•Hi all, We have a Harper Electric Piano in our Ashorne Hall collection. Marketed around 1910 by the Harper Electric Piano Co., Holloway, London, it's basically a Khul & Klatt action in a different case (different from the Khul & Klatt cafe orchestrion). The pumping and piano action are beneath the ...

•Dave Saul said in 030910 MMDigest: > The carbon microphone element is clean, predictable, and capable of > very fast response. Placing such a device, or a simple variant of it, > under each key or at some critical point in a piano action, could, in > principle, enable the measurement of intensities...

•It just occurred to me that an article, "Build a MIDI Interface for the Raffin Crank Organ", was published recently in issues 18 and 19 of "Carousel Organ", the journal of the Carousel Organ Association of America (COAA). If you are not a member, Dr. Ron Bopp will no doubt be pleased to provide bac...

•[ Robbie remarked in 051002 MMDigest: >[ Andrew Barrett suggested to me that a small pouch, controlled by >[ a tiny electric valve, could push the sticker of the barrel organ. >[ This method might incur the least added weight of the alternatives. I agree. But finding a "tiny electric valve" has bee...

•Hi Everyone, First of all I would like to wish you all a happy and mechanically musical New Year. Organ blowers are unreasonably expensive when you consider just what they consist of, particularly for an amateur builder when a new blower might well cost many times the cost of building the rest of t...

•[ Spencer Chase wrote in 060115 MMDigest: > Each piano has a "motor rated" fuse, with a MOV (metal oxide > varistor) connected between all legs of the hot, neutral and ground > lines on either side of the fuse. The idea is to interrupt the fuse > when the voltage goes high and also absorb as much o...

•From what Tom Lear described in 060123 MMDigest, I think what he had was an incompatibility with the fluorescent light and the UPS. Normal "wall power" is 120 volts, 60 Hertz, sine wave AC power. Lower cost USP devices output what's called "modified sine wave", which is in fact not a sine wave outp...

•"If you can't afford to advertise, do something newsworthy," is an old saying. Street organs were banned in New York City in 1936. The law was repealed in 1976. We brought them back in 2006. April 9, 2006 was a great day in Coney Island, when the Lady Liberty Chapter of AMICA, Intl., and Coney Isla...

•Dear Friends, Those of you involved with the acquisition process of a PowerRoll manufactured by Larry Broadmoore and were fortunate to obtain this unit, will either enjoy using it or are having 'difficulties' with it. I have an operational unit that has been going strong for more than three years n...

•Greetings! I have been trying for quite a while to get more people here in Hawaii interested in mechanical music, in particular player pianos and reproducers, with not much success. As you can see in the AMICA Membership Directory, I seem to be the only one in the State of Hawaii interested in this...

•For those who use e-valve equipped instruments, this week I purchased and installed a wireless MIDI connection from my computer to my e-valve equipped Duo-Art Piano. I think it will be of interest to others in the group. I purchased an off-the-shelf wireless MIDI transmitter and receiver from M-Aud...

•Hi everyone, just to let you all know that Lake Compounce Theme Park in Bristol, Connecticut, just put out their own carousel music CD tapes this year. This CD is great, it's the best seller for 2008. You got to have this CD to keep, there's a lot of good music on this CD. Here is the song names on...

•In response to Bob Fitterman's inquiry about a repair person for his Bremond Organocleide, there are several highly reputable restorers in the New York/New Jersey area. I know and trust implicitly all three of those listed below. However, please note that we music box repair people are a fairly rar...

•I notice the increased postings about MIDI control systems, like Bill Clark and Pat DeWitt's gallant efforts to make their MIDI controlled instruments. I think this would be a good time to announce my new set of plans for building Topsy 3. I started preparing these plans last October intending them...

•Reading MMD, updating my web site and talking to friends on this weekend, I felt I might also add a few very random thoughts on this topic. In May, a friend of mine asked whether I could arrange three or four pieces by [American pop rock singer] "Pink" for a wedding party. (For those who don't know...

•[ Steve Grattan wrote in 110517 MMDigest: > This unit came to me in pieces. Does anyone know what order the > blades and divider walls go in? Hi Steve. Most Spencer blowers that I've seen will have (starting from the motor end) housing wall, blade, separator, blade, separator, blade, separator, bla...

•I am seeking a MIDI sequencer that will satisfy all of the requirements listed below. There are many solutions that meet some of the requirements, I have not yet found one that meets all of them. As MIDI becomes more universal as an alternate method of controlling our machines, I think that others ...

•There has been a lot of great advice and information given here on making YouTube video. I don't claim to be any expert with YouTube but I have been quite happy with my processing chain. We all have our own means, experience and limitations to work under to produce the best YouTube video or audio, ...

•The local Rotary Club of Martinez, California, of which my father is secretary, has asked me if they can use my Caliola on a float in the 4th of July Independence Day Parade. (On this day I usually perform on the street in front of my house.) Usually I cart the organ on a motorcycle trailer when I ...

•I wanted to post a follow-up to operating the Caliola in the local 4th of July Independence Day parade in downtown Martinez, California. I would like to say that it went off without a hitch, except we lost a trailer hitch. One of the Rotary Club members had a trailer. This trailer was sort of stran...