Hello again, As some of you may remember, I was involved in consulting
an organ restoration committee for the restoration of a mysterious roll
player in a church. Said project was put on hold until music rolls
could be found, but a real gem was hidden in plain sight!

In the church of 'Parroquia Asunción de la Santísima Virgen' [in
Gaona, Buenos Aires] there is a possible Welte barrel orchestrion.
While information on the instrument is vague, the information I found
from a local blog is that the instrument was transferred to the church
in the 1940s from a nun's convent. The same article cites Welte origins.

I have attached the only photograph of reasonable quality to this post.
It appears to be a pinned barrel organ, as a wide keyframe seems to be
visible at the bottom, slightly blocked by the railing. Visible pipework
shows at least two ranks of metal pipes and the remnants of sunburst
trumpets.

One could assume a bass drum and cymbal stood above this sunburst as was
common on orchestrions of the style. Perhaps it was removed as it is not
appropriate for church use. More likely, it was a victim of looting.

If anybody could recognize this orchestrion, please write to me on the
attached email address. There is a large untapped historical potential
here.

Christian Tedesco
cmt0817@gmail.com.geentroep [delete ".geentroep" to reply]

 [   blog link
 [ https://baparroquias.wordpress.com/2017/03/10/parroquia-de-la-asuncion-de-la-santisima-virgen/
 [   The only good photo of the organ
 [ https://www.mmdigest.com/Attachments/21/06/28/210628_200821_Welte%20argentina.JPEG