For Amusement Only: Arcades and Cafes -- exhibit at the Morris Museum

The news story in the video above reports on the new exhibit at the Morris Museum titled For Amusement Only: Arcades and Cafes. The exhibit explores the fascinating world of coin-operated entertainment from the early twentieth century. Visitors will see fortune-tellers, strength testers, penny arcades and gambling machines, as well as mechanical musical instruments.

The exhibit runs through October 10, 2016

Special demonstration dates:
Special Exhibit Demonstration, Saturday, July 23, 1:00PM
Special Exhibit Demonstration, Friday, August 12, 3:00PM
Special Exhibit Demonstration, Monday, October 10, 1:00PM
Curator’s Tour, Thursday, September 15, 6:30PM

Location:
Morris Museum
6 Normandy Heights Road
Morristown, NJ 07960
Phone: (973) 971-3700
Online: http://www.morrismuseum.org

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Intel creates kinetic art robotic music system inspired by an animated video

A couple of years ago, a video made the rounds on the internet. (Strangely, I don't think it appeared here on The Automata Blog.) It was a 3D animation of an intricate musical system in which bouncing balls triggered notes on an assemblage of musical devices. It was pretty convincing. I think there was a bit of confusion in some circles as to whether the machine was a real thing or not. It wasn't, but now it is. The folks at Intel have used that video as inspiration to create a machine that does more or less what the one in the video did! That's what you see above.

For reference, here is the original video titled Pipe Dream:

Here is where you can learn more about the embedded Intel technology for industrial automation that was used for this project.

[ Thanks Christoph! ]

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Hand-cranked automaton plays 'When the Saints Go Marching In' on the xylophone

Check out this automaton which plays When the Saints Go Marching In on the xylophone...or is that a glockenspiel because they are metal plates? In any case, the machine design and fabrication are outstanding!

OK...I did some quick research. It is a glockenspiel. Here is the word from Wikipedia:

A glockenspiel (German pronunciation: [ˈɡlɔkənˌʃpiːl], glocken:bells and spiel:play) is a percussion instrument composed of a set of tuned keys arranged in the fashion of the keyboard of a piano. In this way, it is similar to the xylophone; however, the xylophone's bars are made of wood, while the glockenspiel's are metal plates or tubes, thus making it a metallophone. The glockenspiel, moreover, is usually smaller and higher in pitch. In German, a carillon is also called a Glockenspiel, while in French, the glockenspiel is often called a carillon.

Show above is the GP Percussion Bell Kit. It looks like a good deal because it comes with the 30 note glockenspiel as well as a heavy duty stand, practice pad, beaters, sticks, and nylon carrying case.

It's nearly back-to-school time. If you order any instruments from Amazon, consider doing via the link you see here for Musical Instruments. Thanks!

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Piano player automaton project - a video tutorial in two parts

Part 1 - Scroll saw automaton project

Here is a two part video tutorial from the scrollsaw workshop of Steve Good. Part one is shown above and part two is below. In the videos, Steve teaches you how to build an automaton using a scroll saw primarily. It's a wonderful tool that is more versatile than many people realize. Here you see it put to good use. The project plans the piano player automaton are available free of charge on Steve's blog.

Part 2 - Scroll saw automaton project

These videos are a fantastic resource, no doubt about it. This project is very similar to one by Rodney Frost published in his book Making Mad Toys & Mechanical Marvels in Wood. Pages 26 through 31 of that book provide plans for a piece called The Pianist (shown at right). This could be a case of independent invention or it could be that a tip of that hat is due to Mr. Frost. So, in the interest of fairness and completeness, I will take the liberty of doing that here. If you would like to do this project, and many others, Mr. Frost's book features a dozen or more excellent automaton projects.

[ Thanks Charles! ]

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