Dear Robbie,

a short note about tracker bars.  One could say that in mechanical music
instruments the notes to be played are organized in rows.  All the notes
"D", for example, will be placed behind each other in the same row on the
source (a disc, a roll, a book...).  These rows are called tracks.  These
tracks must be read by a mechanism, in order to convert the information
of the tracks to sound.  The exchange of this information is in the
tracker mechanism, in which we do find a bar, where each track does have
its own "reading device".  This bar, where the information of the holes
in the tracks is read, therefore is called the tracker-bar.

So a tracker organ does have a lot to do with a tracker bar. In fact,
without a device like the tracker and the tracker-bar you could not
describe such an organ as a tracker organ.  And I do know of tracker
organs who use the tracker bar mechanism to operate the pipe pallets
electrically.  Besides that, almost every street organ is operated
pneumatically, using a tracker bar.  And I also have seen organs were the
source is placed on a floppy-disc, read by a computer, but still using a
tracker-bar.  This does make it possible to play the old cardboard books
as well as the electronic version.

So there are holes in a trackerbar, in order to be able to read the
information from the source.  This information is stored in the form of
holes in the paper.  If a hole in the source passes by a hole in the
trackerbar something will happen: a tone will be produced, or a statue on
the front will be moved, etc.  This source consists of a medium with a
group of parallel tracks on it.  The holes in the source I would not call
tracker holes.

There is a discussion about using electronics in mechanical music
instruments.  A lot of people do not like it.  But they seem to forget
that what they love so much always is the result of a series of technical
developments and using new techniques.  Another important thing to
remember: if they don't follow the developments, the mechanical music
instruments soon will be found only in museums.

On the other hand: if they accept electronics, there would be no need of
building expensive instruments -- a computer and a couple of boxes will
do.  In this opinion even a radio is a mechanical music instrument.

Jan Kijlstra

 [ A bar is a stick of wood or metal.  Is the tracker bar, in the organ,
 [ the stick of wood which connects the key to the valve(s)?
 [ -- Robbie