Mechanical Music Digest  Archives
You Are Not Logged In Login/Get New Account
Please Log In. Accounts are free!
Logged In users are granted additional features including a more current version of the Archives and a simplified process for submitting articles.
Home Archives Calendar Gallery Store Links Info
MMD > Archives > August 2001 > 2001.08.31 > 05Prev  Next


Self-Playing Trumpet
By Ray Finch

Hello Patrice,

I read with interest you posting on MMD about your MIDI controller.  I
have done some 8051 programming in the past and had a lot of fun with
it.  What you have done sounds pretty cool!

I have a nickelodeon that I have recently restored.  It is a 1928
H.C Bay.  Actually it was originally an standard 88 note player but
about 30 years ago someone rebuilt it as a nickelodeon and didn't do
a very good job of it.  When I got it not much of the original player
mechanism wasn't left so I decided to rebuild it again as a
nickelodeon.  It has a 65 note player mechanism (Style A roll.  Anyone
have any style "A" rolls they'd like to sell???) but has all
88 keyboard pneumatics.  So, what I would like to do is set it up as a
MIDI player as well as a roll player.

I have located an appropriate MIDI controller that will drive magnets
(valves) but I have yet to find a cheap source for the valves.  I was
wondering what you used on your organ to drive the pipes.  Maybe I
could use something similar.

On your Self-Playing Trumpet:

I have an idea for your "artificial mouth".  What you first need is to
decide how many bits you want to use to control pressure.  Say if you
used 5 bits that would give you 32 pressure levels - probably enough I
would guess (If you used 8 bits that would give 256 pressure levels
which I think would be way too many.  I think you would have a hard
time telling one pressure level from the next.)

What you do is set up five electric valves.  For each of these valves
you connect up a different pressure source, either a manual valve or
better yet a pressure regulator.  For each valve the pressure is twice
the one before it.

Example:

Valve #1                Pressure = 1
Valve #2                Pressure = 2
Valve #3                Pressure = 4
Valve #4                Pressure = 8
Valve #5                Pressure = 16

What you now have is binary pressure!  With no valves on you have no
pressure (Binary 00000), with valves 1, 2, and 3 on you have almost
half pressure (binary 00111) and with all the valves on you have full
pressure (binary 11111).  Any binary combination will give an
equivalent pressure.  This is somewhat the same as how a reproducing
piano encodes expression levels.

Anyway, that's how I would do it.

Digitally yours,

Ray Finch


(Message sent Fri 31 Aug 2001, 05:46:36 GMT, from time zone GMT-0600.)

Key Words in Subject:  Self-Playing, Trumpet

Home    Archives    Calendar    Gallery    Store    Links    Info   


Enter text below to search the MMD Website with Google



CONTACT FORM: Click HERE to write to the editor, or to post a message about Mechanical Musical Instruments to the MMD

Unless otherwise noted, all opinions are those of the individual authors and may not represent those of the editors. Compilation copyright 1995-2024 by Jody Kravitz.

Please read our Republication Policy before copying information from or creating links to this web site.

Click HERE to contact the webmaster regarding problems with the website.

Please support publication of the MMD by donating online

Please Support Publication of the MMD with your Generous Donation

Pay via PayPal

No PayPal account required

                                     
Translate This Page