Is a simple crank organ the future of mechanical music?

Bonsoir Beatrice Robertson!  Thank you for your long reply of
Saturday, 10 July 2004.  I didn't check in the MMD Archives but
I think there are pictures of the "Blow-a-Tune" toy.

I am 56 and I am more a collector of savoir-faire [know-how], pictures
and diagrams than a collector of items.  (It is less expensive and
it takes less room.   I am mainly interested in small automatic
organs, toys or not, from the paper crank organ to the John Smith
busker organ or fragile flute clocks, for example.

In MMD of Sunday, 27 June 2004, I appreciated your article about the
future of mechanical music, and just above, the same day I wrote in
a postscript: "Maybe the future of mechanical music is still in a new
crank organette, a pling-plong or a xylomatic?"

And for me also there is a link between my quest and the future or no
future of mechanical music: I believe that musical mechanical toys and
small "simple" crank organs are the first step for young or young-seniors
to discover and appreciate mechanical music.

I didn't find a good web site specially made for beginners in mechanical
music, and I think that one of the tasks of MMD readers should be to try
to do that -- I mean a web site for beginners, with pictures (given from
readers), diagrams, a lexicon (it already exists), and why not free plans
to build themselves their first crank organ or musical toy.  In fact,
this web site made only by readers could be 'Part One' of the existing
MMD pictures and technical articles records.

It is difficult for me to develop this project but I am sure that some
of you have many good ideas about how to motivate the young or less
young to continue to build and invent new musical mechanisms, and
perhaps, years after, to continue to buy and maintain our common
mechanical music heritage, with of course the help of MMDigest.
We must do something.

Best regards.

Phillip Dami
crank_toys(at)yahoo(dot)com

P.S.: Yes, Robbie, I volunteer to build one page of this new
"educational web site."  

 [ Merci, Phillip.  Maybe it shall be named "Begin here"!  -- Robbie