Dear Fellow MMD'ers:  Last December I had an opportunity to travel
to Cuba to attend the Havana International Film Festival.  I have
been meaning to provide this report to the Digest, but like many
things related to Cuba, time seems to have slipped away.

Cubans love music.  It's in their souls.  It's on the streets.  It's
everywhere.  While wandering the Malecon, a scenic roadway that follows
the ocean front towards old Havana, I encountered the Museum of Music,
which my guidebook said housed "a collection of drums and venerable
pianos."

What I found was a fascinating collection of keyboard instruments and
an entire room filled with automatic musical instruments.  Included
were a Franklin Ampico upright, an Aeolian upright foot pump player, a
Regina style 31 or 32 changer, several Polyphon, Regina and Symphonium
disk boxes and what appeared to be a Paillard Orchestra box with bells
and drums.

In the center of the room stood a large band-organ-like instrument with
two hand cranks and an array of wood pipes.  Scattered around the room
were a number of Edison cylinder and disk machines, a Victor Orthophonic
and a seemingly rare early coin-operated Edison cylinder machine.

When I asked the bored matrons whether any of the instruments could be
played, several shook their heads "No."  I asked if there was a curator
who could explain the collection to me, so one of them went out and
shortly returned with an intense young man, Osmany Ibarra, who was
indeed the curator.  In my limited Spanish we proceeded to have a long
conversation about music rolls, automatic instruments, the Cuban
government's collection and his fascination with them all.

No one in Cuba can restore a pneumatic instrument.  The Aeolian was
restored (after a fashion) by a visiting Spanish technician on
vacation.

From Mr. Ibarra I learned many things.  According to him no examples
of Seeburg, Wurlitzer, Coinola or Mills instruments were extant on the
island.  The government had collected scores of music boxes -- Regina,
Symphonium, Polyphon -- which he believed were well-marketed on the
island.

Almost every grand piano (that was not a Russian-made clunker)
which I encountered in hotels, clubs and homes was a vintage Steinway.
Mr. Ibarra explained that Steinway was well represented on the island
and the museum had six Steinways in its collection, but none were
players.

Mr. Ibarra also showed me examples of at least four Cuban-based player
roll manufacturers.  Many rolls were of Cuban compositions recorded by
Cuban musicians.  The museum has thousands and thousands of rolls in
its collection, he told me.  None have ever been catalogued.  But roll
cabinets he showed me were filled with the aforementioned Cuban rolls
and many common US roll manufacturers including 88, US, QRS, Ampico,
Duo-Art, etc.

If you've ever tried to explain how the Ampico and Duo-Art system
are differentiated, you can begin to imagine how trying it was for me
with my limited Spanish!  The man soaked it up like a sponge, longing
to hear what some of these rolls might sound like on a restored repro-
ducing piano.

Back to that band organ-like instrument in the middle of the room.  It
was made of a dark wood like mahogany and looked to be from the 1920s
or '30s.  It had simple construction, like an oversized monkey organ,
but played from folding cardboard book music.  Mr. Ibarra surprised me
by explaining that the instrument had been manufactured by a government
company in the 1980s and the company was still turning them out for
domestic consumption.

"Would I like to play it?" he asked.  "Of course!"

With that we each began cranking one of the two handles: his for the
key frame and mine a larger wheel for the pressure bellows.  The result
was pure heaven; it sounded like a small Limonaire or Gavioli organ.
And in that small room with wooden floors was the sound ever powerful!

All the matrons came clamoring up the stairs to join in the music.  We
played a couple of books of music which included some awkward hand-
operation of pipe register knobs.  Mr. Ibarra told me that sometimes
up to four people are required to operate one organ, and others play
percussion instruments along with the music!

It was a wonderful experience and I hope to visit the organ factory
that Mr. Ibarra mentioned and that Trevor Taylor was fortunate enough
to visit during his trip.  (See "Caribbean Dream" by Trevor Taylor in
"The Key Frame," Jan., 1995).

I told Mr. Ibarra that there are many of us around the world support-
ing the exchange of information, knowledge and restoration materials
through Mechanical Music Digest.  Alas, he, like most Cubans, has no
Internet access.  I told him that I would forward to him a copy of Art
Reblitz's book "Rebuilding the Player Piano" and some other materials.
These must wait until a friend of mine returns to Cuba, as restoration
of direct mail service with the United States has only just been hinted
at recently.

For those who may be planning to visit Cuba, I would be happy to
provide more information on visiting the museum.  An interpreter or
fluency in Spanish is a must, as no one in the museum speaks any
English at all.  But then, music knows no language barriers.

By the way, the Cuban climate is hell on pianos.  Virtually every piano
I encountered was in need of serious repair.  The humidity, 100% for
days on end, has led to lots of key warping, sticking, bridge buzzing,
etc.  But that doesn't stop Cubans from playing these instruments --
they just play around the bad keys!

Jody, Robbie, keep up the good work.

Best regards,

Marc Sachnoff

P.S.:  I'm still looking for replacement art glass panels for my
Seeburg C.  I've had a bunch of leads, but none have panned out.
Anyone know of a spare set somewhere?

 [ Wybe van der Wal (who will soon visit USA) wrote in MMD 980129
 [ about a recording of a Cuban street organ, and in MMD 980220 Philip
 [ Jamison gave more details about the CD, "Cien Anos de Tradicion",
 [ PAN Records #4003 CD.  Phil Benson then placed the article by
 [ Trevor Taylor, "Caribbean Dream', at the web site of Fair Organ
 [ Preservation Society:  http://www.ndirect.co.uk/~fops/
 [ See also MMD Archives: http://mmd.foxtail.com/KWIC/C/cuba.html
 [ -- Robbie