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I have a music box that lines up with the Grand Illusions 30 note F scale and I can't properly load files. What I did was setup the piano roll in Create as a GI 30 note F, and then I just went from top to bottom clicking on each note to get the range (imagine a long ramp downward). After that I exported it as MIDI and imported it into Sonar to see what it looked like for reference. Everything looked OK except that Create is showing notes an octave too low which is no big deal for right now. What I can't figure out is how to get that same MIDI file that I downloaded back into Create in its original form. Even if I preset the piano roll in Create for the GI 30 F scale it will import as a GI 30 note default and I lose the top notes. It also misses the timing after a while and skips beats, so to speak (ramp not smooth like original). Does any of this make sense? I'm trying to make sense of this and it's not making sense.

I bought one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0774TSP3T/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And I'm wondering if I should print out the Grand Illusions 30 Note version which is just plain (no text after description) or the one which says "Key of F"?

https://musicboxmaniacs.com/explore/melody/van-morrison-brown-eyed-girl_9422/

It's for my wife for Christmas. I'll probably print out from the link above and use that to punch one of the cards that came with it (might come up short, but should be okay)

So what would be cool is if a 140mm wide (20 Note) variation could be made for use to create punch rolls for a barrel organ... the online creation tool is awesome none the less

While I see suggestions that there are more than one manufacturer for 30-note music boxes, I see no evidence of that. All the photos from different suppliers seem to show exactly the same design – not even small changes that could be expected from a single manufacturer as they make slight changes over the years.

All the verifiable information I have seen seems to speak only of a music box tuned to the key of F, even though the paper strips all seem to be notated in the key of C, with the weird labelling of # notes. (For example, F# is written #F, which is confusing, since one might incorrectly assume that the # actually refers to the note before it.)

All of the comments about music boxes being different seem to be attributable to these two anomallies, and the resulting confusion.

1) Does anyone have any evidence that there are different manufacturers and not just many resellers?
2) Does anyone have any evidence that there are 30-note music boxes that are not in the key of F?

We are using the music boxes in live music performances of original music combining the music box with voice. While it is still possible sometimes to play some melodies in some adjacent keys, the existence of music boxes in other keys would enlarge our repertory possibilities.

Last 2 times when I printed 30 notes melodies, cut and punched them, and try them in the electric music box movement that is very delicate, that not play a melody if there is a mm difference, I realized that the actual size was very smaller than a 30 notes, ready to punch paper, so actually I have to punch entirely the whole melody, instead of printing, whats happening with the pdfs??

I want to print strips and it is easiest to use blank paper. What weight/type of paper is best?

It would be nice to have a way to see, on full range mode, which notes would not play on the 30 notes musicbox. Maybe a different color for those notes. With such feature, it would be easier to adjust the notes to fit the musicbox.

I am a user who likes video games.
If you have a song you want to hear in music box form, please let me know.

I'm just curious, why is there no c#4 on a music box? I was going to make a gift for someone really important to me but I can't because the melody uses notes that the box doesn't have. Any suggestions?

My music box gears squeak and it makes me nuts! Has anyone ever put a drop of sewing machine oil on the plastic gears? Did it work? If the squeaking continues or worsens, I just may have to try it. Thank you.