Mechanical Music

The sound of a street barrel organ or a fairground organ may revive distant memories for older people or stir an interest in younger folk. Wealthier families may have possessed their own automatic music machines in the form of a player piano, a Polyphon or cylinder musical box. If well treated, these instruments may still be in working order. This book covers the history, development, use and fall from favour of many types of exotic instruments, from pocket-sized musical boxes to roll-playing pipe organs and everything else in between. It describes pianolas, organettes, roller organs, orchestrions, nickelodeons, carillons and many more. It introduces a complex subject in a way that will encourage readers to visit collections open to the public or perhaps join one of the societies that encourage the restoration of instruments to their former glory.