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MMD > Archives > August 2010 > 2010.08.11 > 07Prev  Next


Audio Recordings of Mechanical Music
By Nancy Fratti

There are _many_ recordings of various type of automatic music
machines.  I used to have over 100 different titles in stock, but
I am whittling it down over time by not replenishing sold-out titles.
I probably have over 60+ titles currently in stock.

One of the problems is that there is a limited market for the
recordings, and also that they're expensive to make.  To record the
Music Box Melodies line that I carry (just cylinder and disc music
boxes), state-of-the-art recording equipment had to be purchased (the
microphones were $500 each at the time in 1987!) and we had to travel
to on-site locations to record.

Sometimes we had to stay for days in order to get recordings in the wee
hours of the morning because of outside noise interference.  (I vividly
remember trying to stay awake at 3 a.m. while trying to record a
collection, only to have the furnace kick on or have someone upstairs
flush the toilet -- and the mics picked it all up!)

As a result of limited marketing, people who make their own recordings
(like at the Dorset Steam Rally or the MBSI Band Organ Rallies) make
a very limited number of recordings of their machines.  Sometimes the
quality is great, sometimes not.  But, most of the time, they only do
a very limited number of copies and they're sold mainly at the rallies.

Nancy Fratti - Nancy Fratti Music Boxes
Canastota, New York, USA
http://musicbox@frontiernet.net/ 


(Message sent Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:05:08 GMT, from time zone GMT-0400.)

Key Words in Subject:  Audio, Mechanical, Music, Recordings

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