Musical box `` Music box '' redirects here . For other uses , see Music box ( disambiguation ) . 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 and a celesta ) . History The original snuff boxes were tiny containers which could fit into a gentleman 's waist coat pocket . The musical boxes could have any size from that of a hat box to a large piece of furniture . Most of them were table top 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 . 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 . The very first boxes at the end of the 18th century made use of metal disks . The switch over 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 . At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th most musical boxes were gradually replaced by Player pianos , which were more versatile and loud , and also 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 . 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 like 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 jukeboxes . However , they soon disappeared from their intended venues , and were displaced by the jukebox , which could produce a greater variety of sounds . 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 ( 2 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 . The disc is the programming object , a metallic version of a punched card . In a disc music box , changeable tune discs have holes or projections that engage a point on a star shaped wheel , causing it to rotate . Turning the star wheel causes one or more of the other points of the star wheel to lift and drop the tooth or teeth on one or more combs . The cylinder in a cylinder music box plays this function . 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 . 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 . 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 . 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 . 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 Polyphony and Regina brand names . The small 18 note musical movements are now being made almost exclusively in countries with low labor costs such as China and Taiwan . See also Barrel organ Cuckoo clock 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 . Ored-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. , 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 External links http : //www.mbsi.org/ Categories : Lamellaphones In other languages : Deutsch | Español | Français | 日本語 | Polski | Svenska Music box 