Abstract: The reason why the hand-cranked music box can play different music depends on the paper tape. Draw the staff on the paper tape, punch the holes in the appropriate position, and the hand-cranked music box can pass The movement and holes play music. The paper tape of the hand-cranked music box has certain requirements in terms of length, width, thickness and other specifications. It is usually matched with the music box. Paper tape punching is the key to playing hand-cranked music boxes. There are mainly methods of punching by yourself, computer software, printing and comparison punching. Let’s learn how to punch holes in a paper tape music box. 1. What are the requirements for the paper tape of a hand-cranked music box?

The hand-cranked music box is a type of mechanical music box. Its characteristic is that it can compose music with paper tapes by itself, and then insert the paper tape into the hand-cranked music box. The movement method can play different tracks, so what are the paper tape requirements for a hand-cranked music box?

The paper tape of the music box depends on the specifications of the music box. The merchant will remind you of the specifications of the paper tape when purchasing. You can also buy some extra paper tape for backup when buying a hand-cranked music box. Generally, ordinary hand-cranked music box paper Band requirements: length 670 mm, width 70 mm, thickness 0.3 mm, vertical 150 beats, horizontal 30 range, punch hole diameter 2 mm.

2. How to punch holes in a paper tape music box

The paper tape of a paper tape music box does not just need to draw the staff, but also needs to be punched in a fixed position to play the music. There are four main methods for punching holes in a music box:

1. Punch holes by yourself

According to the staff or simplified notation, arrange the music on the paper tape correspondingly, and follow each Make marks with a pencil, and then use a hole punch to punch holes on the paper tape. However, this method is more time-consuming, and the result may not sound very good.

2. Hole punching with computer software

Use computer music software such as Cubase, FLStudio to open the MIDI file of the track, and punch holes according to the audio track above. However, although MIDI tracks are very similar to paper tapes, and it is convenient and quick to punch holes, the music box does not have so many sounds, so you need to modify some places by yourself, which requires some knowledge of music theory and software editing experience.

3. Printing and punching

You need a printer, A4 paper, scissors and tape to print the electronic music chart of the track on the paper at a ratio of 1:1, making sure to leave white margins on both sides. , then cut it to the size required for the music box; then attach the paper to the previous paper tape. After confirming that the pitch size is moderate, use tape to fix it briefly before punching the hole.

4. Comparative hole punching

To put it simply, it is to follow the pattern of a cat and a tiger. Find paper tape that others have punched on the Internet, and then punch holes according to the drawing instructions.

Punching holes in the paper tape of the tape music box is also a troublesome task, but it is still very fulfilling to play music from the paper tape you made.