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Hi guys, I'm having trouble with my first music box creation.. I've punched out the holes on my paper strip but when I play my melody through the music box it sounds all wrong, like it's in a minor key or something. I've double checked the notation and I can't see any errors.. the timing of the music is perfect but the melody is way off. Any ideas where I could be going wrong? Any help appreciated.
When I was making my first melody on the music box I discovered that the paper strip I was using had the wrong notescale written in the margin. If this is your issue, the correct scale can be found in the create section.
I'm having the same issue, at first I used the paper strips that came with box and did a test run of the c major scale and a few notes were off, like they were flat or something, then I printed off a tune (the strip sizes here are slightly smaller than the ones I received with the box so I figured that could be a factor) here on card and I'm still having the same issue. Now I'm wondering if my music box is actually out of tune or just both strip sizes are totally incorrect for my music box.
Thanks guys, I will check its not the note scale at fault. I have this music box: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Music-Material-Crank-Movement-30notes/dp/B00LAREP6M I'm using the strips that came with it. They fit perfectly but it's as if the punched holes and the 'teeth' aren't aligned. I have tried it with the printout strips too but same thing is happening. Am I punching the holes in the correct place? Could it be something simple like that?
The size of the print outs should match the size of the strips provided with your music box. If that's not the case, you should double check your print settings, in particular paper size and page scale. Sometimes the comb of the music box might be slightly off the grid. You can try fixing it by removing the top metal plate (the one with a tiny spring), loosening the bolts, that are holding the comb and moving the comb slightly to match the lines on the paper strips. This shouldn't void the warranty if you do it carefully :)
@TechnoJelly as about your test with C major on the original paper strips, I'd recommend you to contact the seller and exchange your music box to a new one, because it sounds like yours is simply out of tune.
Think I've figured out my problem. Robobermann is right. The note scale on the strips provided with the music box is slightly different to the note scale in the 'create' section on this site. The C,C#,D,D# are in differing orders, which explains why my composition, written in the key of A, sounds wrong. I'll try punching out the composition again with this in mind. I'll let you know how I get on.
Could you please upload a photo of your paper strip somewhere and post a link to it here? I'm really curious to see it, if your assumption about the incorrect scale is valid :)
@Robobermann thanks for the picture. As I can read it, the scale goes like this: B, C, C#, D, D#. It looks a little confusing, but the sharp signs seem to be placed on the top left of the note letters, at least according to what you can see in the top row. Does this order match your music box?
ok, I get it now. I was getting confused because the # symbols are on the left of the note letters and I'm used to seeing them on the right. I've got my tune sorted now, thanks for the help :)
Another confusing factor to remember is that, at least on my 30-note mechanism, the names of the pitches (C, D, G, A B, C, D, E, F, F#, etc.) DO NOT correspond with the same-named notes on a standard keyboard. For Instance, the teeth marked "C" on my comb actually sound the pitch "F" on a piano, however the INTERVALS between adjacent teeth (half-step/whole-step/etc.) ARE accurate. Why "they" decided to structure the mechanisms this way, I have no idea, but it can be wildly confusing to the uninitiated. I have not examined the 15 or 20-note mechanisms to see if they have a different "offset" from the 30-note comb or if the same offset is maintained across all models.
So, I've spent the better part of a day researching mechanisms, reading these forums, etc. Are there NO replacement paper rolls that have accurate, corresponding notes? This sounds like a hellish undertaking for an original piece if that is the case! BTW, I'm looking at the Wingostore 30 note model if anyone has any input about that :)
Maybe the F-scale strips will be accurate? I've just discovered this problem for myself--I thought I might run into it, since I just got my first music box yesterday and went to town punching a song (that is now at least four steps lower than the original). If I have to transpose every melody I've ever done into F-scale, I'll be a bit frustrated, especially since I haven't been using this notation long so it's still so new and confusing.
I noticed the note names written on the strips say things like #F rather than F#. In some cases, if you're thinking that way, you could mistake the # sign as being attached to the previous note. Also, on the right side of the supplied strips, the printed note names are off a bit. Don't quite line up. I'm not overly impressed with that.
Hi! judging by the photo everything is correct, but I had something similar. In the photo, you can see that the note RE was punched and I confused it with the note RE #, which is why a similar error occurred. Maybe we should check the notes again.
I just got a music box mechanism off of Amazon. Brand: Pursuestar. That should have been a warning, I guess. There were no instructions included, so I watched an unrelated video on YouTube, which was very comprehensive and informative. I was excited to begin. I had constructed a melody on Garageband and was trying to transfer the notes onto the music box. I did tests... many tests... and none of the notes had any correlation to an actual keyboard. I started to get angry and stressed. I wanted to smash it into tiny pieces, but held back because the pleasure of destroying this piece of junk wouldn't have been worth the $35 I paid for it, so I packed it up and am going to return it. Rather than spending lots of time and effort trying to figure out work-arounds for poorly made products, it would be nice if the manufacturers improved their standards and made products that actually work the way they're intended. It happens WAY too often.
All music boxes now sold online are F-scale, and all the paper sold is C-scale. Took me a while to figure it out. I wish we could buy one or the other, but they're all made in China with no proper specs.
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When I was making my first melody on the music box I discovered that the paper strip I was using had the wrong notescale written in the margin. If this is your issue, the correct scale can be found in the create section.
Sorry to hear that. What type of music box do you have? And also, are you printing strips or using the ones, that were provided with the music box?
I'm having the same issue, at first I used the paper strips that came with box and did a test run of the c major scale and a few notes were off, like they were flat or something, then I printed off a tune (the strip sizes here are slightly smaller than the ones I received with the box so I figured that could be a factor) here on card and I'm still having the same issue.
Now I'm wondering if my music box is actually out of tune or just both strip sizes are totally incorrect for my music box.
Thanks guys, I will check its not the note scale at fault. I have this music box: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Music-Material-Crank-Movement-30notes/dp/B00LAREP6M
I'm using the strips that came with it. They fit perfectly but it's as if the punched holes and the 'teeth' aren't aligned. I have tried it with the printout strips too but same thing is happening.
Am I punching the holes in the correct place? Could it be something simple like that?
The size of the print outs should match the size of the strips provided with your music box. If that's not the case, you should double check your print settings, in particular paper size and page scale. Sometimes the comb of the music box might be slightly off the grid. You can try fixing it by removing the top metal plate (the one with a tiny spring), loosening the bolts, that are holding the comb and moving the comb slightly to match the lines on the paper strips. This shouldn't void the warranty if you do it carefully :)
@TechnoJelly as about your test with C major on the original paper strips, I'd recommend you to contact the seller and exchange your music box to a new one, because it sounds like yours is simply out of tune.
Think I've figured out my problem. Robobermann is right. The note scale on the strips provided with the music box is slightly different to the note scale in the 'create' section on this site. The C,C#,D,D# are in differing orders, which explains why my composition, written in the key of A, sounds wrong.
I'll try punching out the composition again with this in mind. I'll let you know how I get on.
Could you please upload a photo of your paper strip somewhere and post a link to it here? I'm really curious to see it, if your assumption about the incorrect scale is valid :)
I have an image of the GI30 paper strip with the incorrect notes here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cgYgTl9OgfSLJN9hP0hjsW8d41H6a1PS/view?usp=sharing. It seems to have the same errors as tristandickenson has described.
@Robobermann thanks for the picture. As I can read it, the scale goes like this: B, C, C#, D, D#. It looks a little confusing, but the sharp signs seem to be placed on the top left of the note letters, at least according to what you can see in the top row. Does this order match your music box?
ok, I get it now. I was getting confused because the # symbols are on the left of the note letters and I'm used to seeing them on the right. I've got my tune sorted now, thanks for the help :)
@MusicBoxManiacs That is correct, though it looks a lot like B, C#, C, D#, D on the strip.
Another confusing factor to remember is that, at least on my 30-note mechanism, the names of the pitches (C, D, G, A B, C, D, E, F, F#, etc.) DO NOT correspond with the same-named notes on a standard keyboard. For Instance, the teeth marked "C" on my comb actually sound the pitch "F" on a piano, however the INTERVALS between adjacent teeth (half-step/whole-step/etc.) ARE accurate. Why "they" decided to structure the mechanisms this way, I have no idea, but it can be wildly confusing to the uninitiated. I have not examined the 15 or 20-note mechanisms to see if they have a different "offset" from the 30-note comb or if the same offset is maintained across all models.
Thank you. The placement of the # was driving me crazy.
So, I've spent the better part of a day researching mechanisms, reading these forums, etc. Are there NO replacement paper rolls that have accurate, corresponding notes? This sounds like a hellish undertaking for an original piece if that is the case! BTW, I'm looking at the Wingostore 30 note model if anyone has any input about that :)
Maybe the F-scale strips will be accurate? I've just discovered this problem for myself--I thought I might run into it, since I just got my first music box yesterday and went to town punching a song (that is now at least four steps lower than the original). If I have to transpose every melody I've ever done into F-scale, I'll be a bit frustrated, especially since I haven't been using this notation long so it's still so new and confusing.
I noticed the note names written on the strips say things like #F rather than F#. In some cases, if you're thinking that way, you could mistake the # sign as being attached to the previous note. Also, on the right side of the supplied strips, the printed note names are off a bit. Don't quite line up. I'm not overly impressed with that.
Hi! judging by the photo everything is correct, but I had something similar. In the photo, you can see that the note RE was punched and I confused it with the note RE #, which is why a similar error occurred. Maybe we should check the notes again.
I just got a music box mechanism off of Amazon. Brand: Pursuestar. That should have been a warning, I guess. There were no instructions included, so I watched an unrelated video on YouTube, which was very comprehensive and informative. I was excited to begin. I had constructed a melody on Garageband and was trying to transfer the notes onto the music box. I did tests... many tests... and none of the notes had any correlation to an actual keyboard. I started to get angry and stressed. I wanted to smash it into tiny pieces, but held back because the pleasure of destroying this piece of junk wouldn't have been worth the $35 I paid for it, so I packed it up and am going to return it. Rather than spending lots of time and effort trying to figure out work-arounds for poorly made products, it would be nice if the manufacturers improved their standards and made products that actually work the way they're intended. It happens WAY too often.
All music boxes now sold online are F-scale, and all the paper sold is C-scale. Took me a while to figure it out. I wish we could buy one or the other, but they're all made in China with no proper specs.
The notes on my music box are e,g,c,d,e,f,g,a,a#,b,c,c#,d,d#,e,f,f#g,g#,a,a#,b,c,c#,d,d#,e,f,g,a.
Very confusing, no strips match it and the creator is very hard to use for this.
They should make a Version pitched in the Key of C which is a big bigger
Maybe we should check the notes again.