In his informative post of 8/20/98, Hans Van Oost comments on the
Componium, invented by Winkel, also the inventor of the metronome.

Anyone interested in what I believe is the only extant detailed
description of Winkel's mechanical marvel should read Rene Lyr's
excellent account of it in Chapuis' The History of the Musical Box,
trans. Roesch (MBSI publication, 1980, reprinted 1992).  I believe
copies of the Chapuis book are still available, at a very reasonable
cost, from the MBSI.

Joe Roesch