Komponium

Komponium (Engl., Fr.: componium), a remarkable instr. invented by Dietrich Nikolaus Winkel of Amsterdam, built in 1821, now preserved in the Brussels Conservatoire museum. It comprises: 1) an orchestrion with pinned cylinders, 5 stops of organ pipes on 1 chest and 3 on another, a triangle, and a drum; 2) an automatic composing machine that can compose variations on a given theme, by means of rotating cylinders that alternate 2 bars of silence with 2 bars of sound, adjusted so that one plays…