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MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, AUTOMATIC. 



ratus, to the exclusion of amateur or mediocre 

 performers, or coarse machinery. 



The Orchestrion. In outward appearance 

 this resembles a pipe-organ. Instead of a key- 

 board, or banks of keys, there is a great cyl- 

 inder, or cylinders, on the principle of the mu- 

 sic-box, operated by clock-work. The space 

 above and behind the cylinders is filled with 

 trumpets, horns, clarionets, bassoons, oboes, 

 flutes, piccolos, flageolets, fifes, bugles, haut- 

 boys, trombones, cymbals, triangle, and drums, 

 kettle, bass, and snare. The artistic grouping 

 of the various instruments adds greatly to the 

 general appearance of the orchestrion. They 

 radiate upward and outward, the mouth-pieces 

 being hidden in the mechanism, and so having 

 the appearance of a full orchestra, with the 

 living performers hidden from view, the instru- 

 ments only being visible. The drums usually 

 occupy a position in the upper part of the 

 works, and are played upon by levers operat- 

 ing the drum-sticks. So, also, by a lever attach- 

 ment one cymbal is struck against its mate ; 

 the triangle is struck by a bar of steel. The 

 wind-instruments are supplied by bellows and 

 operated by the cylinder-pegs which open and 



an orchestrion consisting solely of flutes, and 

 M. Blessing, an eminent musician in Germany, 

 entered the lists with one built under his su- 

 pervision, both following the Welte model. 

 The efforts of his rivals incited Welte to re- 

 newed exertion. He sought, first, to embody 

 all the instruments of the orchestra; and, sec- 

 ond, to secure all their particular characteris- 

 tic qualities of tone. An instrument was ex- 

 hibited in 1849, in Carlsruhe, also in Frank- 

 fort- on-the-Main, and was received with such 

 satisfaction that an enormous industry was the 

 result. The instrument was run by weights and 

 clock-work. The lower section was devoted 

 to the bellows, of which there were several, 

 all worked by cranks and eccentrics. Above 

 the bellows was the great chest, with its di- 

 visions and subdivisions, its holes and valves 

 and levers. Like lines of infantry on parade, 

 the various groups of instruments were skill- 

 fully arranged in their appropriate positions. 

 Between them and the bellows was the large 

 pegged cylinder, extending nearly the entire 

 width of the interior. 



The cylinders contained a limited number of 

 tunes, and were removable and interchange- 



THE ACTION WITH PEGGED CYLINDER. 



close valves, and thus act on the pipes. As 

 nearly as can be gathered from the meager 

 historical data afforded, the beginnings of this 

 magnificent instrument 'are to be found, like 

 many other works of musical genius, in the 

 gloomy depths of the Black Forest. M. Welte, 

 of Voerenbach, in 1833, is said to have built 

 the first. The idea was suggested by the pegs 

 on the carillon-cylinder playing the bells. A 



able. On account of the space required for 

 the cylinder, which was in itself a somewhat 

 mammoth affair, a departure has recently been 

 made by M. Gaily, of New York, in substitut- 

 ing in place of the large cylinder a pneumatic 

 action and a narrow perforated music-sheet. 

 By this introduction is secured not only the 

 opportunity for a more extended scale, but all 

 the possibilities of musical expression. It is 



THE ACTION WITH PERFORATED MUSIC-SHEET. 



substitution of pipes for bells was made, and said that Madame Adelina Patti had, at her 



the success of the venture warranted an ad- residence in South Wales, a cylinder orche 



vancement. An orchestrion was built which trion, fourteen feet high, nine feet in length 



played operatic selections, overtures, etc., in with a corresponding depth; with it wer 



correct time, with crescendos and diminuendos, eighty cylinders, which required an addit 



It immediately attracted attention. As one of to her house, specially built. Each cylindei 



the results, M. Devraiuville, of Paris, produced had from three to five tunes, thus giving 



