•I'm wondering if anyone knows of a Band Box for sale, and what their value might be. This is a device made in the 50's that has little band members behind a curtain, and when a record is playing on the jukebox a curtain opens a light goes on and the "band" plays with the music. When the song is ove...

•I was interested in the articles from Scott Currier, Andy Taylor, Larry Kellogg and others about the need for a portable and affordable roll reader. One of my clients has been bugging me for such a device for a year now... We have the converter which can generate MIDI from the infrared photo- trans...

•I am delighted to find out about this web site. Galen Bird told me about it. I have a question that appears that Craig Brougher may know about. I have been considering manufacturing a very compact valve interface device that should be able to attach directly to the tracker bar of a player piano, or...

•I have a question regarding O orchestrion rolls. I have several rolls. One has spool flanges right on the roll. The rest are spooled on a cardboard roll with a keying device but have no flanges. Were there "take-apart" spool flanges for these similar to the take-apart spools for Violano Virtuosos ?...

•Thank you VERY much for the EXCELLENT work on this site. I have been researching the archives of this site for any discussions on a MIDI interface device for pneumatic players. I did find some info and have attempted to contact the authors by Email. I notice that the archives have not been updated ...

•My work on the development of a MIDI interface valve mechanism has evolved into two separate projects, a very compact (hopefully cost effective) valve mechanism, and the interface or sealing device that would easily connect the valves directly to the tracker bar, without cutting tubing or defacing ...

•[ MMD member Leonardo Perretti used his experiences with electronic [ instrumentation for archeology to build a successful "Barrel-organ to [ MIDI" transcriber last year. He and member John McClellan are now [ pursuing the development of a portable roll transcriber device based [ upon optical scann...

•I have followed the discussions on the subject of roll to MIDI translators lately and maybe it could be of interest that I also constructed such a device in 1993 or 1994. I was a 5th year student in electronic engineering at the time and as I was always interested in recording my own piano rolls, I...

•I once owned and restored a Canadian Heintzman Bros. player with an Otto Higel player action. It had an expression device unlike any I've ever seen. A spring-loaded pneumatic was directly slaved to the reservoir, so they opened and closed in tandem. Attached to the open end of the pneumatic was one...

•Speaking of strange roll-tracking systems, I have a British 'Autoplayer' player piano which is fitted with an extremely interesting and unusual tracking mechanism. I have never seen this kind of tracking device on any other piano, and never seen it mentioned in any book on the subject (although I'v...

•My comments to the letters from Hal Davis and Jeffrey Borinsky -- Electrical supplies catalogs commonly list several different available coil voltages for a magnet or solenoid. There's no difference in the performance (force & speed) of the high-voltage vs. the low-voltage devices when they're cont...

•After the debate about Solenoid vs. Pneumatic Pianos, some of us concluded that pneumatic pianos offer better performance, and would be ideally equipped with electronic control. Such a control device has been developed by Broadmoore Research Corporation of California. This device will give you the ...

•Hello from south of France! Please read this comment like an English exercise, more than a technical contribution. A fusee (from the French word fuseau = spindle/distaff) is a mechanical device for antique horology. [ It's actually fuse'e, but the simple 7-bit e-mail used to transmit [ the Digest w...

•One other very interesting exhibit at the Smithsonian Museum that I forgot to mention, was a patent awarded in 1923 for a device and method for recording piano expression in the making of reproducing piano rolls. This patent was awarded to the great pianist and Duo-Art artist Josef Hofmann. The wri...

•I have also been curious about the Ampichron. Does anybody know if production figures exist that show the number of pianos shipped with this device installed? Was the Ampichron designed by Ampico, or the Telechron Clock Co., or a collaborative effort by both? I once heard of another device that was...

•When first installed, the Davis calliope on the Mississippi Queen was equipped with an automatic player. I have never found the schematics for this device and I was told that it was sent to "Davy Jones" [Davy Jones' Locker] many years ago. From time to time, an interest has been shown in some type ...

•I don't have enough experience rebuilding to comment on the reliability of Craig Brougher technique for setting the gap on Duo-Art valves. Using my orifice measuring device I have however measured the flow through stack valves and plotted the results against valve gap. The throttling effect " that ...

•At MMD 98.01.04 Hans van Oost was seeking for "Transfer Decals for Mignon Organette". Maybe the following is applicable for you: Some years ago I was engaged writing a device driver for a thermal-transfer printer, producing foils to iron onto textiles ("Buegelfolien"). For testing purposes I mirror...

•Jody, Thanks for putting me on your list. I found the list by doing a search in my browser for "Cecilian". My reason for joining was hopefully to obtain some information (mainly value) on a push up player device that has been in my family for years. I can remember playing it about 40 years ago and ...

•Many thanks to all those readers who were kind enough to provide, both directly and in the pages of MMD, solutions for my problem of finding a suitable noise-making device for my machine. The solutions proposed ranged from purely mechanical to electronic. A nice compromise electro-mechanical-acoust...