Karl Ellison asked:

> So -- did Russia and the states of the former USSR ever
>  manufacture player pianos, orchestrions, anything?

> Many European countries can boast the invention or manufacture of
> a major automatic instrument, but I've yet to read of any Russian
> mechanical instruments, other than their clocks and eggs that are
> essentially small music boxes.

Those eggs were not made in Russia; they were made by Faberge and
sold on commission.

> The Estonia Piano Co. (on the Baltic Sea) I wouldn't think count
> as Russian, and I doubt they made players.  Their pianos exhibit
> a "unique sound which comes from the superior spruce timber that
> grows only in extremely cold areas".

That "Sitka Spruce" wood is used in the balalaika and many other
instruments for the sounding board.  It is quarter sawed, and
book-matched for such use.  I often wonder about the fact that there
is a city in Alaska called Sitka.

Here in the U.S.A., Russian-made guslis, balalaikas and domras are
played by at least 300 members of the Balalaika and Domra Association
of America (BDAA).  The other 300 members play instruments built in
USA.  Ours are now as good as theirs.

Will Herzog
Rochester, New York