Music Box and automatons

[Ciel_Rouge]

What seems to me to be an imitation of the sound of a music box appears in Tchaikovsky's Sugar Plum Fairy and also Yann Tiersen's score for the film Amelie.

I was wondering if the music box and similar mechanical devices have been in use in other pieces as well.

Furthermore, I am just curious whether you had any experiences with such devices. Apart from a music box with a crank:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vd8vGff65-M

there are "androids":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75CXFwgslsY&feature=related

mechanical birds:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jBt8rWFB1U&feature=PlayList&p=EA1C8FD3FEA3BF2C&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=46

the organette:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9mJ0eEgYxc

player pianos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfMXdLelrsA&feature=related

barrel organs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7yoH4jWmcQ

or cuckoo clocks:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7YIAVARUrY

On a side note, I suppose it would be fairly easy to make a musical box if one has the proper tools and a bit of engineering skills. I also think many baroque pieces would be suitable for such "transcriptions" as to my ears the harpsichord often has a bit of a "music box" quality in its sound already.

Another side note: look how close these devices came to actual audio equipment also intended to reproduce sound. Small, portable and intended for reproducing sound - a kind of a mechanical mp3 player

I am very curious whether you have played with such devices in person and if you appreciate such sound in music and can recommend anything beyond Tchaikovsky and Tiersen.

[Szykneij]

The "music box" sound in The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies is produced by the celesta.



This instrument is also often used for the Aquarium movement of Saint-Saens' Carnival of the Animals.

[Ciel_Rouge]

The Aquarium has been one of my favourites since about a year ago when I first discovered it. So was the Neptune part from the Planets Suite by Holst - actually I was only aware of the celeste use in this piece and had no idea Tchaikovsky used it as well.

I have just listened to an introductory clip about the celeste and it was mentioned that many 20th century composers used it, with some of them mentioned explicitly, namely:

Richard Strauss
Mahler
Shostakovich
Prokofiev

I would be very thankful if someone could point to specific pieces by those composers which use the celeste.

Apart from that, I hope someone had some fun with at least one of the other devices mentioned. The celeste just like a music box simply uses hammers striking metal plates but the sound is surprisingly rich and emotional. I wonder if anyone here tried to build such a thing or is considering that.

[Diletante]

Well, there's Bartók's Music for strings, percussion and celesta, but his treatment of the celesta is completely different from the "music box" treatment of Tchaikovsky. At times it's used more like a percussion instrument, just like the banging on the piano heard in his piano concertos. I personally love it. 

The celesta is also used to great effect at the end of the first movement of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5.

[Kullervo]

Obvious choices:

Antheil's Ballet Mécanique

The original version of Stravinsky's Les Noces used multiple synchronized player pianos.

[sul G]

Well, Nancarrow, of course. And......Gann

[sul G]

And there are pieces using metronomes, of course. Ligeti's Poeme Symphonique is the most obvious, but Ravel's L'heure espagnole got there first (Ravel, of course, is Mr Automata). John Tavener's The Whale also uses a couple of them quite prominently.

[sul G]

Nor can I!  (James, we must stop agreeing like this!  )

[Ugh!]

Wonderful thread! 

There is a reference to a mechanical bird in Stravinsky's Nightingale opera, but it is portrayed by the orchestra.

Do we only need to discuss antique instruments? Because midi mechanisms have become fairly interesting lately, esp. Felix Thorn's works:
www.felixsmachines.com

At this point, the mechanisms and potential of the work is more interesting than the composition IMO, but he is still young:

http://www.youtube.com/v/m_Ajg1G3vik

I must admit I am also fond of Moniek Darge's Music Box installations, far less spectacular:
http://www.logosfoundation.org/muziekdozen-mon.html

[Ugh!]

http://closetcurios2.blogspot.com/2009/04/music-boxes-in-stereo.html