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