Robotic Mechanical electric player violin Violano Virtuoso

[glenstertx]

The tune played here is "The Little Things In Life"...

[daddybear1965]

whats up with filming it sideways???? i dont get it.. i've got a crick in my neck watching this video!!

[ReaperAP]

That is truly fascinating!

[ORUPRANKSTAZ]

I mean what ever happened to singing in the car or hitting your brother upside the head from the backseat? Even growing up in the 80's and 90's we didn't need that junk. Unfortunately, most people would rather not parent at all and just stick a video in front of their kids to keep them happy. We just had to shut our mouths or entertain ourselves. Don't get me wrong. At some point I did have a gameboy, but even on the trip I brought it on, I used it a couple of times. That's all.

[ORUPRANKSTAZ]

What you have to consider is how much these guys had to KNOW about these instruments in order to devise this kind of system. Pretty darned ingenious. Unfortunately, that kind of innovation is becoming lost as we saturate ourselves with a constant feed of information. What happened to us?

[ChristainPatriot01]

Indeed Sir, I agree. As a matter of fact, these instruments got a special Patent from the U.S goverment,which was also given to Alaxander Graham Bell for the invention of the telephone and Thomas Edison for the invention of the light bulb.

[ORUPRANKSTAZ]

Thank you for your reply! Unfortunately, you are in error. Both Edison and Graham Bell did not invent what they patented - Electric light bulbs had been a curiosity since as early as 1809, when Humphry Davy charged a charcoal strip between two wires. Edison merely PERFECTED the invention. Much like if wheels were at one time hexagonal, and I came along, made them round and put rubber on them.

Graham Bell simply had his lawyer request that his patent be processed immediately before Gray's.

[ChristainPatriot01]

actually sir I ment to say the U.S goverment gave those honorary pantents.

[music22589]

what song is that

[musicom67]

Interesting how the pianist had to maximize his left hand chord structures to make up for the lack of the piano having bass notes... More interesting is how the tempo seems to waver...Awesome machine!

[spongebobfan24]

o.o ..that's to cool lol

[crash6871]

That's way beter than an iPod

[tdub1941]

Very interesting and glad I got to see this one!

RagJazzMonkey

Tom Warner

[87364982764912847310]

incredible...

[earlnut]

The song is called "The Little Things In Life" Irving Berlin, 1930.

[ivrykeys]

Cool machine!

[PianoHead26]

That tune seems familiar, though I wouldnt know from the time era since I am only 27. But something about the tune, I dont know. Thanks for posting awesome instrument

[1947Desoto]

One Amazing Machine! Does anyone know the name of the tune?

[anibeth39]

Dang. Its really starting to make me feel strange. You know, when you listen to it, it makes you cry. Does it? How, about replacing these little wheels with a bow and an electric arm that gently glides the bow across the strings. I used to be a former cello player, so I know exactly what I mean by that.

[KawhackitaRag]

As you can probably tell by comparing this with other Violano-Virtuoso videos on Youtube, this instrument isn't exactly playing stellar here. Violanos are notoriously finicky to get sounding good, but when they are, they can sound quite nice.

[KawhackitaRag]

The other automatic violin player that was produced in quantity was the Hupfeld Phonoliszt-Violina. There are several videos of these on Youtube as well. They used an actual horsehair bow (as opposed to the rosined celluloid wheels here), though the "bow" is actually a rotating circular hoop which the violins press up against from the inside.

[KawhackitaRag]

Mills did actually try to make an automatic violin and cello combination, which they called the "Viol-Cello". Apparently, they never quite found a good way to finger the cello strings properly, so few were sold. Most collectors have not seen or heard one, and the one collector who claims to own one refuses to show it to anyone.

[anibeth39]

This is totally insane! I can not believe this!!! i have to show this video to my parents and they will fall for it!

[KawhackitaRag]

...The main thing I'm noticing is that the tempo seems to be uneven and erratic, though I'm not sure if that is due to the arrangements on that particular roll. I'm sure that such a fine museum as this will probably happily give it the requisite tune-up soon when they have time, as there's really not that much the matter. Nice shot of the bow wheels "in action"!

[KawhackitaRag]

Thanks for posting the Violano video. Though by far this is not the worst Violano I've heard, it is also not the best, either. Doubtless is was restored several decades ago and just needs a little attention now...