Each tooth represents a musical note. The cylinder is studded with tiny pins and, as it rotates, the pins slap the teeth of the comb, causing a vibration that disperses music. The disc box, which originated in Germany in 1885, Schumacher says, revolutionized the industry since it could be inexpensively mass-produced. In the disc box, music is implanted on a flat metal disc by perforating its surface in the desired places. As the disc rotates, a point strikes an intersecting star wheel, which then plucks a tooth of the musical steel comb.
Most music boxes play for from one to three minutes.
Schumacher says he always is interested in learning more about how vibrations produce sounds, how sound is amplified and how mechanical energy is changed to sound. The musical pitch of the music box comes from plucking the long teeth for lower tones and short teeth for higher ones, he says, and the loudness of the sound is determined by the width of the teeth. Schumacher's criteria for purchasing a music box include the item's age, style, historical background, movement, music, place of purchase, quality and distinctive features. His music boxes come in all shapes and sizes. In the corner of the Schumacher living room is a chair that begins to play when a person sits in it.