the idea of instruments playing themselves. That violin uses only one string and magnets which supplements itself with midi music.

I can’t stand player pianos – they sound artificial and that is exactly what they are. For the price of that violin, I could fly to where a real virtuoso was playing using his fingers and the bow and all the strings. It can't even come under direction of a maestro leading an orchestra...it just plays dumbly on regardless of what the rest of the orchestra is playing.

At least player pianos depress the keys. Computers, and synthesizers can reproduce sounds, what they can't do is make music.

Please save me from inventors that try to replace the irreplaceable with canned sounds. Great violins themselves made by artisans have distinctive sounds, which in the hands of highly skilled players make wondrous music. Stradivarius was but one. He was an artist within his own right.

They've managed to make a violin sound like a violin, a pretty respectable achievement.

For those interested in human attempts to coax realistic sounds out of software, have a listen to this:

Link (MP3)

It's software called Synful.

Check out what it can do in simulating a full orchestra (MP3).

Software much like this (although this is a particularly new, advanced and expressive form) has been used in almost all TV series, "made for TV" movies and smaller-budget releases (not large-budget feature films, which generally still hire real orchestras) for many years both because of budget and because of short turnaround times in production.

Listen to the orchestral score carefully next time you watch a TV movie. See if you can hear the difference.

A lot of people earn a living trying to make sure you can't.

American Federation of Musicians (local 4). They will be contacting you shortly. ;-)

Seriously, I thought that the British synth/pop of the eighties would have put everyone off programmed instruments.

- Rick
_{"Free your mind, and your ass will follow" - George Clinton}

Apparently the advantage over a real drummer is that you only have to punch information into it once.

Link to video

Mozart - Fantasia in F minor for mechanical organ, K608 (1791)

Sean-Paul, mechanical violins (real ones that stop the strings, not fake ones like the one above) have been around for over 100 years. Do a web search on "mechanical violin" or "violano".

Nowadays, we even have robotic sousaphones (played and fingered just like the real thing). Sony had a road show of robots a couple of years ago that played trumpets, clarinets and other instruments.

Take a listen to the Hupfeld violina (ca. 1909) on this page:

http://www.mbsi.org/gallery.php

_________________________________________
Cogitationis poenam nemo patitur.

after Googling, found there were two instances of violins that inventors were able to get to self play:

Sound from a single Mills Violo-Virtuso

Picture of a Single Mills Violano-Virtuoso

Apparently they came in double versions, two pianos and two violins. Both instruments were played using paper rolls.

Mills Violano-Virtuoso, made in the USA, circa 1914

Colour Picture Mills Violo-Virtuoso

Sound clip: Mills Violano-Virtuso, playing, 'My Little Girl'

Sound quality is not good. It was played by four mechanical "fingers" (which, alas, did not really look like fingers) and "bowed" by four small celluloid wheels.

Black and White Picture of the Mills Violano-Virtuoso

Circa between 1912-1929

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The Hupfeld Phonoliszt-Violina was one of the most amazing of all music machines. Its intricate mechanisms reproduce the music of three violins and piano, with near-human expression. The violins are played by 49 mechanical fingers and a rotating circular bow with 1,344 individually-tied strands of horsehair. Mechanisms cause the bow speed and pressure to change automatically, as controlled by perforations in the paper music roll, to provide a wide dynamic range, crescendo and decrescendo, accent, and other musical nuances.

Hupfeld Phonoliszt-Violina

Sound clips of the Hupfeld Phonoliszt-Violina

Where would you put the Hupfeld version? It’s huge!!! I did read an entry on the Internet that one sold about five years ago for $700,000 US $'s.

There has been more success with the quality of the sound with piano-type instruments. Apparently, bow-string musical instruments are the most difficult instrument sound to digitalize. Had no idea these complex machines had been in existence since the turn of this century. Thanks for the thread Sean. Whatever will we do with all this trivia we find?

There are lots of things that are mechanical that haven’t been computerized. Wind up clocks is a good example. Grandfather clocks use chains and weights to keep accurate time without having to be wound up. The one I have does have to be wound with a key every ten days. It mounts on a wall and plays chimes on the hour.

Some history of computer hardware:

There was a time I could look at a punched computer card and read it from the position of the holes. Probably could again if I needed to figure out what information is on a punched card.

Mentioned in the article is the Curta calculator:

I’ve owned a Curta calculator since the 1960’s. There were two sizes. Because my hands are small, the smaller version is a better fit when holding it. I used it for entering data while sports car rallying and was a 'Curta cranker'. It was fitted in a clip on a board and not placed in my hand when operating it while our vehicle was underway. Engineers also use them in place of slide rulers. They’re completely mechanical and just need sewing machine oil to keep them running smoothly. Still have it and understand they have increased in value. Mine has a metal case, later the cases were made from plastic.

I also still have my Heurer Navia 8-day mechanical timepiece. It’s still keeps time when I wind it up more than 40 years after it was purchased. It was adjusted once in the 1970’s. To keep really good time, it probably should be adjusted again. These workhorses seldom break down—they’re amazingly accurate to fractions of seconds. I’ll use it again for navigating on our sailboat. Accurate watches were what was needed for charting positions on oceans. All navigation uses time as part of the equation.