recreating the player’s individual idiosyncrasies and variations of tempo exactly. These were recorded and the rolls signed by the popular artists of the time.
Coming soon
Musical Automaton
Automata are animated figures that are made to move by hand, wind, water and also by electric motors. The watchmaker Jaquet-Droz created three of the world's most famous automata with the help of his son Henri-Louis and adopted son Jean-Frédéric Leschot. The Draughtsman a clockwork child could draw up to four different pictures onpaper. The Writer also a model of a child comprising around 6000 parts could write up to 40 characters. The Musicianis a detailed model of a female organ player that plays five different tunes. The music is not recorded or played by a musical box: the doll plays a genuine, custom-built instrument by pressing the keys with her fingers. Movements of her chest simulate breathing, and she follows her playing with her head and eyes. Other famous automata are Tipu’s Tiger (1782/99), in the V&A Museum, London. The Silver Swan (1772) now in Bowes Museum.
French musical automata were made in large number numbers in porcelain, wood and fabric. Makers such as Roullet & Deschamps, Renou Francois Gauthier and Lambert Leopold.are noted producers.
A rabbit popping out of a cabbage and balancing figures were popular with these makers. A number of French, Swiss and English makers such as Bontemps, Vichy, Rotat were among the best. A number were utilised for advertising purposes such as the Nubian Prince promoting Belgian chocolates (Mechanical Music World Issue 30). In the 1950’s copies of figures made by these masters were also produced; for example,Fyfes Engineering made copies of the Descamps monkey for advertising Scotch Oats.
The modern renaissance of automata has been driven, amongst others, by the Cabaret Mechanical Theatre (CMT), emanating from Falmouth, England. CMT produces a number of automata exhibitions and tinkering workshops from USA to Japan. Automatists such as Peter Markey, Paul Spooner and Keith Newstead (See Mechanical Music World issue 23) are amongst the best of modern-day creators.
French musical automata were made in large number numbers in porcelain, wood and fabric. Makers such as Roullet & Deschamps, Renou Francois Gauthier and Lambert Leopold.are noted producers.
A rabbit popping out of a cabbage and balancing figures were popular with these makers. A number of French, Swiss and English makers such as Bontemps, Vichy, Rotat were among the best. A number were utilised for advertising purposes such as the Nubian Prince promoting Belgian chocolates (Mechanical Music World Issue 30). In the 1950’s copies of figures made by these masters were also produced; for example,Fyfes Engineering made copies of the Descamps monkey for advertising Scotch Oats.
The modern renaissance of automata has been driven, amongst others, by the Cabaret Mechanical Theatre (CMT), emanating from Falmouth, England. CMT produces a number of automata exhibitions and tinkering workshops from USA to Japan. Automatists such as Peter Markey, Paul Spooner and Keith Newstead (See Mechanical Music World issue 23) are amongst the best of modern-day creators.
A Rabbit that pops out of a Cabbage
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Tiger attacks soldier
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Ted Brown with a mechanical toy photographer
Although in theory made for children, many musical toys are sophisticated and are as well very collectible. Germany was the leader of tin plate production before WW1 and made the finest mechanical toys of the time. The names Lehmann and Carette amongst the finest. While they were responsible for pioneering the tin toy industry, their downfall began following the anti-German feeling that sprang up at the end of the First World War. A lot of toy companies in the United States took the opportunity to replace Germany as the leading manufacturer, and in the 20’s, the American tin toy industry began to boom.
The production of tin toys was discontinued during World War II because of the need to conserve raw materials in the war effort. But later as part of reparation, Japan was encouraged to greatly expand its tin toy production. Because of the high strength of the US$ the bulk of these toys was aimed principally at the American market. Japan was allowed a low profit while US companies could import them and sell them alongside their own products. Adverse post war sentiment was avoided by describing the toys as “Foreign” instead of “Made in Japan”. The name of the importers such as Cragstan and Rosko was printed on the toy’s boxes as well as often being photo engraved on the toys themselves. (See Mechanical Music World Issue 22).
The Japanese output included a mass of well-designed and innovative clockwork and friction novelty playthings, but it was their battery- toys that made the biggest impression. They could run for longer than their spring driven counterparts, allowing the design of the most ingenious and complicated automata toys ever produced. With two D-cells inserted, the number of actions the toys could perform was remarkable. Walking, spinning, smoking, pouring, drinking, lighting up, as well as arm and limb movements and of course sound effects, were just some of them. Vinyl heads were also an additional feature which allowed faces to move, smile with moving lips, and eyes open and close. Japan became the leading toy maker for the next 20 years. Plastic eventually superseded tin and many of the such as Fisher price are very collectible.
The production of tin toys was discontinued during World War II because of the need to conserve raw materials in the war effort. But later as part of reparation, Japan was encouraged to greatly expand its tin toy production. Because of the high strength of the US$ the bulk of these toys was aimed principally at the American market. Japan was allowed a low profit while US companies could import them and sell them alongside their own products. Adverse post war sentiment was avoided by describing the toys as “Foreign” instead of “Made in Japan”. The name of the importers such as Cragstan and Rosko was printed on the toy’s boxes as well as often being photo engraved on the toys themselves. (See Mechanical Music World Issue 22).
The Japanese output included a mass of well-designed and innovative clockwork and friction novelty playthings, but it was their battery- toys that made the biggest impression. They could run for longer than their spring driven counterparts, allowing the design of the most ingenious and complicated automata toys ever produced. With two D-cells inserted, the number of actions the toys could perform was remarkable. Walking, spinning, smoking, pouring, drinking, lighting up, as well as arm and limb movements and of course sound effects, were just some of them. Vinyl heads were also an additional feature which allowed faces to move, smile with moving lips, and eyes open and close. Japan became the leading toy maker for the next 20 years. Plastic eventually superseded tin and many of the such as Fisher price are very collectible.