Musical Museum

[squirmelia]

A girl wearing a purple coat and glasses is looking around the Musical Museum. The musical museum is full of fantastical self-playing instruments, such as self playing organs and self playing pianos, some of which the piano keys move as if they are played by ghosts. There are carts that made music and would be wheeled around the streets, and pianos that would be in pubs to play music there, for people to dance to perhaps, and machines that have violins and would be found in arcades and they cost one old penny a go, to play the music. There are also music boxes that play tunes, but they are quite limited in comparison to other self playing instruments which often take rolls of paper with holes in, just like old computers with punch cards. Quite magical.

The girl wearing a purple coat and glasses stands in front of the Wurlitzer with her camera and watches as it lights up in different colours and hears the different sounds it plays, one minute sounding like a door bell and the next like a chirping bird and then like horse's hooves clip clopping down the street. It is a beautiful machine.

These self playing instruments were very expensive at the time they were made and they were the only way people could hear music that was not someone playing it themselves, this was the only pre-recorded kind of music. These machines often did not need electricity to be played either. Unfortunately, these self playing instruments quickly fell out of fashion when gramophones appeared, which were able to play a larger variety of music.

Comments

[spiralsheep.livejournal.com]

Kew!

Did you know that street musicians used to rent instruments because they couldn't afford to buy them? Furthermore, did you know that Charles Babbage campaigned against street musicians, especially those with loud self-playing instruments, and promulgated the idea that it was a sort of protection racket. Instead of people paying money to musicians for playing, Babbage reckoned the musicians made most of their money being paid to go away by local residents.

[squirmelia.livejournal.com]

Or perhaps Brentford. ;)

I did not know that they used to rent them, but that makes sense.

They also mentioned that some of the big department stores used to have libraries of sheets for people to borrow to play on their machines, which I thought was interesting.

Also did not know that about Charles Babbage! Thanks for the interesting facts. :)

[clarehooper.livejournal.com]

This post reminds me of American Gods.

[squirmelia.livejournal.com]

I guess it was that kind of museum. :) I was surprised how interesting I found it.