History 1 - Barrel Organs

The first barrel organs – sometimes called “street organs” - occurred in the 15^th century in the Netherlands. Well, at least these are the first barrel organs we have undoubtable documents of. Some historians claim China to be the place, where these early mechanical instruments were invented, and this even centuries earlier than those of the Netherlands.

Anyway, these mechanical instruments with their pinned barrels don´t only preserve the music and musical styles of times long ago, but can be seen as the first sequencers in the history of music and sound.