Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/06/18/smooth-criminal-on-a-victorian.html
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That beat tho.
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Dress the organ grinder up in red tails, top hat, and a fancy curled mustache and you’ve got something!
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I don’t spose there’s a machine you can buy but yeah, I’m sure this is the work of a MIDI-to-G-code script (both MIDI and G-code were consciously designed for this sort of tinkering, and most CNC hardware is custom to some extent). Or perhaps just an autistic person transcribing MIDI by hand.
But if you think about it, punching a paper roll is basically the same thing as using a MIDI sequencer anyway. Assuming there was never a machine to directly transcribe a live piano performance, recorded music was digital before it was ever analog.
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Fake piano rolls, MP3-“cassettes”… I wonder if someone already had the idea of sending e-papers via fax-machine. Virtual Documents - billion $$$ idea! Courts, management and lawyers will love it.
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I came here to say this! I’m glad to see I don’t need to spend time thinking about how to articulate what I want to say.
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And is controlled with an Apple II. A piano roll macine is like card puncher on steroids.
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One of my two most favorite YouTube videos! I think I’ve posted it a couple times in BB discussions already, but nice to see it get a top level post.
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Once my car stereo goes out, I think I will replace it with one of these!
“No officer, I wasn’t texting and driving. I was just swapping out songs on my barrel organ…”
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When this guy was young, the kids carrying tubas on the bus thought to themselves: Glad I didn’t pick the barrel organ.
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Thought I’d seen this in these parts recently - was looking to see if dupe post, but I guess it was courtesy of yourself in a discussion. Again, thanks. This is a WONDERFUL thing.
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OK, this thing can probably do shephard scales, so repurpose a small steam hammer as a mechanical Roland 909, source some magic lanterns for the visuals, and my drug-induced 90s fever-dream of Victorian-tech acid techno raves* can be a reality? JENKINS! Fetch me the coca extract and my opium pipe! It’s party time, by jingo!
*(the original extreeeeemley high plan was a Babbage engine to run the sequencer, but that may have been, well, optimistic, and clearly redundant…)
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Little-known fact: Many perfectly maintained musical instruments can be found near completely demolished buildings.
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I must confess, you have an astonishingly good idea there, Doctor.
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Why does he keep his organ out by the wood pile?
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I was pretty happy carrying my Miraphone 186 in its case to school. Went from scrawny to strong in those last HS years. 
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It’s a thing.
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