Robbie commented, about the recording of "Music, Music, Music":

>[ The piano had thumb-tacks in the hammers, or they were lacquered,
>[ and the "tipsy wire box" tuning was applied.  Sad, but that's the
>[ _image_ of the nickelodeon sound!  -- Robbie

I may be wrong but I seem to remember an earlier version sung by Judy
Garland.

Anyway, since no one has commented further and Damon may be unaware,
one of the simplest second instruments to add to a coin piano is a
mandolin rail.

This consists of a bar that is raised and lowered and from which are
suspended little leather tabs with a metal rivet or grommet at the end
of each one.  There is one per note on the piano or at least all the
melody notes.

When the bar is lowered, the hammer strikes the leather strip just
above the metal end tab.  This causes the metal tab to "jangle" against
the strings, slightly muting them and giving a "mandolin" effect.

Since coin operated pianos were often called nickelodeon pianos because
of their early use in the lobby of a nickelodeon or movie theater,
putting a coin or nickel in a nickelodeon was analogous to dropping
a coin in a jukebox in a later era.

The song tells about this and tries to imitate the sound of the
mandolin rail in an early coin piano.  Not a definitive history but
I hope this clears it up for Damon and others.

Bob Conant
Endicott, NY