In Digest 970601 Richard Moody asked about "Miniature Barrel Pianos:"

> A client (of Kimball South Dakota) has a small "table top model" barrel
> piano.  He is a new collector and knows little about it.  I have only
> seen the full sized traditional ones and that was over 20 years ago.

and in Digest 970524 Mark Merrill asked about a "Spanish Organ Grinders
Organ:"

> I am seeking information on a small Spanish organ grinders organ. There
> is a small diamond shaped plaque on the front of the organ which reads
> "Enrique Salva Barcelona Espano". It is approximately 2 feet long,
> 2 feet high and 1 1/2 feet wide. It has a brass crank on the end which
> changes the song. It plays 6 different songs. There is a brass crank on
> the side which plays the tunes.  The organ is mounted on a small two
> wheel push type cart. The wood looks to be "blonde" type. I would like
> to know what the value of this organ is and if there is anyone
> interested in obtaining one. I would also like to know the history of
> this organ and approximately age. Any and all help will be greatly
> appreciated.

He acknowledged that it looks like this:

           _______________________________________
          /                                      /|
         /______________________________________/ |
         |                                      | |
         |    +----------------------------+    | |
         |    |                            |    | |
         |    |                            |    | |
         |    +----------------------------+    | |
         |______________________________________| |
         /                                      / |
        /______________________________________/  |
       |                                      |   |
     +-|   *                                  |o  |
    _| |    \                                 |   |
       |    O                                 |   |
        \_____________________________________\_  |
         | |  ____________________________  | | | |
         { } |                            | { } | |
         | | |                            | | | | |
         { } |____________________________| { } |//
         |_|________________________________|_| //
        [______________________________________]/

           (eventually with Paintings on it)

This would be a typical Spanish street _piano_.  It usually is moved in
the above-mentioned two-wheel push-type cart.  The mechanism is a very
simple kind of barrel-organ.

I wrote to Richard Moody:

> I can't tell you the value for I don't know how big your instrument
> actually really is.  The feet-measures sound very small.
>
> I don't actually need such an Instrument for we own three already.
>
> History: Can't tell; I don't know where it originally comes from,
> I only know it _only_ was build in Spain.  A few were sold to
> Great Britain.
>
> Age: Very difficult to say.  I don't know where the oldest such
> instrument is, but I do know that they have been built for a very long
> time: My father drove to one of the builders in Barcelona to buy one
> for me when I was 4 years old -- my first mechanical-music instrument !!!

Now you say:

> The names on the inside say "Vincente Llinares"  and "Faventia".
> The operating and tuning instructions are in English, the importer is
> "Embassy Publishing & Trading Co., New York, NY."  It appears to have
> been made in the 60's as there are clear plastic "arms" that the wires
> the hammers are on are stuck into.  Sorry about the nomenclature, I
> have forgotten the names of parts.  Is 'clavis rack' a barrel piano
> term?

This sounds very familiar for me :) , especially the "Faventia".  Not so
familiar for me is that they have been sold in the US !  Very amazing,
but, well -- what hasn't been bought buy an American so far?  ;)

Plastic has also been used in two of our three barrel-pianos.  One
barrel-piano is older, which explains the absence of plastic, though.

We also own another "hammer-set", which is the whole construction of the
hammers on "their place" on a metal "holder".  These hammers are also of
plastic.

By the way, I don't think there are special "barrel-piano" terms, but
also would learn the opposite, if existent.

> There are 25 notes, 5 or 7 bass notes, a block (double beater)
> and a triangle.

A Block and Triangle with two hammers each are standard for those
Spanish-barrel-street-pianos (what a word!).

25 notes sounds really very small; so far I've seen three types:

-- the smallest with 25 notes like yours

-- a small one with about 50 notes.  (This is not for sure, for I didn't
count them now.  I did count them once, but I don't find the data and I'm
too lazy now to go to our barrel-pianos to count again.)

-- the big ones.  About 150 (?) notes and also with bells and so on.

> It makes quite a racket.  I had to tune it by matching pitch.  I
> tuned it 1/2-step low as some of the notes were as much as 6 half-
> steps flat!.  We will find out how it holds but I think it was
> mis-tuned, or the pins were tested and the notes not tuned back.  The
> tuning pins were piano size but small.  It plays 6 tunes.  I didn't
> write them down but 3 had familiar melodies.

Don't do it!  Don't tune it!  You will destroy the original sound!  They
really always sounded like that !!!

Don't think of a Spanish-barrel-street-piano-builder tuning a triangle or
a wood-block!

Six tunes is standard for the smallest and as well the small ones.
Barrel-exchanging is extremely easy.  There have been lots and lots of
different tunes and barrels for these pianos!  My father should have a
list somewhere.

The big ones have at least 8 tunes (8, 9, 12, others ?).

> I just got out of the archives, but found only two mentions of a barrel
> piano.  However in Joyce Brite's www "market" site, I found two items
> relating to the Faventia name.

I've never looked for this term so far.

> Anyhow I was hoping some one has been working on them more recently
> than I and could post some technical details, like a warning about the
> spring, (the table top model has none) adjusting the hammers so they
> don't blubber, (appears in the tt model can only be done by bending
> the wires), some terminology, like what the pins are called that the
> pins on the barrel activate, and things you forget like the cap to let
> the roller carriage out pops out easier from the top than the center
> because of the two holding pins on the bottom.

Very strange what you want -- it's a simple barrel-piano!  There is not
much technical detail.  Just open it and you see everything which is of
importance.  There is also not very much to adjust:  the piano-strings
can be tuned by a normal piano-knowledgeable man; the rest is very stable

As said, it's been my first mechanical instrument and I played it 10
years on the street  -- no repairs, nuttin' -- and hey, I was a child at
that time and I played it _rough_ !  ;)

> There is a very complete tuning scheme on the inside of this instrument
> if any one is interested.
>
> Richard Moody   Piano Tuner Technician, Platte SD

Not for me...  I have it here in real ;)

greetings by(e) Ingmar Krause
ERlanger drehORGEL-Trio, Familie Krause, erorgelt@balloon.franken.de

 [ Thanks for the nice article, Ingmar.  This little piano hasn't before
 [ been discussed in the Digest.  Keep writing !  -- Robbie