A large music box imitating a variety of orchestral instruments.

Usually coin operated, an orchestrion is a player piano that is outfitted with additional automatically controlled instruments such as pipes, xylophones, drums, cymbals, glockenspiels, triangles, wood blocks, tambourines and other instruments and effects. Orchestrions often have beautiful, ornate cases and art glass. (See the SOFI web page - click here)

An orchestrion is a generic name for a machine that plays music and is designed to sound like an orchestra or band. Orchestrions may be operated by means of a large pinned cylinder or by a Music roll and less commonly Book music. The sound is usually produced by pipes, though they will be voiced differently to those found in a pipe organ, as well as percussion instruments.