Jürgen Hocker says he would receive great satisfaction if an
English translation could be made of his new book: "First of all we
have to find a publisher and secondly a translator who is familiar
with mechanical music."

Could a computer translate the text?  Certainly, but a computer
translation program needs human guidance to produce a decent
translation.  To illustrate the problem, here is a short paragraph
from page 31 of Dr. Hocker's new book.

[Smoothed English translation by Robbie]
2. The barrel piano and other mechanically operated piano playing devices
   Operated by pinned cylinder and pinned plank*
In the 19th century there also emerged barrel pianos, whose piano tones
are triggered by pins set into a revolving wooden cylinder.  The pins
act upon levers that in turn, via a simple mechanism, strike or excite
the strings.  Such instruments without keyboard were used as 'street
pianos' in southern lands like Italy and Spain.  They were mounted on
carts and, like a barrel organ, they served up musical entertainment
for the populace.

[Original German text]
2. Das Walzenklavier und andere mechanisch gesteuerte Klavierspielapparate
   Stiftwalzen- und Planchettensteuerung
Auch bei den im 19. Jahrhundert entstandenen Walzenklavieren handelt
es sich um Instrumente, deren Klaviertöne von Stiften ausgelöst werden,
die sich auf einer sich drehenden Holzwalze befinden.  Diese Stifte
betätigen Hebel, die ihrerseits über eine einfache Mechanik die Saiten
des Instrumentes anschlagen bzw. anreißen.  Solche Instru-mente ohne
Klaviatur wurden in südlichen Ländern wie Italien und Spanien als
'Straßen-klaviere' genutzt.  Sie wurden auf Karren gestellt und dienten
-- ähnlich einer Drehorgel -- der musikalischen Unterhaltung der
Bevölkerung.

[Google translate -- http://translate.google.com/]
2. The rolling piano and other mechanically operated piano playing apparatus
   Pin roller and Planchettensteuerung
Also in the 19th Century, resulting roll pianos are instruments whose
piano sounds triggered by pins that are located on a revolving wooden
cylinder.  These pins press levers that turn a simple mechanism to
strike the strings of the instrument, or scribe.  Such instruments have
been no keyboard in southern countries like Italy and Spain as a 'road
pianos' use.  They were placed on carts and served -- like a barrel --
the musical entertainment of the population.

* Planchetten = plural of Planchette = French word for a little plank
At http://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/planche (translated) :
planche --
4. (Printing) A piece of flat wood or a metal plate upon which a drawing
or (sheet) music is engraved.

The machine translation by Google isn't too bad -- it yields a general
idea -- but the subjects of some verbs are mixed up and the borrowed
French word is unknown.

So what is Planchettensteuerung?  The little pinned plank, which resembles
a cribbage scoreboard, stores the music and plays the piano notes much like
a pinned barrel but with the capability to "re-program" the song by simply
moving the wood pegs.  Photos of a modern version by Lador, called Musicano,
may be viewed at http://www.mmdigest.com/Gallery/Pictures/index.html 

Robbie Rhodes, MMDigest