Ralph Meyer asked in MMD 990216 about an "unknown 4-tune Serinette
in Australia".  From what he wrote, and from the two pictures posted
on the MMD web site, I can say that it is definitely not a serinette.
The serinette is a typical small French (bird-) organ playing little
organ pipes.

What the pictures show seems to be a reed organ, which was called in
the German language a "Leierkasten".  The Leierkasten was an open-air
instrument, played in the streets and asking for money, whereas the
serinette is an indoor instrument.  So both instruments sound quite
different: the Leierkasten sounds much louder, stronger and harsher
compared to the sweet, high-pitched serinette.

The architecture and construction of the instrument (as shown in
the pictures) is so close to an instrument in my collection that it
could come from the same workshop, namely "Franz Kolb und Soehne,
Beckengrund, Maehren" ("Franz Kolb and Sons").  Beckengrund, where
the instrument was built around 1880, is a small town in Maehren which
is part of present-day Czechoslovakia.

Franz Kolb und Soehne used to sign their instruments inside by a
handwritten signature "Kolb, Franz + Sohne, Beckengrund".  This
signature is hidden and can only be found after the instrument is
dismantled.  Have a closer look into the instrument -- maybe you will
find the signature.  If so, please let me know whether I was right !

Musically

Christian Greinacher

 [ Editor's words:
 [
 [ "Der Leierkasten" became slang for a barrel-organ or hurdy-gurdy.
 [ The word is literally "lyre box", and was the name of the mechani-
 [ cal violin played with a hand-cranked bow wheel (the hurdy-gurdy).
 [ The slang names were transferred when the street musicians adopted
 [ the  hand-cranked barrel-organ.  In the English language "hurdy-
 [ gurdy" was similarly mis-applied to the crank-organ.
 [
 [ The same casual thinking by onlookers also resulted in the name
 [ "monkey organ".  I prefer to leave "Leierkasten" and "hurdy-
 [ gurdy" as fine names for the wheel fiddle, and to encourage today's
 [ onlookers to call the instrument with reeds or organ pipes the
 [ "crank organ", or in German "die Drehorgel".  These words denote
 [ both how it is powered and what's inside the box.  Then it doesn't
 [ matter if a toy monkey sits on top, or if the notes are controlled
 [ by a music roll or micro-chip instead of a pinned cylinder.
 [
 [ -- Robbie