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A house of musical treasures. Visitor response? 'Wow'

By Michael G. Williams - THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

In an age of mass-produced digital gadgets, it seems as though the old world crafts created at the hands of skilled artisans have been lost and forgotten. But those who enter the Musical Wonder House in Wiscasset, Maine, go back to a time long before the microchip, when the family parlor was the seat of entertainment, and something as simple as a music box, a source of amusement and conversation.

Housed in a 32-room sea captain's mansion built in 1852, this museum pays homage to the machines that brought music into the well-to-do homes of the 19th century. Since it opened to the public in 1963, its collection has grown to include more than 5,000 mechanical musical instruments that fill rooms decked out in Victorian opulence.

As visitors move about the first and second floors, their eyes take in music boxes, player grand pianos and organs, musical birds, furniture, clocks, steins, and paintings, all arranged to demonstrate the progression of this technology over time. The unusual theme of this varied collection, combined with the shimmering sounds they make, leave most on the tour in a state of sensory overload, entranced by the surroundings.

Musical Tour

This was the feeling that Joseph Villani got when he first toured the museum as a 10-year-old boy. In fact, the experience left such an impression that he and his business partner, Paulo Carvalho, purchased the Wonder House in 2006 from the original owner, Danilo Konvalinka.

"When people first walk into the Musical Wonder House, the first word we usually hear them say is, 'Wow!'" Villani says with a laugh. "They're just really impressed with the presentation of machines that play with bells, whistles, triangles, and drums, all interspersed in different items."

These items to which Villani refers include everything from ornate wood boxes, bearing intricate carvings and metal inlays, to musical paintings that date back to the 1850s. Even more surprising to visitors is the set of musical furniture that once belonged to Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, whose assassination in 1914 sparked World War I.

Just as interesting as the artifacts are the mechanisms inside, where meticulously engineered parts work together in perfect synchronicity to produce the elaborate, twinkling arrangements that have captivated people for centuries. While these devices depend on a series of gears and springs, the most prominent components are a toothed, metal cylinder and several steel strips that make up something called a "comb".

Once wound, the mainspring turns the cylinder, and the teeth pluck the comb's individual steel strips, playing a tune in the process.

The art of music box repair

It may seem fairly simple, but all of these moving parts and the passage of time can bring with them a host of problems. In addition to its role as a museum, the Musical Wonder House also repairs and restores mechanical musical instruments, working on roughly 500 music boxes every year.

"Some of the problems we see are the result of people taking their music boxes apart themselves, which can cause the spring to unwind and break teeth and gears," Villani says. "Also, some of the old music boxes used oils that, over time, thicken and stick together to the point where you can't move any of the gears or the spring. We have to take them apart, ultrasonically clean them piece by piece, and then check and reassemble them."

In other cases, the problem is one of tuning, usually due to the use of low-quality steel or the lack of a mechanical tuner at the time of the music box's manufacture. Typically, repair technicians can correct this simply by filing the comb's strips until they produce the proper pitch.

In some cases, though, where parts of the comb are broken or missing, technicians must machine a brand new one, and that can be a long and involved process.

"When making a new steel comb, you first have to cut it into teeth," explains Villani. "Then you heat treat them so that they'll vibrate, and from there, you file each one by hand until it's at the length that gives it the proper pitch."

As Villani describes each step, the blend of instinct and attention to detail required to create these seemingly simple devices is, to say the least, eye-opening. This reaction, he confesses, is a common one.

"Usually people are rather surprised with the intricacy of mechanical musical instruments," he says. "Most who come through, either for a tour or to have something repaired, don't have any idea just how complex they can be."

This surprise strikes a welcomed note for those tired of the fast pace of a high-tech world. The Musical Wonder House, with its diverse holdings, is an oasis that gives its visitors a taste of simpler amusements.