The polyphon that is on display in the museum is a mechanical device powered by a hand-wound clockwork motor with a mechanism that plucks the tines. It was manufactured in Oryol in the late 19th century by “V. N. Petinov Musical Instruments Company”. Europeans used a variety of such mechanisms — small primitive snuff boxes, music boxes, large orchestrions, symphonions, and music albums. All these hand-wound devices were mainly used by townspeople and merchants at home and served as a way of entertainment.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the price list of the “F. Müller Musical Instruments” store described these devices as follows: “Polyphons play using sound steel combs, but steel circles are used instead of the shaft, and one piece is arranged on each circle, and, if desired, there can be many of such pieces.”
The winding mechanism of the polyphon had a speed regulator, which also influenced the uniform rotation of the metal disk. The spring was wound up from above with a special ring spanner. The location of the holes in the disk was a kind of musical score.
When the spring was wound, the disk rotated, the hooks plucked the tines of the steel comb, and the polyphone played a melody popular at that time. It could be, for example, “Pas d’Espagne”, which was quite famous at that time. It can be translated from French as the “Spanish Step”.
This exhibit entered the Lipetsk Regional Museum of Local Lore in July 1960. The polyphon was handed over by a local resident, mechanic V. M. Nikonov. This musical instrument has sixty tones and ten bells, which began to produce sound when hit by little hammers in the form of small balls.
Inside the lid of the wooden case, the craftsman depicted a seascape on thick cardboard coated with oil varnish. Mechanical music boxes did not last long, they were soon replaced by gramophones.
Sophisticated mechanical structures work even after a hundred years. This polyphon from the collection of the Lipetsk Regional Museum of Local Lore was once repaired and restored by the Lipetsk artisan Vladimir Alekseevich Dobromyslov. The polyphon is usually played during interactive tours in the museum.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the price list of the “F. Müller Musical Instruments” store described these devices as follows: “Polyphons play using sound steel combs, but steel circles are used instead of the shaft, and one piece is arranged on each circle, and, if desired, there can be many of such pieces.”
The winding mechanism of the polyphon had a speed regulator, which also influenced the uniform rotation of the metal disk. The spring was wound up from above with a special ring spanner. The location of the holes in the disk was a kind of musical score.
When the spring was wound, the disk rotated, the hooks plucked the tines of the steel comb, and the polyphone played a melody popular at that time. It could be, for example, “Pas d’Espagne”, which was quite famous at that time. It can be translated from French as the “Spanish Step”.
This exhibit entered the Lipetsk Regional Museum of Local Lore in July 1960. The polyphon was handed over by a local resident, mechanic V. M. Nikonov. This musical instrument has sixty tones and ten bells, which began to produce sound when hit by little hammers in the form of small balls.
Inside the lid of the wooden case, the craftsman depicted a seascape on thick cardboard coated with oil varnish. Mechanical music boxes did not last long, they were soon replaced by gramophones.
Sophisticated mechanical structures work even after a hundred years. This polyphon from the collection of the Lipetsk Regional Museum of Local Lore was once repaired and restored by the Lipetsk artisan Vladimir Alekseevich Dobromyslov. The polyphon is usually played during interactive tours in the museum.
