Manufacturers, brand names, product numbers and song titles of the music media which is played by mechanical music instruments.

Identifying Music Box Discs
Identifying Book Music
Identifying Music Rolls  This chart (and a good measuring rule) will help identify what instrument the roll plays.

Rollographies -- Books with lists of songs on music box discs and music rolls.

Music Box & Organette Media
Fair Organ & Street Organ Media
Dance Hall Organ Media
Orchestrion & Nickelodeon Media
Residence Player Organ Media -- Reed Organs, Wurlitzer, Hammond, etc.
Player Piano Media

In recent years many old instruments have been adapted to play music stored in computer media, such as floppy diskette (MIDI files) and semiconductor memory ("microchip").  The music data (the 'arrangement'), however, usually was originally on paper or card media.

Definitions:

music roll, player roll, note roll, note sheet : a roll of paper with punched holes
book music, carton-music : punched cardboard plates connected with hinges
cylinder : a metal or wood cylinder (barrel, cob, roller) with radial pins or pegs
disc : round metal or cardboard disc with punched holes
strip : a punched card or pinned board which plays a music box

music box (Spieldose, boite a musique) : the sound is produced by plucked tines
organette : tiny reed organ
orchestrion : an organ or piano with other instruments, such as percussion
nickelodeon : coin-operated piano (traditionally played one song for a 'nickel' = 5-cent coin)
player piano (pianola) : piano controlled by punched paper roll
barrel piano : piano controlled by pinned cylinder
player organ : organ for residence, controlled by punched paper roll
street organ, fair organ (orgue du Barbarie, Drehorgel) : a transportable organ performing outdoors, controlled by pinned cylinder or punched paper roll or book music (carton-music)
dance hall organ : organ in dance hall, controlled by punched paper roll or book music (carton-music)

music box, pinned cylinder
music box, punched disc
music box, punched card

organette, pinned roller ("cob")
organette, punched card or disc or paper roll
street organ & fair organ, punched card or paper roll
dance hall organ, punched card or paper roll

player piano, punched paper roll
player organ, punched paper roll
player harp, punched paper roll
player zither, punched disc

Song Titles of Thorens-Reuge 4.5" Discs -- by Hauke Marxsen (MMD 000311)

Song Titles of Polyphon 11" Discs -- by Kevin McElhone (010202 MMD)

Todd Augsburger's Roller Organ Website  has a list of more than 1200 rollers (cobs) for the roller organ, as well as images of the various styles of labels.  Popular brands include Gem Roller Organ, Concert Roller Organ, Chautauqua Roller Organ.

Triola Mechanical Zither -- by John Wolff (MMD 000309)

  Wurlitzer (WurliTzer)

  G. Molinari & Sons, Brooklyn NY

  Automatic Music Roll Co.

  Clark Orchestra Roll Company, Dekalb, Illinois (see also QRS)

  Wurlitzer (WurliTzer)

  Mills Novelty Company (Violano-Virtuoso, Magnetic Expression Piano)

  Rollography of Aeolian Duo-Art 176-Note Organ Rolls

  List of Skinner Rolls for the Hammond Organ

      Brand names on music roll labels, and common abbreviations

Standard Music Roll Company (Standard, Arto, Electra,
          Perfection, Perforated, Simplex, VocoWord, Sing-A)

Supreme Music Company (Supreme, Globe, Regent, Simplex)

Atlas Atlas Player Roll Company (Atlas)

Staffnote Player Roll Co. (Staffnote, Playrite)

American Piano Co.  (Ampico)

Play-Rite  Music Rolls, Inc., Turlock, CA

Columbia/Capitol -- Columbia Music Roll Co. & Capitol Roll & Record Co.
    (American, Broadway, Capitol, Cecile, Challenge, Columbia,
     Red Seal, Starck, Sterling, Supertone, Syncronized )

Wilcox & White (Angelus, Angelus Artrio, Angelus Melodant Artistyle, Angelus Artistyle, Voltem)

Superior (Superior)

Aeolian Piano Company & subsidiaries (Aeolian, Duo-Art,
                   Universal, Melodee, Orchestrelle)

United States Music Company
Imperial Player Roll Company (see also QRS)
QRS
Rythmodik (see also Ampico)
DeLuxe Reproducing Roll Corp (see Welte)
Connorized Music Co. (Connorized, Full Scale 88 Note)
Plaza Music Co.

Mastertouch, Australia (Mastertouch, Duo, Broadway)

International
Paramount
Peerless
Pianostyle
FilmMusic Co. (P.O.P, Picturoll)
Vocalstyle Music Co.
Rollo Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico
Diana Madrid, Barcelona, Spain
Fabrica Pianauto, Rio de Janeiro 
 

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