The Mills Orchestra Cabinet Attachment

(Photograph courtesy of Terry Smythe)

A Mills DeLuxe (Double) Violano-Virtuoso with the Orchestra Cabinet Attachment installed. The orchestra cabinet added the rhythm associated with a small ensemble to the Violano-Virtuoso. The top section contained a tom-tom, bass drum (lighted from the inside), and a wood block, while in the bottom there was a snare drum (with both tap and reiterating beaters) and cymbals. Introduced in 1928 the orchestra cabinet came along too late in the mechanical music era to achieve any substantial commercial success. Violano-Virtuosos with the orchestra attachment are relatively rare today.