A musical box (or music box) is a 19th century automatic musical instrument that produces sounds by the use of a set of pins placed on a revolving cylinder or disc so as to strike the tuned teeth of a steel comb. They were developed from musical snuff boxes of the 18th century and called carillons à musique. Some of the more complex boxes also have a tiny drum and small bells, in addition to the metal comb. Alec Templeton, an avid collector of music boxes and a professional concert musician, once noted that the tone of a musical box is unlike that of any musical instrument (although it is best described as somewhere between the timbres of an mbira). A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified with the purpose of making music. ... Sound is a disturbance of mechanical energy that propagates through matter as a longitudinal wave, and therefore is a mechanical wave. ... Look up pin in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A right circular cylinder An elliptic cylinder In mathematics, a cylinder is a quadric surface, with the following equation in Cartesian coordinates: This equation is for an elliptic cylinder, a generalization of the ordinary, circular cylinder (a = b). ... A comb A comb for people with hair loss. ... For the Wikipedia term see Wikipedia:Userboxes An empty corrugated box An elaborate wooden box Boxes are highly variable receptacles. ... Mbira Dzavadzimu in deze (top), Mbira Nyunga Nyunga (bottom), Hosho (bottom left). ...

History

The original snuff boxes were tiny containers which could fit into a gentleman's waistcoat pocket. The musical boxes could have any size from that of a hat box to a large piece of furniture. Most of them were tabletop specimens though. They were usually powered by clockwork and originally produced by artisan watchmakers. For most of the 19th century, the bulk of musical box production was concentrated in Switzerland, building upon a strong watchmaking tradition. The first musical box factory was opened there in 1815 by Jérémie Recordon and Samuel Junod. There were also a few manufacturers in Bohemia and Germany. By the end of the 19th century, some of the European makers had opened factories in the United States. Gear with escapment mechanism For other uses, see Clockwork (disambiguation). ... Flag of Bohemia Bohemia (Czech: ; German: ) is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western and middle thirds of the Czech Republic. ...

The cylinders were normally made of metal and powered by a spring. In some of the costlier models, the cylinders could be removed to change melodies, thanks to an invention by Paillard in 1862, which was perfected by Metert of Geneva in 1879. In some exceptional models, there were four springs, to provide continuous play for up to three hours. Geneva (pronunciation //; French: Genève //, German:   //, Italian: Ginevra //, Romansh: Genevra) is the second most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich), and is the most populous city of Romandy (the French-speaking part of Switzerland). ...

The very first boxes at the end of the 18th century made use of metal disks. The switchover to cylinders seems to have been complete after the Napoleonic wars. In the last decades of the 19th century, however, mass-produced models such as the Polyphon and others all made use of interchangeable metal disks instead of cylinders. The cylinder-based machines rapidly became a minority.

The term "musical box" is also applied to clockwork devices where a removable metal disk or cylinder was used only in a "programming" function without producing the sounds directly by means of pins and a comb. Instead, the cylinder (or disk) worked by actuating bellows and levers which fed and opened pneumatic valves which activated a modified wind instrument or plucked the chords on a modified string instrument. Some devices could do both at the same time and were often combinations of player pianos and musical boxes, such as the Orchestrion. A wind instrument is a musical instrument that contains some type of resonator (usually a tube), in which a column of air is set into vibration by the player blowing into (or over) a mouthpiece set at the end of the resonator. ... A string instrument (or stringed instrument) is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. ...

At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, most musical boxes were gradually replaced by player pianos, which were louder and more versatile and melodious, when kept tuned, and by the smaller gramophones which had the advantage of playing back voices. Escalating labor costs increased the price and further reduced volume. Now modern automation is helping bring music box prices back down. The player piano is a type of piano that plays music without the need for a human pianist to depress the normal keys or pedals. ... Edison cylinder phonograph from about 1899 The phonograph, or gramophone, was the most common device for playing recorded sound from the 1870s through the 1980s. ...

Collectors prize surviving musical boxes from the 19th century and the early 20th century as well as new music boxes being made today in several countries (see “Evolving Box Production”, below). The cheap, small windup music box movements (including the cylinder and comb and the spring) to add a bit of music to mass-produced jewelry boxes and novelty items are now produced in countries with low labor costs.

Many kinds of music box movements are available to the home craft person, locally or through online retailers.

Coin-operated music boxes

In Switzerland, coin-operated music boxes, usually capable of playing several tunes, were installed in places such as train stations and amusement parks. Some of the models had a mechanism for automatically changing the metal disks. These were, in a sense, the precursors to jukebox. However, they soon disappeared from their intended venues and were displaced by the jukebox, which could produce a greater variety of sounds. A Zodiac jukebox A jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that can play specially selected songs from self-contained media. ...

Because most of the coin-operated music boxes were built for rough treatment (such as typical slapping and kicking by a disgruntled customer), many of these large models have survived into the 21st century, despite their relatively low production quantities. They are eagerly sought by collectors who have the space for their large or very large cabinets.

Music box elements

The ratchet lever [1] rotates the cylinder [2], the brail plucks the comb [3] which produces the music. The whole thing rests on the bedplate [4].

• The bedpan (or bedplate) is the relatively heavy metal foundation on which all the other pieces are fastened, usually by screws.
• The ratchet lever or the windup key is used to put the spring motor under tension, that is to wind it up.
• The spring motor or motors (two or more can be used to make playing times longer) give anywhere from a few minutes to an hour or more of playing time.
• The comb is a flat piece of metal with dozens or even hundreds of tuned teeth of different lengths.
• The cylinder is the programming object, a metallic version of a punched card which, instead of having holes to express a program, is studded with tiny pins at the correct spacing to produce music by striking the teeth of the comb at the correct time. The disc in a disc music box plays this function.

Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1426x1062, 152 KB)[edit] Summary Template:GFDL (self made) [edit] Licensing I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1426x1062, 152 KB)[edit] Summary Template:GFDL (self made) [edit] Licensing I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ... A CTR census machine, utilizing a punched card system. ...

Evolving box production

14th century The history of mechanical music begins in Flanders. An ingenious bell ringer invents a cylinder with pins which operates cams, which then hit the bells.

1780 The mechanical singing bird is invented by the Jaquet-Droz brothers, clockmakers from La Chaux-de-Fonds. In 1848, the manufacturing of the singing birds is improved by Blaise Bontems in his Parisian workshop, to the point where it has remained unchanged to this day. Barrel organs become more popular.

1796 Antoine Favre, a clockmaker from Geneva, replaces the bells by combs with pre tuned metallic notes, which produce more varied and more precise sounds. Numerous musical objects are produced.

1811 The first music boxes are produced in Sainte-Croix; an industry which surpasses the watchmaking and lace industries, and rapidly brings renown to the town. At this time, the music box industry represents 10% of Switzerland’s export. Sainte-Croix is a municipality in the Grandson of the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. ...

1865 Charles Reuge, a watchmaker from the Val-de-Travers, settles in Sainte-Croix and begins making pocket watches with musical movements.

1870 A German inventor creates a music box with discs, therefore allowing an easier and more frequent change of tunes. It is also the golden years of automata. Already known in Egypt, they will be improved to become real works of art.

1877 Thomas Edison invents the phonograph, which has important consequences for the music box industry, especially around the end of the century.

1892 Gustave Brachhausen, who had been involved with the manufacturer of Polyphon disk musical boxes in Germany, sails for America to establish the Regina Music Box Company in New Jersey. Regina, whose boxes are renowned among collectors for their tone, becomes a success and some 100,000 are sold before sales cease in 1921.

Early 20th century The discovery of the phonograph, the First World War and the economic crisis in the 20’s bring down Sainte-Croix’s main industry and make the luxury music box completely disappear.

Musical box with dancing Ballerina

Between the two world wars most of the Swiss companies converted to the manufacture of other products requiring precise mechanical parts. Some went back to making watches, others were eventually responsible for the famous Bolex movie cameras and the Hermes typewriters. Some simply sold out to Reuge. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1774x1417, 457 KB) es: Descripción: Caja de música. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1774x1417, 457 KB) es: Descripción: Caja de música. ... The Arricam ST, a popular 35 mm film camera currently used on major productions. ... Mechanical desktop typewriters, such as this Underwood Five, were long time standards of government agencies, newsrooms, and sales offices. ...

Located near Lake Neuchâtel, Reuge is one of the last of the Swiss survivors making music boxes of all sizes and shapes, with or without automatons in a modern style with clear acrylic sides to see the mechanical operation. They have in a sense branched out widely from their original cylinder offerings since they now also offer traditional looking music boxes with removable metal disks for around a 1,000 Euros, with each disk costing in the neighborhood of 14 Euros. The higher range boxes with removable cylinders and small assorted tables made of fine woods can cost up to 34,000 Euros and about an equivalent number of US dollars. They also sell several models of clear acrylic paperweights with a musical box movement inside, for a minimum of about 45 Euros. They have, however, discontinued the smaller movements.Old Reuge music boxes are worth thousands of dollars. Lake Neuchâtel (French: Lac de Neuchâtel; German: Neuenburgersee) is a lake in Western Switzerland (French-speaking Switzerland). ...

Sankyo Seiki In Japan started up in the aftermath of WWII, using the latest in automation. Modern production methods resulted in reasonable prices, producing company growth. Sankyo started with small movements, introduced 50 note movements by the late 1970’s, and in 2006 is producing disc boxes playing discs as large as 16” (with two 80 note combs and reminiscent of the “Mira”) and are also working on a dual cylinder 100 note movement. Sankyo now offers a wide variety of music boxes in Japan, and supplies movements to many other manufacturers and distributors. Some of these sell them retail (even online) to hobbyists for as low as 3 Euros each. Sankyo Seiki bills itself as the biggest manufacturer of music boxes in the world, and advertises that it controls 50% of the market. Recently, it has started selling licences for its music box tunes to cellular phone companies, for use as ring tones. The company is an industrial concern which also makes magnetic and hologram card readers, appliance components, industrial robots and miniature motors of all kinds. Cellular redirects here. ...

The Porter Music Box company of Vermont produces steel disc music boxes in several formats. They offer clockwork, spring wound models as well as electric ones. They stand out by their continuing production of discs, with a selection of about a thousand tunes. The discs can also be played on many antique music boxes bearing the Polyphon and Regina brand names. Official language(s) None Capital Montpelier Largest city Burlington Area  Ranked 45th  - Total 9,620 sq mi (24,923 km²)  - Width 80 miles (130 km)  - Length 160 miles (260 km)  - % water 3. ...

The small 18 note musical movements are now being made almost exclusively in countries with low labor costs such as China and Taiwan. Many of these productions are used in mobiles, child musical toys, and jewelry boxes.

Repertoire

Icelandic musician Björk makes use of disc-mechanism music boxes in the album Vespertine, with specially cut discs. Amsterdam-based composer Richard Barrett has written a 4 minute piece, 'trace', for two diatonic music boxes. Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( ) (born November 21, 1965 in Reykjavík, Iceland) is an Icelandic singer/songwriter and composer, as well as an occasional actress. ... Richard Barrett (born 1943) is an American lawyer, White nationalist and self-proclaimed leader in the nationalist Skinheadz (not to be confused with skinhead) movement. ...

Musical boxes in popular culture

An example of an orgel music CD. Produced in Japan by Della Inc.

Small musical boxes or lockets are sometimes featured in animated films, like Anastasia. Musical lockets are commonly used in Japanese anime and manga to convey romantic feelings. Notable examples include Sailor Moon's Densetsu Box [1] and Elfen Lied's Lilium locket. Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... This article or section contains a plot summary that is overly long. ... The main cast of the anime Cowboy Bebop (1998) (L to R: Spike Spiegel, Jet Black, Ed Tivrusky, Faye Valentine, and Ein the dog) For the oleo-resin, see Animé (oleo-resin). ... Manga )   (pl. ... Sailor Moon , officially translated as Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon) is the title of a famous media franchise created by Japanese manga artist Naoko Takeuchi. ... Lilium is the opening theme song for the anime Elfen Lied. ...

• A musical locket which induces eternal sleep when played is encountered at the Black family residence in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
• Davy Jones and Tia Dalma both possess lockets that double as a music box with similar tunes in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.
• In Lost, one of Danielle Rousseau's only memorandums of home is a broken music box, which is fixed by Sayid.
• Plays a role in Tuck Everlasting.
• Panic! at the Disco's cover of This is Halloween in The Nightmare Before Christmas in 3-D uses a music box for the open and close of the song.
• In Japan, the word "orgel" (japanese: オルゴール orugooru) is used for a music box. 'Orgel' is adopted from the dutch word originally meaning 'organ'. Also widely available are CDs containing popular and classic songs in music box tone. These CDs are often categorized as relaxation music. One major producer of orgel CDs for example is Della Inc.

This article is about the book. ... For other uses, see Davy Jones Locker. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Calypso (Pirates of the Caribbean). ... “LOST” redirects here. ... Danielle Rousseau is a fictional character on the television series Lost played by Mira Furlan. ... Sayid Jarrah (Arabic: سعيد جراح) is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost, played by Naveen Andrews. ... Tuck Everlasting is a fantasy childrens novel by Natalie Babbitt published in 1975. ... Panic! at the Disco is an alternative rock band from Las Vegas, Nevada. ... Tim Burtons The Nightmare Before Christmas is a 1993 Academy Award-Nominated, stop motion animated musical film about the inhabitants of Halloween Town who take over Christmas, directed by stop-motion animator Henry Selick. ...

See also

• Barrel organ
• Cuckoo clock
• Player piano

A barrel organ player in Vienna, Austria. ... Cuckoo clock, a so-called Jagdstück, Black Forest, ca. ... The player piano is a type of piano that plays music without the need for a human pianist to depress the normal keys or pedals. ...

References

• Bahl, Gilbert. Music Boxes: The Collector's Guide to Selecting, Restoring and Enjoying New and Vintage Music Boxes. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Running Press, 1993.
• Bowers, Q. David. Encyclopedia of Automatic Musical Instruments. ISBN 0-911572-08-2. Lanham, Maryland: Vestal Press, Inc., 1972.
• Diagram Group. Musical Instruments of the World. New York: Facts on File, 1976.
• Ganske, Sharon. Making Marvelous Music Boxes. New York: Sterling Publishing Company, 1997.
• Greenhow, Jean. Making Musical Miniatures. London: B T Batsford, 1979.
• Ord-Hume, Arthur W. J. G. The Musical Box: A Guide for Collectors. ISBN 0-88740-764-1. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 1995.
• Reblitz, Arthur A. The Golden Age of Automatic Musical Instruments. ISBN 0-9705951-0-7. Woodsville, NH: Mechanical Music Press, 2001.
• Reblitz, Arthur A., Q. David Bowers. Treasures of Mechanical Music. ISBN 0-911572-20-1. New York: The Vestal Press, 1981.
• Sadie, Stanley. ed. Musical Box. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. ISBN 1-56159-174-2. MacMillan. 1980. Vol 12. P. 814.
• Smithsonian Institution. History of Music Machines. ISBN 0-87749-755-9. New York: Drake Publishers, 1975.
• Templeton, Alec, as told to Rachael Bail Baumel. Alec Templeton's Music Boxes. New York: Wilfred Funk, 1958.
• http://www.amica.org/Instruments/Music_Boxes/Music_box_history.htm
• DELLA INC. -- http://www.della.co.jp