Music boxes come in a variety of styles and sounds. They are typically a wind-up mechanism with a set of metal tines of different lengths. These interact with either a disc or cylinder that has a varied surface, so that the tines are struck in a specific pattern that plinks out the notes of a song. Because of the intricate pieces necessary to create them, some of the best music boxes were made by watchmakers.
Lately, it does not take a highly skilled craftsman to create music boxes. The parts can be made and assembled by machine very easily. There are many styles, from the classic jewelry box design to snow globes and dolls. You can choose almost any song and have it made into a cylinder for music boxes, even recording your own melody and sending it to the manufacturer. The defining characteristic of modern music boxes seems to be the music, not the box!
One of the most wonderful kinds of music boxes is the jewelry box style with the figure inside. In these music boxes, when you lift the lid of the box, a tune plays and a small doll pops up and twirls. Sometimes this is done with a shaft connected to the dancer that goes down and interacts with the mechanism, sometimes it is done with magnets attached to the gears and figure, respectively. Either way, it makes opening a box a magical experience.
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