Cremona Early Style
Vacuum Expression Regulator

(Photograph courtesy of David Ramey, Jr.)

In the early Cremona vacuum expression regulator used in the Style J orchestrions. The large vertical pneumatic regulates the basic loudness of the piano and drums by means of an adjustable coil spring. The forked metal finger attached to this pneumatic and pointing upward is mechanically connected to two smaller opposing soft and loud pneumatics, which are alternately engaged by loud and soft perforations in the music rolls. The loud pneumatic works well, but the soft pneumatic tends to interfere with the setting of the adjustable coil spring.