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MMD > Archives > May 2006 > 2006.05.31 > 05Prev  Next


Seek Chromatic Musical Box
By Craig Smith

Hello, Troy,  Unfortunately, I think your search for a fully chromatic
musical box is a lost cause.  Manufacturers were in the business to
make money so, rather than providing a chromatic scale on each
instrument, they employed skilled arrangers who could fit popular
(and even classical) music into condensed musical scales.  I actually
checked a few of the largest machines to be sure and I found no
chromatic scales.  I think this holds also for most band organs and
certainly for crank organs.

For crank (barrel) organs there is another concern.  They must be as
light weight as possible so reducing the number of pipes/keys makes for
a lighter machine to carry around.  I believe the larger, stationary
organs might have been chromatic -- at least in the area above the bass
register.

Regards
Craig Smith



(Message sent Wed, 31 May 2006 10:51:03 -0400 , from time zone -0400.)

Key Words in Subject:  Box, Chromatic, Musical, Seek

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