Roller organs -- the type that play pinned wooden cobs -- never
really interested me very much.  However, I was always eager to see
them operate in other collections.  And, I do value them as a part
of mechanical music.

When I was shopping for Christmas gifts, I visited several antique
stores.  In one, I found a neatly packaged group of cobs that seemed
to have a reasonable price, so without hesitation I bought them.  My
intent was to sell them.  With the hectic holiday schedule taking all
my time, the cobs had to wait until after Christmas to be fully
inspected.  Yesterday was that day.

For years I have known that Todd Augsburger was the main man when
it came to roller organs.  I have used his web site to buy and sell
various items, and we chatted by phone several times.  I never met him.

The cobs I bought seemed okay, but reading the tune labels was
extremely difficult.  That didn't bother me too much as someone had
written in pencil the title of each tune on the wooden surface of the
cob.  But when I tried to read the handwriting, I discovered that was
no easy task.  Some of it appeared to be in German.

At that point I visited Todd's web site for the complete "Cobography".
What a wonderful surprise that is.  I was able to find an abundance of
information.  All cobs are listed by number.  Fortunately, the numbers
on the label survive better than the tune title.

When exploring the lists of numbers, I found out that each cob has
a complete file giving virtually all information possible about that
cob.  MIDI recordings, pictures of the cob, piano roll visual format,
and all musical credits, are just some the facts presented.  I'm still
discovering more details.  There is even a program to print new labels!

With Todd's wonderful reference site, my wife and I had a thoroughly
fun afternoon researching all the cobs I purchased.  But what I took
away from the experience is the realization that Todd's web site is an
academic resource of the highest caliber.  It is the type of work that
has little monetary reward, but is perhaps the finest research project
ever authored in the field of mechanical music.  It has no equal.

There are other facets of Todd's life that are equally impressive.
When Todd left us this year, we lost a giant.  See for yourself --

  http://cobs.rollerorgans.com/ 

Bob Taylor

 [ MMDigest articles by and about Todd Augsburger are indexed at
 [ http://www.mmdigest.com/Archives/Authors/Aut519.html  and
 [ http://www.mmdigest.com/Archives/KWIC/A/augsburger.html  -- Robbie