My friend, Nisan Cohen, runs the Nisco museum of automatic music here
in Israel. While he does his best to demonstrate the musical ability
of the instruments, there are limitations to his ability to maintain
the instruments.
On the other hand, his Welte, the Orchestrelle, various monkey organs,
barrel organs and musical boxes play beautifully and he is able to
give his visitors a feel for what the appreciative owners of the turn
of the century were able to enjoy.
The typical response for a visitor to his museum is that they had no
idea that automatic music could be so musical. That the technology
of the past outshines what they believed was possible.
I think we should start a letter writing campaign to the Montana
museum. Can anyone obtain the address that would do the most good in
this instance?
Eli Shahar
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