Tuesday 4 January 2011

Pandora's Briefcase: Harry Potter's Wand Box

It has been a while since I last opened Pandora's Briefcase; life has been a bit crazy, and the briefcase has been buried under more pressing life-matters.  But I thought now was the time to open it up and see if I could find some magic. This is what I found:


Looking for all the world to be a Wand Box from Ollivander's Wand Shop in Diagon Alley, it is only upon opening the box that you find something only slightly less interesting:





A Piano Roll is the music storage medium used to operate the player piano, pianola or a reproducing piano. The piano roll was the first medium which could be produced and copied industrially and made it possible to provide the customer with actual music quickly and easily. So says Wikipedia!


I was surprised to discover that three piano roll companies were initially established in Australia, one of which was still manufacturing and selling rolls right up until 2005!


I have attempted to track down a recording of the piece of music contained on this roll, but to no avail.  The closest I have come is a copy of the sheet music, found here.

A number of years ago I purchased a 61 key Casio keyboard from a local musical keyboard dealer and instructor, Geoff Long. On a whim I asked him if he knew where I could get my hands on a Piano Roll. With a quizzical look he asked if I were after any title in particular. I replied no, and explained the nature of Pandora's Briefcase. He asked me to wait a moment, and within minutes he came back with this little beauty.  I asked him how much it would cost me, and he said I could have it. I thank him for his generosity in helping keep Pandora's Briefcase so diverse.
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7 comments:

  1. Helen5 January 2011 at 09:19

    Bother. I should have asked for a look inside Pandora's briefcase while I was down. On the other hand, this way I get a trickle of treats throughout the year.

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  2. Jeff9 January 2011 at 15:18

    Just gotta say... this is very cool. And very cool the way you got ahold of it as well. Nice.

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  3. Lee11 January 2011 at 01:54

    Wow, you really are a collector of all formats of media! This is quite the piece, I wonder if you could track a player down and record the tune with a mic, it would be a nice preservation of a sound!

    I'm reminded I think of a Star Trek TNG where they found an alien music box or something and no one had heard the tune for centuries... Now I'm thinking it might have been Stargate... Or even another show completely!!!

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  4. SG-311 January 2011 at 12:24

    I suspect Lee you are thinking of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Survivors_(Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation)

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  5. Rob Torok12 January 2011 at 05:31

    Methinks Pandora's Briefcase must be *much* bigger on the inside!

    Helen, I think it's much better that you didn't get a sneak preview. I think it's cool imagining what else is in there, and finding out in the fullness of time.... (it's a good thing then that I've forgotten everything that I have been told about the collection in the past...)

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  6. SG-313 January 2011 at 19:13

    I have to confess that she is getting pretty tight in there, but I can say that at the moment the contents of Pandora's Briefcase are contained within Pandora's Briefcase! (I'm having to consider my options though - even if I do find a reasonably priced Sinclair Microdrive tape, I'm not sure even that will fit!)

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  7. MakeupAlley16 April 2019 at 21:26

    We all love Harry Potter don't we? This is so cool.

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