New Collection of Music
Mastered by Terry Hathaway
These custom audio CD's offered are historic recordings made of some very rare antique mechanical music specimens. They represent professionally restored examples -- unless specifically noted otherwise -- recorded when the machine was newly restored and operating at the peak of perfection. Playing original perforated paper music rolls, the recorded performances sound essentially the same as when these wonderful machines were brand new. Oftentimes they sound even better than when new, because the enthusiasts of today tend to place a lot more importance on musical perfection than did the commercial route operators of yesteryear, who might have had hundreds of machines to keep tuned and operating.
The selection of music, which depends somewhat on the vintage and type of machine, generally ranges from the classics to popular melodies dating from the late 1890s through the 1920s. Music rolls cut with popular tunes are, however, the common, since the majority of coin-in-the-slot music machines were marketed and consequently placed in commercial locations where snappy, toe-tapping melodies were demanded.