Mechanical Music Through the Ages

A collection of Mechanical Music and Arcade Machines – highlighting examples of the development in mechanical entertainment over time.

Monkey Organ by Johann Schmider 1980 – (Germany)

This organ was purchased as a kit and has been mounted on a 1950’s pram base. It has 24 notes and plays continuous paper roll music which is cranked by the operator. I modified this to have a hidden Sony Walkman inside the cabinet, powered by a compact rechargeable 12 volt battery, amplified through two external speakers for those occasions when you want a break from cranking. At these times it plays authentic German and dutch Hurdy-Gurdy music as if it was still being cranked.