•Greetings All, I am wondering if there are any readers out there who can shed further light on the Welte accompaniment rolls that were produced in Poughkeepsie sometime between 1915 and 1916. Specifically, I'm seeking any information about the device that kept the piano roll and the phonograph reco...

•Some weeks ago I obtained a 1961 copy of "Player Piano Treasury" from a local antique mall. On page 221, lower left, is a black-and-white ad describing a device called the "Auto-Namic" which, as the ad states, "turns any player-piano into a reproducing piano at a very small cost." The ad goes on to...

•Hi Group, I have recently been given a copy of a wonderful Vestal Press reprint of Instructions For Assembling And Operating The Calliaphone. Under tuning it says, "To withdraw plungers, use tuning device. One was shipped with the instrument." (See image at link below.) Do any of the calliope owner...

•Tiny ferocious heat gun may aid evil glue removal! Howdy from the clock-repair universe. I've read the tales of woe concerning removal of inappropriate adhesives, and I wonder if a 'hot air solder rework' device might help for this task. (To see them, go to eBay.com and do a search on those words.)...

•Here is your chance to own a restored Wurlitzer style "AX" orchestrion at a reduced price of $11,500 for a year-end sale. The Wurlitzer "AX" has the rare and intriguing Wurlitzer automatic roll-changer that plays six 5-tune Automatic Player Piano (APP) rolls. This unique device is a master of visua...

•In reply to David Smith's request, "MIDI Advice, Please" [171124 MMD]. David, There are multiple steps required in order to arrange music for a MIDI-controlled device. The first step is to understand the available notes for the instrument. In your case, there are 31 notes, which will not include ev...

•If you attended the AMICA 2016 Princeton Convention, you received a miniature Wurlitzer 165 band organ as a table favor. That device played recorded Wurlitzer 165 music on SD cards. Now, you can order your choice of many more 165 rolls recorded on SD cards. Even if you don't have the table favor bu...

•I was wondering if there are any MIDI recording systems that accept dry contacts information. I wanted to build a pneumatic 88-note roll scanning device (if that's the right term). [Better is "roll reader". -- Robbie] I have the spool box and the pneumatically operated switches (all from a pipe org...

•The MIDI Tuba seen at some of the rallies this summer belongs to Deane Shepard of Kansas City. The mouthpiece device was built by a company in Germany and I do not have any relationship to them or the owner. Bill Klinger Flippin, Arkansas http://klingerorgan.com/

•One trick is to use the lyre to tilt the piano over. Put a folded blanket underneath the lyre so the two front legs "teeter." Then take off the left front leg and tip the piano over onto a skid board using the lyre as a fulcrum. One device I first saw at PianoDisc in Sacramento was an adjustable si...

•Robbie wondered in MMD 20.03.05 about when the Themodist accenting system was devised and who held the patent. The Pianola Institute website, by Rex Lawson, tells us: http://www.pianola.org/history/history_inventors.cfm The accenting device was patented in December 1900 by J. W. Crooks, an employee...

•For sale: I have available a Yale Wonder Clock with a 15-inch Regina disc music box displayed on the front -- an animated mechanical device with music and lights. F.o.b. New Hampshire. Dave Bowers Wolfeboro Falls, New Hampshire, USA [ Yale Wonder Clock [ https://www.mmdigest.com/Attachments/20/08/0...

•Piotr, Greetings from The Bronx! In regards to the tune "Three Little Fishes", in the early 1980s I had affixed a Gulbransen Record Rail to an upright player piano. The device was mounted between the piano keys and the keyframe. MIDI recording systems were still in their early stages. This was done...

•Hello all, We all know the class trope of Art Deco facades having dummy saxophones with keys that are actuated in time with saxophone pipes behind the facade. In the prewar [WW2] era, the Decap firm experimented with a device that made the saxes in the facade actually play! This system is called th...

•As it turns out, the "Wild Wild West" episode mentioned by Mike Walter readily available on YouTube; the piano appearance begins around time 9:00: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWdpak8LoWo There is another interesting mechanical audio device in the same episode. At about 35:20 one of the heroes a...

•[ Ref. Scotty Greene in 21.06.22 MMDigest ] Scotty, Greetings from north of The Bronx! In regards to your inquiry, without a photo of the device(s), what you're describing is a three-unit lock and cancel system. Each pair of unit valves turns a function or an instrument on and off. The two main fun...

•Was the lock-and-cancel system, shown in the drawing at the link below, ever used in a production device? It is under consideration for a roll reader cabinet that plays Wurlitzer Concert Organ rolls and other 11.25" wide formats. Compared to the typical design that uses cross-connected unit valves...

•In the MMD for 220924, Robbie inquired about a lock and cancel system using a simple pouch for one of the valves. I don't know if this configuration was ever used in a production device, but it certainly looks like it should work. If valve 4 were located just below and slightly to the right of valv...

•Hi All, Thanks for all of the information that people sent to me about measuring the speed of an air motor. Turns out that it's really simple, with the right phone app or hand-held device. Musically, John A Tuttle Player-Care

•Special Valve in the Ampico B Drawer, Part 1 of 4 The drawer associated with the Ampico B reproducing piano is a sophisticated example of engineering excellence. Some of the components in the drawer reflect significant advances in the understanding and implementation of devices to improve the playb...