I was out at Disneyland in Anaheim yesterday and saw the restored
Welte Cottage Orchestrion.  I have played it since the park was new
and I will have to say that it never looked or sounded as good.

The faux oak paint on the case is gone and it plays by solenoids now.
It plays a tune every couple of minutes.  It is in tune and the music
seems appropriate to the instrument.  The sunburst trumpets are all
shined up, and contrast to the flue pipes with a trombone kind of sound.

My grandfather had two of them when I was a little kid and they rarely
worked at all, so I enjoyed hearing one that played well.

Allan Merralls


 [ Editor's note:
 [
 [ MMDers Tom Grace and Dave Allan will be pleased when they read this
 [ -- they were responsible for overhauling (but not restoring) the
 [ Disneyland instrument, equipping it for MIDI control, and locating
 [ the proper Welte music.  (When I heard it in 1959 it was playing
 [ a nickelodeon G-roll, and I didn't really like the noise!)
 [
 [ Disneyland refused to pay for a proper and complete restoration,
 [ so Tom and Dave did the best they could with the money allocated.
 [ All of the surviving original components have been secured inside
 [ the instrument case even if they are presently not used (such as
 [ the vacuum pneumatic system), so that a true restoration by the
 [ next owner will be possible.
 [
 [ -- Robbie