Kikkerland Make Your Own Music Box Kit, Siler

With 15 notes and a small price point I didn’t know what to expect. The box sounds really nice. Warm deep and sentimental. Just like I would want a music box to sound like. I did not think I could have so much fun, plotting melodies and punching holes. It is a manual process and can be tedious if you look at it that way. But you end up making a product that is completely analog and mechanical. And there is something very special to me about that. It sounds so pretty and it is fun to make your own custom tunes.This is not chromatic, so the note range is very limited. But the constraints are good for creativity. I think. And I am practicing on a 15 note before jumping into a 30 note music box.I think I found a new hobby.

Works great. Here is a bit more information for those who want to compose some songs for this.First, someone made a printable sheet that you can use for regular letter-sized paper (8.5" x 11.0"). Just google "Kikkerland goodies sheet" and you'll find the guy's project. I used 110 lb paper but I hear that other similar sizes will work, too. I don't know why they made it so expensive, so if you print your own then you'll be set for life. You can also tape multiple music papers together for a length like the refills. If you really cannot get any cardstock paper for some reason, you can glue two or three pieces of regular printer paper together, and that will also work.Second, the gears have 4 little hooks that catch onto the holes. If you are trying to play a note twice very quickly, it might miss the second hole. Make sure they are about 8mm apart from each other. On the paper I linked above, that means that if you put a note on one of the vertical bars, you have to skip the next one before you can play it again. This is not an issue for different notes being played quickly.Also, this is just personal preference, but I feel that the happy birthday song they give you is spaced out too much. It feels like you have to crank like mad to get it to play at a normal speed. If you halve the distances, you run into the risk of the above issue, but you can crank at a leisurely pace.Third, if you don't have a wooden box for acoustics, you can just use either one of the two cardboard boxes that comes with it. It also comes with 3 little screws, so if you really want, you can screw it into place so it doesn't wobble so much.Fourth, yes, it is diatonic, which means it covers two octaves and no sharps or flats. CDEFGABCDEFGABC. Sometimes this is okay if you can transpose the song, but more complicated songs won't work on this. Get a 30-note music box for that or something larger.Fifth, someone already mentioned Music Box Composer for Android. It's $3.50 and works very well. The controls are awkward sometimes, but the sound quality is good and it has a cool 3D music box sharing option.If anybody can find a good way to store and share songs, that would be great. So far I haven't found anything.

Would be complete if a sound box was attached, and also if some example music sheets were available for us to punch

If any of you have tried to make a custom music movement before, you know how time consuming/expensive it can be! I didn't know how well this thing would work, but I figured it would be much cheaper and easier to do, and I was right! Actually, it works very smoothly and sounds beautiful. The hand crank can be a little annoying, but once you mount it (wood works best for amplifying the sound), it's not half bad! But let me also give you a cheat if you don't want to waste time fixing errors on your punching and trying to figure out what it will all sound like when you're finished: There's this WONDERFUL app I found called: "Music Box Composer" for Android and Google. It sucks they don't have it for PC because that would be SO much easier to work, but my boyfriend has an Android phone and I stole it from him to find this app. It is an exact replica (on the 15 note setting) of your music strips! You can move the notes around easily and play the song through your phone until you are content with how it sounds. Then you can easily copy the note placement from your phone to your music strip using the hole punch without making unnecessary mistakes. I'm so glad I found both this contraption as well as the app, and I look forward to buying more for my friends to enjoy! :)

It's okay. But sort of a disappointment for me because the song I wanted it to play does not exactly work. I was under the impression it could play any song that falls in that 2 octave range, and is short enough to fit on the strips. But that's not exactly true. The problem I have is that consecutive eighth notes (of the same repeating note) do not play. It can handle eighth. But only if the note changes. For instance A-B-C-D is fine. A-A-A-A is not. Repeating notes cant be less than a quarter. Otherwise, it just sort of buzzes. Rather than a crisp chime. Unfortunately, my tune has a few of those conditions. And I was hoping to give this as a gift. So like I said, a disappointment. This is mentioned in the instruction booklet. But did not see this anywhere on the listing prior to purchase. I don't know much about music boxes in general. Maybe it's a common thing.Otherwise, hole-punching is a little tricky. Getting the hole lined up. I think I only messed that up once. Says I can fix with tape. I haven't tried that yet though.Also, don't care for the included Happy Birthday song. But that's not what I got it for anyway.All in all, it's alright provided you have a song that fits the conditions.