My friend, Dr. Helmut Kowar, the chief researcher in mechanical music of
the Austrian Academy of Sciences, asked me to help him find out whether
any MMD reader knows a non-destructive way of reading (or of audio
recording) organ barrels and transcribing the result, by computer or
other means, into a written musical manuscript.
He feels that it is easier to identify unknown music on organ barrels
from a written manuscript than from an audio recording and is seeking a
way to do this less laboriously than by looking at a stop-motion video
of the keys of a barrel organ, as they move, and then individually
writing down every note played by the organ.
I would certainly appreciate any comments or suggestions from any MMD
reader to help Helmut with this task.
Frank Metzger
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