A Music Box Is Secretly an Engineering Marvel

You give the handle a few cranks and mind to it plink out a few seconds of Twinkle , Twinkle , Little Star , but if you were to crack open up a medicine box and dig deep into the mechanics of how it solve , you ’d find somedeceptively simple but smart as a whip engineeringthat ’s been refined over the centuries .

Before streaming sound , MP3s , CDs , cassette tapeline , records , and even wax cylinder , the medicine corner was how mass listened to music at home . So while these days they ’re regale as a novelty , many old age ago there was good reason to perfect their sound and engine room .

After watching‘Engineer Guy ’ Bill Hammackexplain how precisely a euphony boxwood whole kit and caboodle , you in all likelihood wo n’t be scramble to cancel yourSpotifysubscription . But you ’ll certainly be far more impressed the next sentence you hear one plinking out a recognisable strain . [ YouTube ]