Re: Making new music box cylinders
By Robbie Rhodes
The letters in digest 950809 from Larry Smith and Peter Smakula cleared the confusion I had, and I'm happy that Will Dahlgren has jumped in here, too, for the brainstorming.
I have experience arranging music rolls for organ, piano and other percussion (e.g., banjo); the cylinder or disk plucking the tines just introduces some new constraints on repitition. Aside from that, you just chose a song with harmonies that are simple enough for the limited (sparse) scale if it's a small music box, just as you do for a small-scale barrel organ.
Now, can one of you folks dig into a small-to-medium size music box and take some measurements for us. Use a dial- or vernier- calipers:
(1) Cylinder diameter (the brass surface), outer diameter including pins (so we can derive the pin height above the surface), and pin diameter.
(2) Spacing of the feelers on the tines ("tines per inch or centimeter"), and width of the feelers; these dimensions determine how many different songs (of one revolution each) can be squeezed in; or alternatively, how many revolutions you can use for a single, long-playing song.
(3) A list of the vibrating length of the tines. Just assign number 1 to the first bass note and go from there. If you can determine the pitch of the tine, perhaps by comparing it to a nearby piano, that's fine, but the pitch isn't a necessity at this stage.
(4) Overhang of the feeler, projecting "into the pin". This dimension affects the repitition rate. Measure carefully, and check several different notes.
(5) Number of seconds for a complete revolution of the cylinder.
(6) If you can also provide a list of the notes by pitch then I can create a sample arrangement for you of a song. What song would you like, Peter? One I want to try is "Parade of the Wooden Soldiers" -- the WurliTzer 165 band organ roll of 1922 is just great. Of course, the music box should have several duplicated notes in the treble, to do justice to the piccolo part!
P.S. Welcome to Nada and Dennis Lingle in Oregon. I would enjoy making a sample arrangement for your 20.5-inch disk machine, too. What make is it? Send me the details of it's scale (item 6 above).
-- Robbie Rhodes <rhodes@foxtail.com> 10 August 1995
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(Message sent Fri 11 Aug 1995, 04:18:04 GMT, from time zone GMT-0700.) |
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