•Dear MMD, I was hoping someone may help me with a small question. I am having a go at making my own singing bird. I am using some drawings to guide me along but have a question about a certain part. Unfortunately I live in a singing bird cultural backwater and am unable to get to see one in the fle...

•Before anyone contemplates building a singing bird mechanism they should read Geoff Mayson's book, "Mechanical Singing-Bird Tabatieres", published by Robert Hale, London, 2000, ISBN 0-7090-6303-2. This excellent book shows, in great detail and with fantastic colour photos, the inner workings of the...

•[ John Hutchinson wrote in 101123 MMDigest: > I am having a go at making my own singing bird. I am using some > drawings to guide me along but have a question about a certain part. Wow! That is a complex task. I have been working over a decade learning how to make and repair singing birds. The best...

•> I am having a go at making my own singing bird. I am using some > drawings to guide me along but have a question about a certain part. Good luck on the project. I am sure it will be challenging and enjoyable. I thought I would share a clock out of our collection that may interest you. It is a sin...

•John Hutchison, who posed the original question about building a singing bird mechanism in the 101122 MMD, wrote me offline to ask: "When you say pneumatic cloth should not be used, are you meaning that black neoprene-coated cloth that player pianos would use? And if so, is that because it is not s...

•Julie Porter explains the benefits of zephyr over thin pneumatic cloth (commonly called thin tosh) in her recent article. I thought people would be interested in real numbers so I got out my micrometer. Thin tosh is around 0.007 inch thick, or "7 thou" to an engineer. Zephyr can be a bit variable a...

•Though I haven't purchased Zephyr skin in several months you might check out the following as possible sources of supply: Player Piano Co., Inc. 704 E Douglas Ave. Wichita, KS 67202 Phone: 316-263-3241 or 316-264-0033 Fax: 316-263-5480 http://www.playerpianocompany.com/ Item #60, Approx. 24" x 8" s...

•Hi, I've been waiting with bated breath for someone to comment on a synthetic substitute which looks like thin Tyvek. A friend who repairs cuckoo clocks gave me a piece. I've also searched the archives, but I find no mention of it. My particular application is recovering the pneumatics in an Aeolia...

•Alan Douglas wrote in 101201 MMDigest: > ... a synthetic substitute which looks like thin Tyvek. ... > Has anyone had any experience with this material? Hello Alan. I used to be a clock repairman, specializing in antique as well as modern cuckoo clocks. My personal belief is that nothing should be ...

•I know nothing about singing bird mechanism, nor the substitute material, but my question is, why mess with it? The zephyr skin I replaced with new in an Estey pneumatic organ (the key-scale primary pneumatics in the console) was over 80-years-old when I replaced it with new zephyr skin from Leathe...

•I am in the process of designing a complex automaton, including the voice of singing birds. Nowhere could I find information on how to design singing bird pipes. I know how such a pipe works, but I would be happy not to be forced to suffer all the experience from making dead end experiments in orde...

•[ Christian Greinacher wrote in 110322 MMDigest: > I am in the process of designing a complex automaton, including > the voice of singing birds. Nowhere could I find information on > how to design singing bird pipes. Hi Christian, I think the simplest solution for you would be to contact MMM Mechan...

•This explanation of "bird whistle" is from the book, "The Golden Age of Automatic Musical Instruments," by MBSI member Arthur A. Reblitz, published by the Mechanical Music Press, Woodsville, New Hampshire; copyright 2001, posted at the web site of Musical Box Society International: http://www.mbsi...

•Christian Greinacher is looking for details of the small organ pipe within a singing bird [110322 MMDigest]. The best reference is the book 'Mechanical Singing-bird Tabatieres' by Geoff Mayson, Hale, 2000. This is a beautifully illustrated book showing the inner workings of all varieties of singing...

•Manuel Rosales, of Rosales Organ Builders, Los Angeles, California, has built "Bird Pipes" in some of his organs. He may be able to shed some light on this topic. He is probably most notable for building the organ in the Frank Geary-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. This organ featu...

•Christian Greinacher has asked after details of singing bird pipes. I have a large collection of books and magazines, in both English and French, on this subject. Not one goes into the technical details of pipe making and voicing. The closest is the book I often quote, and did a partial translation...

•Christian Greinacher is looking for details of the small organ pipe within a singing bird. I can probably supply a sketch with dimensions if it would help. I am a restorer of singing bird boxes such as Rochat, Bruguier and the going barrel type of Bontems and his followers. I have had to make repla...

•There were theatre (cinema) organs built with singing bird pipes in chromatic order. The Regal Marble Arch organ [London] comes to mind. I have made two of these sets of tuned bird whistles many years ago. The compass is usually no more than 18 notes. The pipes are not like most organ flue pipes wh...

•Once again I touch this subject because I got so many responses as MMD postings as well as private emails. My many thanks to everybody for all the hints (especially literature) and advice on how to proceed with my project. Today I would like to summarize what I received: There are quite a lot of bo...

•Hello to all MMDers. Would any of you know of a Bontems singing bird cage in gold gilt bronze with Sevres porcelain panels forming the bottom base? There was one sold at the Chartres auction on May 21st, 2006, lot no. 660. I would very grateful if any one has one similar or knows of one for sale. M...