a unique interview on how to repair music boxes and other mechanical collectibles part 2

A Unique Interview on How to Repair Music Boxes and Other Mechanical Collectibles, Part 2Writen by Monique Hawkins

Ballerina Music Boxes, inlaid music boxes, musical jewelry boxes, cylinder music boxes, and antique music boxes are delicate and beautiful. As most music box and antique collectors know, in order to preserve them, sometimes repair and restoration is needed. For this special work, it is important to choose a company that is reputable and an expert in this area. This is the second part of an interview with music box and mechaical insturment repair and restoration expert, Mr. Jim Weir

Jim does all kinds of antique musical box repairs and restoration. His work includes comb repairs, releading and tuning, dampering, cylinder repairing, and organ bridge work. Jim also offers all manner of musical box work on disc and cylinder music boxes..Let's listen as he continues to give us an inside peek of this unique business.

6. What if your least favorite part of running your business? Your favorite part?

Paperwork. Dealing with taxes and Customs (although I've got quite good dealing with Customs and Carriers). My favorite part? There is a satisfaction in finally getting a job finished; there's also a fair amount of satisfaction in finally getting paid.

7. What are some of your favorite music box and collectible pieces and why?

A 26 consul model Stella. It belonged to the late Bruce Devine and literally arrived in pieces (it had been dropped from a crane while being loaded). Originally Bruce gave it to one of my trade customers, who passed it on to me. Then my trade customer ducked out of the deal, and I ended up working direct for Bruce. It was an `interesting' experience and quite a steep learning curve. At the end though, the box did sound good. Excellent tune arrangements.

8. Is there any interesting history associated with some of your pieces?

I don't collect musical boxes; without being funny I genuinely cannot afford to. Some of the pieces I've worked on have had `history'; as an example the Stella referred to above. Another would be a rare long and short pin Forte-Piano box (maker unknown) I overhauled for a customer in France. It had a silver presentation plaque in the lid; as far as I could gather it was presented to a Mayor in 1847 for some kind of `service to the townspeople'. I'm not up on French politics, but the middle of the 19th century were turbulent times. One of the nicest stories is a box I fully restored for an old lady in Edinburgh. She was in her 70's. The box had been in her family since new, and she had last heard it play when she was a child.

9. What important advice or tips would you give to someone who would like to start a business such as yours either online or offline?

I wouldn't. Things move faster now that we have the Internet. To get fully involved in this kind of work takes time, which the whole `I want it NOW' approach of the Internet doesn't favor. I was lucky in that I had a skill with clocks that I was able to sharpen and direct to music box work. If I had to give advice, I'd say by all means get involved with music boxes, or whatever else begins to drive you, but try to maintain a backup. The wisest thing? Learn that `quitting' is not necessarily a personal failure; it's recognizing that some choices can turn out to be wrong. There are maybe a few music box repairers who would be happier now if, 30 years ago, they'd sold their lathes, workshop tools etc. and taken up farming. Not me though, I hasten to add.

10. For those antique and music box collectors looking to find valuable and interesting pieces for their own collections, where would you suggest they go either online or offline? How about those who are just starting a collection?

Take advice from your friends. Don't necessarily follow it, but give it some thought. Subscribe to music box sale catalogues, it's a good way to check what things actually sell for; they often give the hammer price of items from previous sales. Go to music box auctions if you can; not necessarily to buy anything but to observe, to get a feel not just for how much pieces sell for, but for what sells and what doesn't. Try to figure out why what looked like a nice box didn't sell. If you're really interested in buying a specific musical box, either from a dealer, private seller or at auction it can save you a lot of heartache if you get someone who knows what they're looking at to check the box over and advise you of likely repair costs before you buy it.

A lot of repair costs can be itemized; if a potential customer emailed or wrote to me (even `phoned me) with a good description of a box needing repair, I would do my best to advise them as to how much the repairs could cost before they part up with maybe a lot of money to buy it. I don't charge for this and neither do most restorers; having given advice we all hope for the work if the customer goes on and buys the box. If the box is a particularly fine example, and likely to be expensive to buy, it's can be worth paying a restorers time for them to go and check it out at the sellers address. I've done this; a collector armed with an itemized potential repair cost of something he's interested in buying is in a very strong position when it comes to arguing the sale price with the seller.

Jim ends with saying this about his hopes for the future:

To bring in more work and pay off the mortgage. Ok, there's a lot more to life than that but one way or another, the bills still have to be paid. Most of my work to now has come from dealers; what I'm hoping is that by advertising in the MBSI Journal, I'll attract more work direct from the public. In theory I could put up my public prices, but in practice I cannot, at least not to customers in the USA. They already have to pay shipping costs, and the simple fact is that whether a musical box needs comb work, cylinder work or a full restoration, there's a top limit to how much most people will pay to have it worked on, irrespective of how long the work takes. People have to make choices; your car's broke, your washing machine leaks and the antique music box you inherited from your Grandmother squeaks. Which one do you spend your money on? That's about it really; the sun's shining and it's time to get back to the workshop.

I'd like to personally thank Jim for taking the time to share with us this valuable information about his business as well as letting us get a sneak peak into the world of music box repairs and restoration. Jim Weir can be reached at combwork@aol.com or by telephone/fax at 01144-1575-572647.

Established in May of 2005, http://www.My-Music-Box.com is a music box gift store specializing in products such as inlaid ballerina music boxes for ballerina rooms dcor, whimsical carousel music boxes, and musical jewelry boxes. The company provides interesting information for music lovers of all ages. Owner Monique Hawkins is also the author of the blog What You Never Knew About Music http://whatyouneverknewaboutmusic.blogspot.com, and owner of the eBay store Monique's Music Box at: http://stores.ebay.com/Moniques-Music-Box Monique can be contacted at (540) 858-2885.

do you like madonnas music

Do You Like Madonna's MusicWriten by Douglas Bower

Madonna's music: I could care less about it. Madonna's stage and video acts: Nope! I do not like her music, although she is a talented singer and dancer. I loved her in Evita. But her popular stuff, I would never spend a dime on it.

Notice I don't say it's trash and YOU should not waste your money on it. I cannot say it because the reality is enough people like it to have made the woman a Gazillionaire many times over. For me to say it's a waste of money, or I want to prevent others from throwing their money away would not just be ridiculous but I would make myself look stupid. That I do not like Madonna's music does not constitute proof for my belief it is bad music and the consequent claim her music is a waste of your money. To come out publicly and say something like,

Don't waste your money.

What worthless amateurish drivel.

There is absolutely nothing worthwhile in her music.

and not offer proof for your claim is not just ridiculously silly but grossly irresponsible. It is not a well thought-out, and well-structured argument. It is, if you think about it, hurtful to the person you claim to be criticizing.

I happen to have been a music major at the University of Kansas. I also had enough hours to take a minor in music theory and composition. I have, therefore, a unique perspective in making a judgment call, evaluation, or review on the musicality of Madonna's music. If I wanted to review Madonna's music, I would do so as a musician. I would have the background and skills to make an informed, rational, and critical review. I would not be reviewing her music based on my personal tastes. That would be unfair. I would do so with insight and would say things related to the musicality of her music.

I would not say, Don't waste your money on her music because I didn't care for it.

That would not be a review.

I do not even know what to call it: screed?

And besides, it is unfair to the artist and maybe even unethical. Just because YOU spent money on a CD or a concert ticket and were disappointedit did not appeal to YOUR tastesdoes not give you license to trash it. Others who have a higher degree of musical training than you may see the situation differently. They may contradict you with an insightful review.

I guess some people do not care when they are made to look silly.

Much of the American public does not know how to give an insightful review of a book, concert, singer, opera, or whatever. They make their judgments based on whether or not it appealed to them and not whether it met the objective standards of its genre.

Your tastes are not the objective criteria by which to judge anything done by someone else. At best, all you can say to someone is, I didn't like it, but I may be wrong.

Many also review a play, concert, book, or movie based on what they thought it should be and not for what it was. They review a travelogue as though it was a piece of fiction and that is wrong. They complain over something that they believed (subjectivism) should have been in the book as though the author was supposed to know this to prevent their nasty disappointment and subsequent vicious screed.

And here is the kicker: They will trash something without a modicum of insight in the face of wonderful reviewers who bothered to do their homework and offer insightful reviews.

Lack of Insight Reviewer: There was absolutely nothing worthwhile in thisdo not waste you money.

Insightful Reviewer: This work has the ring of authenticity and one of the best I've seen on the market today.

So, who's right?

Some will say that the fact they spent THEIR money on the work entitles them to trash it.

Ahhhhthe joys of I am an Entitled American!

Well, I still wouldn't pay a dime for a Madonna's concert, CD, or video.

But, I could be wrong.

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jazz hiphop blues

Jazz, Hip-Hop, BluesWriten by Sharon White

America, the big melting pot, has always been influencing the music of the whole world. It gave birth to many different styles and music traditions. Jazz, Hip-Hop and Blues are the three most known and most popular traditions that also originated in the US.

One of the most famous of musical traditions is that of the Blues. It has also been one of the most influential, paving the way for many other new styles of music. Blues, a distinct style of music, began to emerge around the 1860's. After the civil war, the newly freed Afro-American people were presented with a new difficulty. They had been removed from the lives that they had previously known and thrown into a new life, a life of segregation and contempt. The American culture could no longer condone the use of slavery, but it was not ready to accept the new free men and women into their society either. Many had to travel the country in search of work. These people were mostly men and those of whom music appealed to most took up instruments such as the guitar and harmonica because these instruments were cheap and easy to travel with. It was in this setting of a sense of deep segregation that the blues was born.

The distinction that made Blues so different from other music was it's clear roots from the work song of the olden days. The early blues artists and even the later Jazz musicians used their instruments as extensions of their voice. The rhythms that they made were in the same non-syncopated form as the work song had been and the sounds were meant to mimic the human voice. It was in this way that the blues became even more significant and even more successful in their effort to convey emotion.

Travelling Blues shows, Minstrelsies, began to tour the country. As a result, Blues began to be heard everywhere, and it began to influence more and more people. It was still primarily black music listened to by black people, but that soon began to change.

The first seeds in the roots of Jazz music were sewn in the early 1900's around 1914 when Afro-Americans began to migrate north. There were a number of reasons for this; many blacks were attracted by the opportunity of good jobs and a better and freer life in the North; while others simply sought to flee the poverty, slavery, and segregation of the South. The American dream was drawing these particular Americans forth much as it did with the early pioneers of the west. Up the river went the new Blues and a new kind of music went with it.

Around the time of Napoleon, military bands increased in popularity and were all very well received by the French. This led to an increased importation of brass band instruments to all the French settlements, including those in New Orleans and other parts of America. Creoles (mixed breeds- usually part black, part French and sometimes part Indian) who were usually well-educated freemen became infatuated with these instruments and the sounds that they could make. The migrating Southern Afro-Americans soon caught on to these new instruments as they socialised with the Creoles on their journey North. Incorporating the sounds of blues and the same non-western syncopated rhythms that had been brought from Africa, a new breed of music began to grow. It was simply a variation of traditional marching band music, but it began to change as blues became more and more prevalent. First Ragtime, and then Jass, or Jazz.

From New Orleans, jazz moved up river with the Black Americans travelling North, and in the house parties of the 20's and 30's it gained momentum. Where the Blues was the devil's music to many of the black middle class, Jazz was acceptable. Black music was extremely popular in the clubs and parties of the 20's. Jazz also made it possible for Afro-American music to be imitated for the first time by white musicians, which was a sign of things to come. The broad emotional meaning of the genre allowed such cross-cultural developments without being 'watered down'. Free Jazz and Hard Bop were all examples of the experimentation the musicians of the time were making to elevate the sound. It became more and more popular and as time went on more and more musicians began to try new ideas with Jazz, increasing its popularity along the way. Jazz is still popular today, and exists in many different forms and styles e.g. Be Bop, Hard Bop, Free Jazz, Modern Jazz, Avant Garde, Swing, Fusion and Latin Jazz.

The third and final American musical tradition is Hip-Hop/Rap music. Hip-Hop/Rap came into being around about 1978. Rock n' Roll music was extremely popular and was very much a part of American culture, but it had long lost its Afro-American association and the Blacks were eager for another style of music to call their own. Funk's sound and rhythms did not evolve into Hip Hop, but it did set the ball rolling. There are several elements to Hip Hop, which were defined in the streets during the late '70'srappin', DJing, break dancing and graffiti writing. Hip Hop was, and still is, its own subculture, and that culture had its own voice.

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