Annotated Video of Mechanical Music Machines

This video features a number of mechanical music devices from the London Musical Museum. The video uses YouTube's annotations function, which points out various facts and features of the machines, making it quite informative.

You can learn more about mechanical music machines from the book Encyclopedia of Automatic Musical Instruments by Q. David Bowers - a definitive reference on this subject.

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German Clock-Maker Matthias Naeschke

If the sight of polished brass gears drives you insane (is it just me?), then you must to pay a visit to the web site of German clock maker Matthias Naeschke. I don't know how to read German, but I can tell you this: the pictures are beautiful. The site navigation is fairly deep, so keep clicking!

I am told he is one of the last makers of high-end flute clocks.

Visit the web site of Clock-maker Matthias Naeschke.

Update: I didn't realize this initially: they have an English version of their site.

[ Thanks Falk! ]

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10 Crazy Mechanical Burglar Alarm Devices of Old

You may not have caught the post about this on Boing Boing Gadgets earlier this week. This is a link to a collection of 10 interesting mechanical burglar alarms. Some of them are very inventive.

Check out this gallery of 10 unusual burglar alarms.

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