— Mechanical Music Press —

Tracker Scales and Key Frame Layouts
included in

The Golden Age of Automatic Musical Instruments
Appendix IV

In 1981, the Vestal Press published a landmark book on automatic musical instruments and their music, Treasures of Mechanical Music, by Reblitz and Bowers. Containing the most important tracker scales and key frame layouts for these instruments, with hundreds of black and white pictures, the book sold out very quickly and has been in demand by enthusiasts and restorers ever since. Used copies that have occasionally turned up on the market in recent years have fetched a price of over $200 each, with a record auction price of $525!

Finally, with the publishing of The Golden Age of Automatic Musical Instruments, the most important scales are once again available in one convenient source. These scales have been updated and corrected where new information has come to light, and supplemented with important discoveries such as the Welte 120-note orchestrion scale and a complete explanation of how the Hupfeld Violina Orchestra works.

Many German orchestrion and fairground organ scales are “scrambled,” with the notes not following the usual musical sequence. For the first time, The Golden Age of Automatic Musical Instruments includes unscrambled scales for all of the fairground organs, making it easier to compare their musical capabilities.

Each instrument’s unique sound comes from a combination of its design and the music arrangements. These scales explain what “raw materials” each arranger had to work with. After hearing an instrument and learning what it really sounds like, this technical material will be here for reference in helping to understand: how did they do that?

List of Tracker Bar Scales and Key Frame Layouts

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