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MMD > Archives > November 2017 > 2017.11.06 > 01Prev  Next


"Colibri" (Hummingbird) Cylinder Singing Bird
By Mark Singleton

"Colibri" or Hummingbird: a previously undocumented music box type!

Well, "relatively undocumented", although no mention of this type of
box has appeared in any published tome in the field of mechanical
music.  This exact box was the subject of an article, penned by the
late Jack Tempest and printed in the MBSGB journal, "The Music Box",
Volume 7, No. 5, Spring 1976, page 189, it was through this great
archive I managed to delve back over 40 years and retrieve this:

  http://www.mbsgb.org.uk/THE%20MUSIC%20BOX/V7%20B5.pdf#page=23 
  Jack Tempest tells the story of his rare 'Bird-Chanting Machine'

The box in question is called the Colibri (French for Hummingbird)
according to the tune sheet, which carries the legend of five
bird chants.  This box has no bellows and/or whistles -- the
brightly plumed Hummingbird takes his song from the two softly
voiced treble combs.

The centre is pinned with a track of organ type bridging, which
requires magnification to appreciate just how well these bridges
operate the birds tail, wings and beak in synch with the bird song.

Most of us are familiar with traditional musical boxes with "Piece De
Oiseaux" on the tune sheet of a big bell and drum machine, where the
bird accompanies the music.  But not here: https://youtu.be/I9me0lKzG_k 
The bird sings a charismatic virtuoso on comb and comb alone.

A remarkably rare little piece that has been lucky to survive in such
fresh untouched condition.

Mark Singleton


(Message sent Mon 6 Nov 2017, 16:29:26 GMT, from time zone GMT-0500.)

Key Words in Subject:  Bird, Colibri, Cylinder, Hummingbird, Singing

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