musical box

Toy musical instrument made in various shapes of decorative boxes and containing a cylinder with pins which, turning round by clockwork, twangs the teeth of a metal comb producing the notes of a musical scale. The pins are arranged so as to make the pattern of a piece of music. Several sets of pins can be set in the barrel, only one touching the teeth at a time, a choice of more than one piece being thus capable of being produced by the simple device of shifting the barrel slightly sideways. The musical box industry is traditionally centred in Switzerland.