Villages Vitality: Senior Life Unscripted
This weekly podcast will cover in detail, people, clubs and activities here in The Villages, Florida. Each show will run 20-30 minutes. We cover topics of interest to active, vital seniors. Topics range form activites to medical topics, from Alzheimer's to Zomba and everything in between of interest to seniors.
Become a Supporter of this show for $3/month. Supporters will have access to all episodes. Our newest Supporters will get a Shout-out during a show.
Villages Vitality: Senior Life Unscripted
Traveling through Time with Music: An Encounter with Antique Instruments
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Send us FAN MAIL text, include your cell# for a reply
Are you ready to time travel through music? Join us on a captivating journey into the world of antique musical instruments with our special guest, Craig Darlak. A proud owner of the 1984 Bruins violino pan organ, Craig gives us a fascinating insight into the making and mechanics of this historical piece. We're also treated to some enchanting organ melodies that resonate through time.
But that's not all! We'll also talk about the power of regular exercise and its impact on brain health, focusing on low-impact routines for those with weak joints. We also share unique gift ideas like a carousel music box, perfect for adults and music lovers. As we wrap up, we express our profound gratitude to our supporters and remind everyone that the quality content we produce is protected by copyright. Whether you're here for the music, wellness tips, or innovative discussions, there's something for everyone in this episode. So sit back, relax, and let the narratives of history, music, and health carry you away.
Villages Vitality Listeners, I've got some good news for you. In season 8 most new episodes will released as both audio & video versions. Videos on Apple Podcasts, Busssprout.com and YouTube. If you're listening via our Buzzsprout feed, you can ask questions via the Fan Mail button or leave me comments as a text or in our new feature, you can send it as a voicemail. If you'd like a response, make sure you leave your name, email address and cell phone number.
Villages Vitality Senior Life Unscripted is Produced & Directed by Mike Roth
A new episode will be released most Fridays at 9 AM
Direct all questions and comments to mike@rothvoice.com
If you know a someone who should appear on the show, please contact us at: mike@rothvoice.com
Musical Instruments at Historical Show
EmilyWelcome to the Open Forum in the Villages Florida podcast . In this show we talk to leaders in the community , leaders of clubs and interesting folks who live here in the villages to give perspectives of what is happening here in the Villages Florida . We hope to add a new episode most Fridays at 9 am . Our host , mike Roth , has been a Villages resident since 2017 . He is the leader of three lifestyle clubs and created a fourth . Mike joined 20 clubs in the first year he was here in the Villages . Mike is a strong leader . Before coming to the Villages , mike was a successful business leader and had a successful podcast in Cincinnati called Cincinnati Business Talk . That shows 300 episodes are still available and has over 90,000 lessons . Mike is an instructor at the Villages Enrichment Academy teaching podcasting 101 for beginners . This podcast is a listener supported podcast . You can become a supporter for as little as $3 per month or you can choose to pay more . To become a supporter , go to Open Forum in the VillagesFloridacom and click on support in the black box . There will be shoutouts for supporters in episodes . As a supporter , you will get a direct email link to Mike .
EmilyIn our new season 5 , we are making significant improvements and changes on an ongoing basis . First is our new and better logo upgrades and recording equipment to allow easy access for remote guests . Second is a continuing increase in the use of AI in the creation of each episode . These include a transcript of each show . Please understand that there may be errors inserted by the AI that may not be caught before the transcript is published . However , this is a dramatic step forward . In fact , all the show's announcers are now all AI voices , including me . Emily Open Forum in the Villages , florida , has been publishing new episodes on YouTube for the last several months . If you have a book that you would like to turn into an audiobook , let us know via email to mike at rothvoicecom . Hope you enjoy today's show .
Mike RothSo we're here at the historical musical instrument show in the villages and we have a few musical instruments . We're going to hear a few of them . Some of the music actually sounded good on these 100 year old playback devices . Sit back , listen and enjoy some of the seasonal music that these machines that are 100 years old managed to produce . Thanks for listening . Naturally , since these few minutes at the show were recorded in a large , open room , the sound was very echoey . It wasn't done in a studio and you can hear people talking in the background . Even given those disadvantages , I think it's an important recording that everyone should listen to . That's right .
ExhibitorWhat is this ?
Exhibitorcrank doing this is the rewind , oh okay , and then a roll oh , okay .
Mike RothSo what were we just listening to ?
ExhibitorA Christmas song . That's a German Christmas song . This is a German made organ .
Mike RothOkay .
ExhibitorSo this roll came with it . Most of them are familiar to us , but that was yeah , it plays rolls of music , rolls of paper . Rolls of paper Like a player piano , right , right , and that says holes open up here . It plays those pipes .
Mike RothOh , okay , so we're here at the antique musical instrument show . Correct , and your name is .
ExhibitorMy name is Craig Darlak Craig . I live in Delanaga , georgia , on the Tennessee board . Okay , so I brought this down to play here at the villages . This is a Bruins violino pan organ . It's the largest , best sounding organ here , but it sounds really nice .
Mike RothWhat was it made ? When was it made About ?
Exhibitor1984 . It was made . The man's name is on the front . His name was Mr Bruins . This is a violino pan organ made by Mr Bruins . It's a Bruins organ , orgol in German . He custom made it for Ralph Ralph Schack in California . He made each one by hand and when he finished making this one he passed away .
ExhibitorWow .
ExhibitorAnd when Ralph Schack passed away , I bought it for Ralph Schack's mistake .
Mike RothOkay , where do you get new music rolls ?
ExhibitorYou can get them here in America and also in Europe . They're not easy to get , but they are available .
Mike RothIs that something you find on eBay ?
ExhibitorYou won't find them on eBay , but these are all Christmas rolls that I brought today . Okay , that's great . Thanks for sharing that .
ExhibitorYou're very welcome .
ExhibitorHow did they punch the hole ?
EmilyHow did they make that ?
ExhibitorThey have a machine that does it Well . In the old days they used to well they had a foot pedal . And they moved it through the machine and hit the pedal and it would punch the holes . But now it's done with a computer . They feed a computer file into the machine and it just starts punching .
Mike RothSo one was this .
ExhibitorI made this organ myself so maybe 20 years old .
Mike RothOkay , so I'm recording this for Hope and Forum in the villages . Okay , it'll be released around the first of the year .
ExhibitorOh , okay .
Mike RothSo is there anything special about this particular organ ? When was it made you ?
Exhibitormade it yourself yourself . I made it myself 20 years ago , about 20 years , 20 . A little over 20 years ago , I guess , and it has . They call it a 36 key organ . These keys pop up when there's a hole , oh , okay . And then it opens the valve which is in a box here , okay and the cranking you're doing is the bellows band . The air for the pipes Right . Yeah , the bellows , and also it moves the , the roller , the paper . The roll of paper here through it .
Mike RothGreat , okay , thanks very much .
ExhibitorOkay .
Mike RothWhat's the story on this one ? This one looks like a lot older .
ExhibitorOh yeah , this has been in the late 1800s , 1890s , something . I haven't even played this one . We did a repair on this one for somebody that lives here at the villages . Okay , and we'll see . Thank you for that .
ExhibitorI don't even recognize this one .
Mike RothIt sounds like it's playing backwards . It could be .
ExhibitorI bought a new roll for an output to an 80-back .
Mike RothYeah , because it looks like it's been abused by again too close to the rollers . How old do you think this one is ?
ExhibitorThis one is in the 1890s I would say Good .
ExhibitorI used to be able to buy one of these from the Sears catalog for about $3 or something later .
Mike RothThat's fantastic . I'll take one for three bucks yeah .
ExhibitorI'll take one for you . It has three organs in the lobby .
Mike RothOkay , would you like to hear this organ ?
ExhibitorI've got a special tune for you .
Mike RothOh , special tune . Wow , you may or may not recognize it , but I'll Okay . So before we play it , these look a lot more electronic than the 1890s units . They place off a computer chip . Okay .
ExhibitorWhich is really early for .
Mike RothElectronics .
ExhibitorElectronic organs , because you know 16 tunes , where today they use an SD card that have a thousand tunes , of course , no paper rolls for you , not here . I've had lots of organs in the past . This is what I'm ending up with . This is portable and it's novel , because I play one or two organs at the same time .
Mike RothThey synchronize .
ExhibitorHook together with this umbilical cord .
Mike RothThis is a master .
ExhibitorThis is a slave .
Mike RothGood Ron . What village do you live in ?
ExhibitorI live in Bradenton Florida .
Mike RothBradenton Florida .
ExhibitorIt's about a hundred and some odd miles south of here .
Mike RothOkay , so you came up special for this show .
ExhibitorI left at 4.30 this morning .
Mike RothOh boy .
ExhibitorThis for you .
Mike RothOkay , good . Well , you're going to be on open forum in the villages with your two organs . Well , great . Great , let's hear a song , okay .
ExhibitorWell then , you probably want to hear something different than jingle bells . Yeah , I've heard that before , Because that was what I was going to surprise you with . But oh heavens .
ExhibitorOne , two , three , four , five , six . Okay , okay .
Mike RothGreat . Thanks a lot , Ron . So I'm just watching it . You cranking it just for the Bellos Mm-hmm . Okay , and the electronics .
ExhibitorWell , and it advances the music .
Mike RothYeah , so what ?
ExhibitorI mean it advances the program . But the computer chip is what activates the pipes . Okay , great . Here's my card Great and because you're a good boy here's your free token .
Mike RothOkay , great Monkey organ rider .
ExhibitorThat's right . Thanks a lot . Always try to keep a low profile .
Mike RothYou know , okay , low profile , thank you , Thank you Wow .
ExhibitorSo how much repairing did you have to do when you got it ?
ExhibitorDid it work perfectly when you oh well , I got it I got it eBay and they said it worked Really . And I got it and all it did was give me a squeak and a squawk and I turned it up . Friend of mine over there turned it up . The Bellos was full of holes .
Mike RothYeah so it's getting in here .
ExhibitorSo somebody had tried to fix it . They put Band-Aids on the holes Literally Band-Aids . Now Band-Aids were all standing up like that . They were not staying where they were supposed to be . So , anyway , he repaired the Bellos for me . That was all I needed to get it playing Played fine Now .
ExhibitorSo you're turning and bringing the Bellos up and down . Is that what you're doing with the ? This here is yeah , is that ?
Exhibitorthat's . Is it up and down With the Bellos With ?
Exhibitorthe Bellos Yep .
ExhibitorThey're pushing air up through these , if they the pins open these .
ExhibitorWow , oh , wow , yeah , I see that Wow .
ExhibitorSo that's the thing that you think about back in 1850 . How did ? They decide where to go to pin these holes . Yeah , because this thing is moving like that . It has to make three revolutions in order to play those notes , okay , and when it's all done , then it snaps back . But today we make new ones for new machines , and I think this is the one I want .
ExhibitorYeah , that's it .
ExhibitorYeah , nowadays with computers and all that stuff , we can take a piece of wood like that and we can make any piece of music we want , wow , and play it on this machine . And they start with a sheet of sheet music and they tell the computer we want the holes here and the computer says , oh okay , we got to put them in that kind of place and away they go .
ExhibitorShould we make it the most important shot ? Yeah , hello .
Mike RothHi , and what do we have here ?
ExhibitorThis is an interchangeable cylinder box , supposedly a cylinder . Okay , I can play it for you .
Mike RothSure , what year was this one built in ?
ExhibitorWhat .
Mike RothWhat year was this one built in ?
ExhibitorYou know it's about 120 years old , I think . I don't know . I'm not a good listener .
ExhibitorOkay , it's very noisy in here .
Mike RothYou raise the top to get more volume .
ExhibitorYou raise the dust cover , Dust cover okay .
ExhibitorAnd then the dust gets in . Ha ha ha .
Mike RothBut at least you don't have to keep cranking it .
ExhibitorYes , you do , it doesn't matter .
Mike RothOkay .
ExhibitorThank you , you can shut that one down .
Mike RothNo , it snaps at the end of the song it shuts itself down , oh yeah . Look at that .
ExhibitorHa ha ha , you're gonna need to park it at home in the car . Hey , hi , lori's thinking me . Have you been in the car ? No , I haven't .
ExhibitorLori's thinking me I'm not looking for this . No , I don't .
ExhibitorThey're selling those samples . No , no , no .
Mike RothI'm gonna be listening to an old Septus Cactus needle , let's record player 252 , 40 .
ExhibitorYou must do I can . So I can just say I have to find a way to grow and then to go away . I don't know what I'm talking about there . I don't know what I'm talking about there . I don't know what I'm talking about . It's not the other way . I don't know what I'm talking about there . Manifesting the final , final , final . This is a music box .
ExhibitorIt is the most important part of a phonograph Right and put a needle here . Okay , then this is the vibrate Right , just like this , and the sound come out inside .
Mike RothOkay , and that was a 78 ? It is .
ExhibitorAll 78 . Back then and different size of record .
ExhibitorOkay , yeah .
Mike RothProbably a one-sided record too .
ExhibitorYeah , yeah , absolutely .
Mike RothYeah .
ExhibitorOnly one side .
ExhibitorWhen I'm a mom and daughter . We found a lot of one-sided records Couldn't play it .
Mike RothI'm going to put it out on the podcast , just after the first of the year . Wow , that's great , you can listen .
ExhibitorGreat , thanks a lot . And this is a different shape of needle sharp , right and for bamboo .
Mike RothMake needles out of bamboo instead of cactus .
ExhibitorThis is a cactus , as you can see .
Mike RothThis is ivory .
ExhibitorYeah , and this is diamond . Bamboo is only last , one time One time . I know .
Mike RothI guess that's better for the records yeah Watch . Do they have a different sound ?
ExhibitorDifferent sound is right .
ExhibitorI would think they all make different sound .
ExhibitorYeah , it's a different sound . Oh , here we go . I don't know what to do .
ExhibitorI want to do it up .
ExhibitorSoft sound .
Mike RothYeah , that is .
ExhibitorComparing in steel . Then after play this is no longer sharp anymore .
Mike RothNot sharp .
ExhibitorSo what I do this is needle sharp . Now , ok , slide needle here and I'm going to do a new needle .
Mike RothOh , that's better than steel . We throw them all away .
EmilyMentally , you're not going to have anything left .
ExhibitorYeah eventually after 15 times . This is going to be very short .
ExhibitorThis is the most difficult needle to find .
ExhibitorBamboo . Yeah , this I can find . So , needle sharpener , different shape , this kind of one . This is also needle sharpener Okay .
ExhibitorI'll slide you here .
ExhibitorOh , I'll slide you here .
ExhibitorPlease sign up for your prizes .
ExhibitorAnd I'll slide you here .
ExhibitorOkay , sign your name and your account number . Okay , make it work .
ExhibitorIt's okay .
ExhibitorAnd I have money , you have to go real close because it's . That's very cool . I'm in Christmas .
EmilyI think we're supposed to sign the red box .
ExhibitorI'll take it , we're signing . What are you looking at ?
Mike RothBoxes .
ExhibitorIt costs us $33 . Parts to make each one . Parts to make each one .
ExhibitorBye .
ExhibitorI still want to stop .
EmilyI'm sorry , I'm sorry , I'm sorry , I'll sign your name and your account number .
ExhibitorEvery two hours we're trying to give away a . She's done talking .
ExhibitorI can talk . The cylinder boxes are on the next table . Here I usually have a big one here , but this is the intervals of how they made and worked , dating back to 1800 . What was the benefit ?
ExhibitorOkay , that's usually the last question .
ExhibitorWhen I'll tell you I'm going to answer this question directly .
ExhibitorThere's so many things I'm wondering . Sure People ask me questions .
ExhibitorYeah , I'm sure .
ExhibitorOkay .
ExhibitorBack in 1800 , when they first started making these music boxes in Switzerland . It was developed by a watchmaker , swiss watchmaker , and so to answer this question , first , I'm going to back up and tell you about that . These are the keys that get plucked by the cylinder
Disc Box Repair and Key Functions
Exhibitoras the pin comes around and hits it . So when the pin hits the tooth they call , it will vibrate and it has to be stopped so that it doesn't . It's ready for the next note . So to stop it , there's a wire Different sizes but they're all small and that wire so consider , this is the tooth and this would be one of the weights that is on to get the note sound and that wire is bent up just barely touch , not to touch , but as close as it can . So the tooth comes down , hits the wire , stops , it's ready for the next note . Okay , in steel they used quill feathers for that .
ExhibitorStoppers .
Mike RothDampers .
ExhibitorSo this one's broken because it doesn't have all the key for the notes Right . This one's broken . This is a show and tell about it . You could restore this , but it wouldn't be worth it Okay , because of amount of work it would take and it's not that sophisticated of a box and so what likely happened to this is that the speed is . There's a bit A governor and the governor's air an air governor like that and if the governor stops , then it'll spin freely and it'll wipe out the teeth and so on and so forth .
ExhibitorYou know happens to it . So to repair this , then you would take . You would take and cut this out completely , you'd make a blank okay and then the blank would be , then it's put in and it's disordered in place and then they would be cut to the right side the right no right , that's a lot of work , well that's just a simple part .
ExhibitorYeah , putting the damper , we can swipe down it is , there's dampers , man you know , oh yeah , and you got a this is a model that we made for that , to show it , so this will be theoretically , yeah , yeah , yeah there's different wire sizes so that's why that that's why they would pick from the coil the size of the okay they needed to do that with .
Mike RothYeah yeah , yeah , and in the meantime typically a decent size box we have maybe 10,000 pins in it , all put in by hand .
ExhibitorWow , and these are the sizes of pins . This is actually tapered on a hand , laid where foot , foot better , and there's a score mark every so often and the hole in here is taper , is this ? Is a taper straight hole .
ExhibitorThis is tapered gotcha and so it's a tapered press fit . So the pinner usually the wife and the house or the young women put them in , snap it off , do the next one and do that's what they get all eight thousand , and then this would go back to the late operator and cut them to the same length . So they're all the same , yeah that's not even get into it , start if you can see a fully story approximately 1890s .
ExhibitorOkay , it's a disc box which is called that because of the disc steel discs the old one over there is zinc and this is a steel . Okay , we wanted Christmas music , so we bought four new ones . The little nubs on the bottom strike the star wheel , which in turn strikes the little pins .
ExhibitorOkay , and that's what makes the sound okay , there's also single clothes , where they just have one side and it doesn't get you more sound and now the same display on a double , on a single .
ExhibitorI believe it would . Yes , because when we bought these , we didn't have to delineate between this is only year old , okay , those over there were original of the box which kind of loud makes you want to move now , why is it ?
Exhibitornot flash . It helps to push this down to this spot . Okay , by being like that , it pushes this down .
ExhibitorLine up over here there's a wheel on either side . Okay , okay , so it has to be like that because it has to push down against those little star wheels to get the sound okay , okay , next box also we
Exhibitorhave a few , not many , but but carousel costs us $30 to make them we're selling them for $25 in the box .
ExhibitorI have to do is wrap the box . Great gift for an adult woman and not a kids toy .
Mike RothThat's a big edit box , this shiny this is my growth and Dr Greg Curtis . We're talking about Alzheimer's disease , dr Curtis , and in past tips you've told our listeners to walk is a good exercise , five days a week . Is there any other exercise that they can do which will be beneficial to their brains , which is not going to be terribly exerting or can be accomplished by people who have weak hip joints or weak knee joints or shoulder joints .
Dr. Craig CurtisAbsolutely any type of exercise what we call moderate exercise can help brain health , such as a stationary bicycle , simply peddling a stationary bicycle . It's very low stress on the joints . It's very good for your heart and very good for your brain , thank you remember our next episode will be released next Friday at 9 am .
EmilyShould you want to become a major supporter of the show or have questions , please contact us at Mike at Roth voice comm . This is a shout
Supporters and Copyright Notice for Show
Emilyout for supporters Greg Panjian , tweak Coleman , Dan Kappell and Ed Williams , Alvin Stenzel and major supporter Dr Craig Curtis at K2 in the villages . We will be hearing more from Dr Curtis with short Alzheimer's tips each week . If you know someone who should be on the show , contact us at Mike at Roth voice comm . We thank everyone for listening to the show . The content of the show is copyrighted by Roth voice 2023 . All rights reserved . You .