Introduction and Some Comments
By Bob Conant
Per Jody's suggestion, I am sending this introduction even though I have been listening in on this list for several weeks.
My name is Bob Conant and I live in Endicott, NY. I am a member of MBSI, AMICA, FOPS (the Fair Organ Preservation Society in the UK), KDV (Kring Van Draiiorglvrienden) (Circle of Friends of the Street Organ in the Netherlands), and the ABOA (American Band Organ Association). I am interested in all forms of mechanical music (as well as antique cars and railroads) including player pianos, reproducing pianos, orchestrions, fairground organs, street organs and monkey organs. I have a Regina music box built during the first three months of manufacture, a Link model AX orchestrion, a Mills Violano Virtuoso, several Ampico reproducing pianos, and an 81 key Wilhelm Bruder Sohne fairground organ plus some miscellaneous other stuff (whistlers, musical Christmas tree stand etc.) The fairground organ uses folding cardboard books and I have been punching my own music for several years. My current objective is to arrange music on a computer editor/sequencer and print out a paper stencil which I can then use to mark my cardboard. I have several synths and a sampler for this purpose. I am using Voyetra Sequencer Plus Gold which will handle standard MIDI files and displays more notes than Cakewalk. I also have Cakewalk and use it also. I have enjoyed several of the discussions and recognize a number of people contributing that I have met or know of.
A couple of comments on some of the recent discussions.
There was an article in the MBSI publications about a gentleman who has built his own cylinder music box from scratch. It was done to very high standards and he has been recognized for his efforts. If someone is seriously contemplating building a complete box in the same format as the antique ones, his work should be studied first rather than trying to invent the wheel all over again. There are many subtleties that do not first meet the eye that contribute to a successful box ranging from metalurgy to mechanics to construction techniques. If the goal is instead to produce a music machine that one can create music for, it would seem more sensible to construct a small or medium sized organ and then concentrate on the music production end of things. To use a paper roll or some such media to control a music box with a plucked comb would require not only duplicating the technologies of the music box and player piano/organ but would also require inventing a means of plucking the music box comb from a "soft" source. The disc music box sort of does this but it still uses a metal disk and a mechanical means of plucking the comb. Anyway, in the discussion, I have heard several different objectives voiced and a lot of proposed solutions before the objectives have been refined.
Recently, there was a schedule of events for the MBSI Convention in Orlando. Everyone should understand that there are TWO and ONLY TWO events open to the public. There will be a musical instrument display that will be open and there will be one section of the MART (a musical flea market) that will be open to the public. ALL OTHER FUNCTIONS ARE FOR MBSI MEMBERS ONLY. The message here is not to stay away but rather to join the MBSI prior to the meeting so that you can register and enjoy ALL the events. There will be open houses and tours, workshops and a MART that will be held PRIOR to the public MART. It also means that you will get to meet many of the people sharing the same interests as yourself including many of the subscribers to this list.
A question was asked about several museums that could not be located. First, the Piedmont Chapter of the MBSI sponsored a museum exhibit in North Carolina, I forget just where at the moment. It was in place for about 6 months and was very successful. This was not a permanent musical museum and is now dismantled. The museum in East Hampton, CT is probably misnamed. Marty and Elise Roenigk operate a business called Mechantiques in East Hampton which deals with buying and selling automatic musical instruments. They have a private collection which is open to visitors by appointment only as it is in their home. If you are trying to locate them, their phone number is (203) 267-8682. They are delightful people plus they have a lot of neat stuff for sale. There is a permanent musical instrument display sponsored by the MBSI in Stamford, CT. It is located in the Lockwood Matthews Mansion Museum and is well worth a visit. The MBSI publishes a list of museums in its membership directory (another benefit of joining).
Enough for now,
Bob Conant, Endicott, NY |
(Message sent Sun 13 Aug 1995, 23:02:46 GMT, from time zone GMT-0400.) |
|
|
Mechanical
Music Digest™ Archives
