Dear MMDs,  I just come back from the General Annual Meeting of the
French association AAIMM (Amis des Instruments et de la Musique
Mecanique).

About 120 people met in the Musee des Arts et Traditions Populaires
in Paris.  They came from every part of France, and many came from
Belgium, Switzerland and Italy, with several museum directors (Les
Gets, Mirecourt, etc.), and a young American enthusiast, son of a
well-known collector.  The association has right now 440 paying members
(plus about 60 who have not yet paid their annual fee !), which means
around 500 members as a whole ...

After the usual discussions in the Meeting, and reelection of
the officials (five more people enter the administration board of
previously four, which makes now nine : that is a sign of good health
!), a good lunch was served, followed by a visit of the large temporary
exhibition in the museum about Street musicians in Paris (an article
with photos will be published in the MBSI News bulletin end of March or
beginning of April).  About 20 mechanical musical instruments were
displayed and several played, amidst them an old Russian cylinder
barrel organ, made in Odessa and just restored by Sebastian Schuetz
(near Toulouse), playing very well 8 tunes on 67 pipes, if I remember
correctly the explanations given.

Several members (some are also members of the sister-association
"Ritournelles et Manivelles") came with their monkey organs, and played
and sang for the audience.

A nice day for mechanical music indeed !

Best regards,

Philippe Rouille    Paris, March 8th 1998
rouille@cnam.fr
http://www.cnam.fr/museum/musica_mecanica/