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All 30 note boxes that I know of are tuned to the key of F. 30 note paper strips are configured around the C major scale, but this isn't a problem--you will just hear the tune a bit higher than it sounds in MBM unless you use the GI30F setting.
On the frontpage of this webpage you'll see the news section, and you'll find a musicbox guide there too. It also lists the proper notes on 30 note music boxes. Also, the composing tool on this website also offers the 'correct notes' option.
Play the lowest and highest notes on your music box, and find them on a piano. On what we call an "F scale" music box, the lowest note is F, and the highest note is A. On what we call a "C scale" music box, the lowest note is C, and the highest note is E.
Like Erin said, it seems the only 30-note box you can buy today (on Amazon, for example) is F-scale. Obviously C-scale boxes existed at one point, but why can't you buy them today? I wish I knew. Someone in a factory in China made a decision one day, and every box since then has been F scale. But the included paper strips are still printed with the wrong notes in C scale! Which is very confusing for beginners.
And as much as I hate to do a "well actually," for the record, "F scale" box is a misnomer. The lowest note is F, but the 30 notes are native to a C scale. You can tell because the box's lowest and highest notes are diatonic to C major (C-D-E-F-G-A), while the middle notes are chromatic. (Similarly, what we call a "C scale" box is actually suited to songs in G major.) But I suppose the easier way to distinguish them is by their lowest note.
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in a good old way
All 30 note boxes that I know of are tuned to the key of F. 30 note paper strips are configured around the C major scale, but this isn't a problem--you will just hear the tune a bit higher than it sounds in MBM unless you use the GI30F setting.
On the frontpage of this webpage you'll see the news section, and you'll find a musicbox guide there too. It also lists the proper notes on 30 note music boxes. Also, the composing tool on this website also offers the 'correct notes' option.
Play the lowest and highest notes on your music box, and find them on a piano. On what we call an "F scale" music box, the lowest note is F, and the highest note is A. On what we call a "C scale" music box, the lowest note is C, and the highest note is E.
Like Erin said, it seems the only 30-note box you can buy today (on Amazon, for example) is F-scale. Obviously C-scale boxes existed at one point, but why can't you buy them today? I wish I knew. Someone in a factory in China made a decision one day, and every box since then has been F scale. But the included paper strips are still printed with the wrong notes in C scale! Which is very confusing for beginners.
And as much as I hate to do a "well actually," for the record, "F scale" box is a misnomer. The lowest note is F, but the 30 notes are native to a C scale. You can tell because the box's lowest and highest notes are diatonic to C major (C-D-E-F-G-A), while the middle notes are chromatic. (Similarly, what we call a "C scale" box is actually suited to songs in G major.) But I suppose the easier way to distinguish them is by their lowest note.
Thank you for advise! ;)