Anyone who bought a Triola in good playing condition at $600 US
dollars equivalent got a bargain: that was 'As cheap as chips'.

When set up correctly, with the oscillating plectrums all set at the
correct clearance above the strings, the instrument is a delight to
play. The mandolin effect is delicate and thus needs an attentive
audience.

Although the music is produced by means of a punched paper roll,
operated by the right hand rotating a manivelle crank, a considerable
amount of skill and practice is required to achieve the correct speed,
tonality, the piano-forte effect of the soft/loud lever (operated by
the left hand) and the left hand chord accompaniment.  The left hand
either strums the chords or plucks the principal note of each chord,
of which there are six comprising four notes each, as guided by the
printed instructions on the paper role.

I take mine regularly to church and house meetings where it garners
a healthy response of pounds and pennies for a children's charity as
the 'piece de resistance' of an evening's demonstration of mechanical
music.

The Triola is one of those rare mechanical musical instruments that,
like the player piano, allows the instrumentalist an enormous amount
of input into the musical interpretation.

Paul Bellamy