I have had the pleasure of seeing this machine twice, and it is a
mechanical marvel. The art glass is gorgeous: it reminds you of early
German craftsmanship; even the components you cannot see are neat,
finished and fit together perfectly.
In the heart of "SofI" is a Benning upright piano. At first, you would
think that you would never hear the piano since it's dwarfed among
all the other musical doo-dads, but the balance is remarkable. That is
one of the best sounding machines I have heard.
When I was there, Craig had removed the xylophone for servicing. This
unit was also a work of art, complete with small pneumatic dampers!
But this is just a very small example of the great craftsmanship that
Craig Brougher has built into this instrument.
Last year I composed and arranged a march for this machine. I arranged
the piano track and George Bogatko coded the rest of the file to play
the drums and work the locks and cancels, and he did a wonderful job
with the music file. I am still amazed when I hear this machine play
this number.
John Tuttle has some RealAudio files of this machine at
http://www.player-care.com/sofi5.html
Cheers
Andy Taylor,
Tempola Music Rolls
[ See photos of SofI at http://mmd.foxtail.com/Pictures/sofi.html
[ -- Robbie
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