How it works?
The crank musical mechanism is a type of musical box mechanism that works with a cylinder that moves while manually turning a crank. Unlike the wind-up mechanism that sounds automatically without the need to touch the mechanism, the crank mechanism has at its end a metal crank that is turned clockwise by hand to transmit the circular motion to a cylinder, which has a series of spikes that make the tines sound, generating the song, which will sound repeated in a loop. The maximum duration of the musical fragment is around 18 seconds, and it is not possible to extend it as a general rule.
To achieve an optimal volume result, it is necessary that the mechanism is in contact with a rigid surface, such as the base of a box or any other element to which it can be anchored. In this way, the vibrations of the comb containing the picks will be transmitted to the surface of the other material and the volume will be amplified. The sound of this mechanism directly in the air is almost inaudible.
The speed of the song will be directly related to the speed at which the crank is turned. Depending on the song, you will have to adjust the turning speed to make it sound natural, not too slow and not too fast. In addition, you can vary the speed as required; the more you play the song, the more familiar you will become with it and be able to find the exact speeds for your performance.
It is the simplest music box mechanism and the one with the fewest parts, being also the most economical of all. A box with this type of mechanism can be found from 7€ - 35€. It consists only of a metal structure, a crank that transmits the movement to a cylinder, and the comb with the tines that vibrate when the spikes of the cylinder hit them.
We can install it in practically all the boxes that we have in our online store as well as offering it without a box with more than 1000 possible melodies. You can follow the link below to buy a crank mechanism with one of the most popular melodies or visit our online store to see all the music boxes with crank mechanism. You will be able to see all the customization options within the tab of each product, as well as calculate the total price of your purchase as you choose the different options you will find.
If you want a specific melody you can search for it in our melodies section. Melodies that can be performed on a crank or wind-up mechanism will have the above image.