Though it's hard to imagine it now, the music box was actually an important first step on the road to the miniaturization of sound. Prior to the music box, non-performed music was produced by large and bulky contraptions using bells or chimes. The music box brought melodies into the home and, eventually, rings, medallions, and even perfume bottles. Music boxes were also hidden within table-top snuff containers inlaid with gold, pearls, and ivory. The key to the music boxes' portability was a tuned steel comb, invented in 1796 by Antoine Favre in Switzerland’s clock-making region, La Vallée de Joux. The first steel combs were made from varying lengths of metal arranged in a curving fan-shape. As the pins on a rotating cylinder struck the teeth of the comb, notes were produced. Much like early musical clocks, these machines were spring-wound. In 1810, David LeCoultre, of the famous LeCoultre watch-making family, designed a brass cylinder to play notes on a straight length of tuned steel teeth. Longer cylinders could be pinned for multiple tunes and adjusted laterally to switch between songs. A few years later, Francois Nicole, of the famous Nicole Frères firm, created a steel hairspring damper to soften the ring of each note, and the modern music box was born.
Selected Products
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Antique Music Box
Music Box Mechanism Bird
Roxy Music Box Set
Disney Its A Small World Music Box
Dangerous Music D Box
Music Box Mr Christmas
Beauty And The Beast Music Box
Gone With The Wind Music Box
Music Box Strips
Heart Music Box
Wizard Of Oz Music Box
Music Box Key
Music Box Schmid
Music Box Boys
Ariel Music Box
36 Note Music Box
Swiss Music Box
Music Box Movement Battery
Music Box You Are My Sunshine
Music Box 7
Music Box Gold
Music Box 20
Music Box Christmas
Music Box La Vie En Rose
Music Box With Dancer
Music Box Nocturne
Phantom Of The Opera Monkey Music Box
Polyphon Music Box
Music Box Ocean
Music Box Sets
Music Box 72 Note
Music Box Maker
Music Box Bracelet
Music Box Glass
Music Box Butterfly
Music Jewelry Box