Recently I acquired a rare mechanical music instrument -- in the
German language we call it "Rueckenklavier", i.e., a piano to be
carried on the back.
I have no idea about the maker of this instrument. I am going to
attach some pictures and would be happy if anybody could tell me
more about the instrument.
Brief description:
- Dimensions are 62 cm x 45 cm x 102 cm (w x d x h)
- Barrel diameter 21 cm
- 33 claves (32 notes plus 1 saucer bell)
Scale:
two strings per note:
A, H, D, E, Fis, G, A, H, Cis, D, E, Fis
three strings per note:
G, Gis, A, H, Cis, D, Dis, E, F, Fis, G, Gis, A, B, H, C, Cis, D, E, Fis
9 tunes on the barrel. All these melodies are unknown and sound very
strange to me. I would describe them as "Turkish" (Janitscharenmusik)
[Janizary music].
The pictures show
1) total view closed instrument
2) total view open instrument
3) label, glued inside the instrument; unfortunately all text is
scratched out
4) detail of the label, showing a drawing of the instrument
5) barrel
I would appreciate any answer!
Greetings from Germany
Christian Greinacher
[ See the MMD Pictures site, http://mmd.foxtail.com/Pictures/
[ -- Robbie
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