The Hupfeld Animatic S is fully restored and plays to perfection. This particular model is not typical of the Hupfeld Claviola’s of the period, in that the orchestra accompaniment of base drum, snare drum, wood blocks, cymbal, mandolin and xylophone are all inside the same cabinet as the piano – which is a Forster piano. The great majority of these German orchestrions had a separate orchestra cabinet alongside of the piano. For those wishing to watch the “orchestra”, the box door could be opened, whereas you would need to remove the top and bottom front panels in my Clavitist to be able to watch the “orchestra” in action. There are approximately 35 original and 20 new re-cut rolls, supplying the music for this very entertaining machine. One particularly good feature of German orchestrions, is that the piano and accompaniment are well balanced, with none of the instruments over-powering the piano. This is particularly true of this Hupfeld.
