Sounds of the Symphonion

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The disc musical box was invented almost

simultaneously in London by Ellis Parr,

and in Leipzig by Paul Lochmann.

Initially, they worked separately on their inventions,

but eventually got together and developed the Symphonion.

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The Symphonion company, of Leipzig, began the manufacture of the first practical disc playing musical boxes in 1886. In 1889 Paul Wendland an engineer for Symphonion patented the starwheel which acts as the intermediary between the tabs on the discs and the combs.

The starwheel had already been in use but this allowed for the horizontal mounting of the combs thereby increasing the acoustic quality of the music. They continued to make music boxes until 1914. In 1897 a production plant was established in New Jersey America but it was closed by 1902.

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In the 1930s the mechanical instrument industry began a near terminal decline, hit by the increasing availability of radio and gramophone and by the Depression, then by World War II. Most of the old firms closed.

There is a bit on the one I am about to restore,

over on my other blog here.

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"Touch the Harp Gently"

        Just touch the Harp gently, my pretty Louise,

                And sing me the songs that I love;

They’ll recall the bright days when we play’d in the wood,

              And watch’d  the birds flitting above.

       There was one that you sang, my pretty Louise,

             The words, I remember them well,

       I lov’d it, and when you had finished each verse,

               I kiss’d you and said: ‘Never tell’;

        Just touch the Harp gently, my pretty Louise,

             Just touch the Harp gently, Louise.

Earlier on the blog I wrote a bit about how I had made small Musical Boxes for my great nephews/nieces. These ended up as small Barrel Organs, but the original plan was to make them in the shape of a harp. Thirty odd years ago I had built a folk-harp and the small ones were exact scale models of their larger 'sister'. In the above picture you can see the full-size harp in the background. 

Each model took about four weeks to make, so making eight would have taken eight months !

I made two, and called it a day.  They are made in mahogany with spruce on the front.

The strings were made of nylon 'fishing-line' and the little tuning pegs were tapered 'clock pins'.

Each plays a different tune and are started by the small lever on the side.

They are about 7" tall as you can see shown against a £2 coin.

                 "Just touch the Harp gently, Louise."

Written by Charles Blamphin (1830-1895) a well-known English harpist

who also composed ballads.

"To Wind Down on Friday Night"

This is a "Ideal Sublime Harmonie Piccolo" box with huge 18" Cylinders. Made approx. 1890.

The solid mahogany case features fine bas relief carving on the front, with a panelled lid opening upward to reveal the mechanical music box.  In a fitted drawer below are stored three extra cylinders, each playing about 5 tunes. This box plays 'songs of the south', including "Dixie" and Stephen Foster's "There's No Place Like Home". 

"Spring Song"

Friday Night is not music night today. It's a lovely sunny day, real birds are singing but as this is "mechanical blog" here's a little bird with a difference.

Whilst digging around through some old books, I came across an article where someone had written down the tunes different birds sing. It was a very old book, Victorian I think, and he had noted all the different names the birds are known by. I copied the music out by hand thinking I might use it one day. If anyone plays the flute, or can sing high enough, give it ago.

I hope this works...I had to do this in 3 pastes!!

Hope You can read it?

A Tale of Eight Musical Boxes

Part II

The making of the little barrel organs required quite a lot of fretwork. Now although I have a ‘go-faster’ electric model I much prefer to use a hand fretsaw.

I still have a number of my father’s carpentry tools including his “Hobbies” fretsaw and all the side frames for the organ cart (16 off - painted red) were cut out with his old saw.

Using it, takes me back to the days when Dad made all our toys. After the war toys were hard to come by and quite expensive. The earliest I remember, was an alphabet of wooden letters, about 2” high, cut out of ¼” ply. It must have taken him ages and maybe a few broken blades. As there was only one of each letter, we learnt the alphabet but could only make up short words with no repeat letters.

I can also remember “tumbling acrobats”. A small jointed figure, hanging by his arms from a twisted bit of string between two rods. Squeezing the rods together caused the string to unwind and the little figure flew round!

Batch production on the organs continued and today’s picture shows the organs and carts having had a 'lick of paint'. I have to admit I cheated and bought the wheels ready made. They came a horrible colour and I had to give them a coat of yellow paint…………to.b.cont.

A Tale of Eight Musical Boxes

Part I

My father, as a boy, had a musical box, a small plain square box with a little handle on the top and a picture stuck on the underside.

It played an old Music Hall tune called “Hold your Hand Out, You Naughty Boy”.

Strange as it may seem, I have yet to find the sheet music for this although I expect I could search the web and buy it from somewhere.

Well my brothers and I used to have hours of fun with this although it was always put away afterwards, out of reach.

 “It’s not a toy” he would say, but the truth is he did not want it damaged.

When his first grandchild arrived it was lovingly passed on.

There were more grandchildren to follow, but only one musical box.

I therefore thought it would be nice to make a few more of these to ‘keep in family’ so to speak. Well, rather than the plain little Victorian box, I designed a ‘box’ as a small harp, an exact scale model of a harp I had built some 30 years ago. However it took weeks of work and I only finished two models before giving up. My nephews and nieces were having offspring faster than I could build them!

So a new plan was to make something simpler to manufacture.

A production line of small Barrel Organs…….. to.b.cont.