"How shall I manage with my new music box?"

Father Christmas has brought you a music box, and you never had one
before.  As if it was a new-born baby, you do not know exactly how to
handle it ...

So, for those people who have only one or two music boxes, and who do
not want to read a lot about music boxes, but wish to keep them in
good condition, may I remind here what you SHOULD DO or NEVER DO to a
music box:

-- NEVER DISMANTLE ANY PART if you do not know exactly how a music
box works.  And especially if the spring is not TOTALLY unwound, or
you could ruin your box.

-- NEVER TAKE THE RUST OUT OF A COMB, either with sandpaper or a file
or a metallic brush.  Otherwise, if you take the rust away, your
music box will come out of tune and play very modern or ethnical
music!  If you really want to take the dust away, just wipe it very
gently with a very smooth, non-metallic brush (and even so some
dampers might suffer).

-- ALWAYS KEEP IT HORIZONTAL: carry or store a music box horizontally;
not vertically, not upside down.

-- NEVER MOVE A MUSIC BOX WHILE IT IS PLAYING: the cylinder might
shift aside, and break dampers or pins.  For the same reason, always
let the music box play until the end of the tune, and never let it
stop still before; if necessary, wind it a little so that it goes to
the end of the tune.

A good practice is to leave the Change/Repeat lever on 'Repeat' when
the box is not playing.  Should a shock or an accident happen, only
one tune would be ruined ...

If you want to know more, or listen to a music box which refuses to
play, ask Nancy Fratti or other good specialists or knowledgable
collectors.  They always prefer to spend some time giving you advice
than seeing a music box ruined.

And if you want to know how man can become dangerously addicted with
music boxes, read the wonderful book by Larry Karp (a member of this
digest), "The Enchanted Ear".

Philippe Rouille  (Paris, France)¶
rouille@cnam.fr¶
http://www.cnam.fr/museum/musica_mecanica/

 [ Sound's great!  Where is your book sold, Larry?  -- Robbie