Post #1558099

2025-12-14 02:06 UTC

@MissInformation does anyone know how the music rolls work? It seems there are too few holes for such a complex multi-instrumental piece. I would understand if each line was its own instrument, and the pitch was set with width, but they all seem uniform.

Replies (4)

@MissInformation@chaos.social 2025-12-14 02:42

@RiverFox there is a description on his website, but it's not that long. https://www.mechanicalmusicman.com/

Open ##1558101
@tsukkitsune@is.nota.live 2025-12-14 04:29

@RiverFox @MissInformation From what I know of player instruments, they typically work by vacuum. Observing this one, I infer that some of the perforations select between "instruments" or "voices" at a given time, and others control what notes are played.

Open ##1558102
@slatian@pleroma.envs.net 2025-12-14 10:26

@RiverFox @MissInformation In general: The roll is fed at a pretty fast speed, the second thing is the instrument switcher, most instruments simply play the same line and get switched on and off by probably those joined up hole constructs near the bottom (at least there is a pretty high correlation between them getting fed and instruments switching)

Open ##1558111
@Wittenborner@norden.social 2026-03-22 18:13

@RiverFox @MissInformation that is exactly what I thought.

Open ##1558112