30 Songs for the 15 Note Music Box

The 15 note music box with paper tape music is a musical instrument which produces a melody programmed on paper tape. The paper tape is fed across a comb. The comb is a like a multi-pronged tuning fork made out of steel with fifteen different lengths of teeth.  Each tooth represents a different note.  The longer the tooth, the lower the note or frequency because the tooth vibrates slower. The shorter the tooth, the higher the note or frequency because the tooth vibrates faster. These vibrations create the sound which create the melody. The holes in the paper tape correspond to different notes. When a hole is encountered in the paper tape, the corresponding note is played because there is a prong sticking up which engages the corresponding tooth on the comb.

Music boxes have been around since the 18th century. Key features of music are pitch (fundamental frequency and harmonics) and timbre (amplitude of harmonic frequencies and resonance of specific frequencies). Each tooth vibrates with a fundamental frequency and multiples of other frequencies (harmonics) which generate a spectrum for each note.  The wood and design of the music box cause it to resonate, or amplify, certain frequencies in this spectrum, which generates its unique musical sound.  While new technology on a computer can attempt to simulate this spectrum, music must be played on a physical instrument in order to generate the correct frequency spectrum.

I made 30 songs for the 15 note music box with the Silhouette.  I especially geared it to my grandchildren who enjoy listening to music. I am sure young and old alike would enjoy playing these tunes. This could be a unique gift to give for a birthday, anniversary or wedding.

15 Note Music Box Playing Beauty and the Beast

Here are the songs that I have included in my .Studio file for you to make with your Silhouette:

1. Under the Sea
2. Pop Goes the Weasel
3. Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
4. Ode to Joy
5. Beethoven Symphony #6
6. Brahms Lullaby
7. Wheels on the Bus
8. Camptown Races
9. Itsy Bitsy Spider
10. You are my Sunshine
11. Happy Birthday
12. Its a Small World
13. Fly Me to the Moon
14. Super Mario Bros.
15.  Heart and Soul
16.  On Top of Old Smoky
17.  Phantom of the Opera
18.  Beauty and the Beast
19.  Pachabel's Canon in D
20.  Star Spangled Banner
21.  Frere Jacques
22.  Bach - Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring
23.  How Much is the Doggie in the Window
24.  Mozart Sonata No. 16 in C
25.  Oh Susanna
26.  Music Box Dancer
27.  London Bridge is Falling Down
28.  Bach - Minuet in G
29.  Puff the Magic Dragon
30.  Blue Danube

The 30 songs were created on the website https://musicboxmaniacs.com There are links on that website to purchase the 15 note hand crank music box on Amazon.  The wooden music box without any paper tape or hole punch is about $15. I chose the wooden box which included paper tape and a hole punch.  The paper tape and hole punch are not necessary to buy since the Silhouette will be cutting the paper.  I bought the paper tape and hole punch to calculate the size of the holes necessary and the width of the paper. The size of the hole is 0.1 in wide and the width of the paper is 1.616 in. Please note, when purchasing the music box, it must be the 15 note music box for the paper tapes that I have created to work.

The https://musicboxmaniacs.com website has a create feature where you can make your own paper tape music.  I explain how to make the paper tape using your Silhouette software in this blog entry.  https://papercraftetc.blogspot.com/2019/11/how-to-make-paper-tape-music-for-15.html

I used 110 lb. /300 gsm cardstock to make the paper tape music. I purchased the cardstock at Michaels.  The music box needs the thicker paper so that the gears can grab onto the paper.  I recommend using a blade depth of 5 and cutting in 2 passes. I do recommend a new blade and cutting mat.  If the holes are not cut accurately, the music will not play correctly or not at all. I discovered this problem with my automatic blade on my Cameo 3.  The holes were not perfectly round because of a dull/misaligned blade.

I used a Silhouette sketch pan to write the name of each song on the paper tape and an arrow to show the direction in which to feed the music.

Many of the songs in this file are multiple strips of paper that need to be taped together.  I used regular Scotch tape.  The holes that are covered in Scotch tape need to be cut.  I used the hole punch that I received with the purchase of my music box to cut the holes through the Scotch tape.

Here is the PDF.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_1fFVvnQHGfJCSy9-3IVwD1cuC-WqZF2/view?usp=sharing


Here is the .Studio file.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Tu_huN6bdhUq2r4UZZji6i7KLn89XiRX/view?usp=sharing

If you would like to further your collection of paper tape music, I have made 25 songs for Christmas for the music box in this previous blog post. https://papercraftetc.blogspot.com/2019/10/25-songs-for-christmas-unique-advent.html


Here is a new song...Ultimo Piccola Stella for the Silhouette

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1i1STbxX2mrt469CcZNjkaukUspDUt7oK/view?usp=sharing