Yamaha Music Sirens

[IHaveAName]

Here's the playlist of songs that the Music Sirens play. If I missed out anything do let me know.

You missed Kimigayo, Railway Whistle, Tonbe, Furusato, Humoresque, Abaresque, Uwajima Sansa, Home Sweet Home, Wild Rose, Edelweiss, Iga's noon and morning blasts.

[Jake_7367]

You missed Kimigayo, Railway Whistle, Tonbe, Furusato, Humoresque, Abaresque, Uwajima Sansa, Home Sweet Home, Wild Rose, Edelweiss, Iga's noon and morning blasts.

I've added all except Tonbe and Iga's noon blast. Couldn't find the names of those songs (original Japanese name needed). For Uwajima Sansa I'm not sure if I added the correct version.

I also have two hypotheses. First, the Sendai Marumitsu music siren may be identical to Iga City Hall's music siren! While listening to the Sendai unit play "Arajo no Tsuki", I noticed a sign that it was running on 50hz power- a slight G-pitched buzz on some chords.After pitching it up by 20% the start up and shut down sound matches that of the Iga siren.

Second, this video might be a clue about the unfortunate fate of that same siren. While it is a recording of the music siren played over speakers for the 70th anniversary revival, you can hear the dominant note until 1:28, and the wind down (starting from 1:23) seems unnaturally fast. Omuta Matsuya's siren also had mechanical failures, and both were exposed to the weather overhead. Then again Tokiwa's siren has also been exposed to the weather for nearly 60 years, and still runs fine.

[IHaveAName]

I also have two hypotheses. First, the Sendai Marumitsu music siren may be identical to Iga City Hall's music siren! While listening to the Sendai unit play "Arajo no Tsuki", I noticed a sign that it was running on 50hz power- a slight G-pitched buzz on some chords.After pitching it up by 20% the start up and shut down sound matches that of the Iga siren.

You just hatched an idea. I never imagined SoundCloud would've been the location of a music siren audio. Thus, I never checked it.
EDIT: I found... nothing.

[IHaveAName]

While scrolling through twitter, I decided to check out the Music Sirens, and something amazing shocked me.
https://twitter.com/toyu04_LUGERP08/sta ... 6165031937

[SPOILER ALERT]
Yes. I haven't confirmed if this was a joke or not, but this user on twitter indeed just said what you saw.
Quote, "I'm about to start full-scale production of my own music siren. I have confirmed all the necessary parts."
Now, seeing as their profile picture is literally one of the dampers of Iga's music siren, I believe it's not just a speaker, it's indeed the music siren we think it is.
I'm not sure what currencies they're accepting, more than likely the Japanese yen, or if we get lucky enough, the United States Dollar.
Translating the pictures that go along with the siren, stated says 8 notes.
Something I find interesting though is that, they're using legos to build the siren. (This might've just been a translation error though.)
https://twitter.com/toyu04_LUGERP08/sta ... 6385044483
They made a comparison between their lego and the 2nd gen on the Yamaha Headquarters office.

[Evan Vander Stoep]

I have something interesting. The abandoned Omuta Matsuya Department Store Gen 1 Music Siren had a photo taken of these tags. I was never able to figure out what they meant. I also saw a circle thing on the left. I had no clue what them meant because they were too rusty but I think I now have the answer thanks to the latest video of the siren.



(Following screenshots are from the latest video of the siren)

The circle thing is actually the Yamaha emblem. Looks to be a casting by the texture.



The large tag says "NIPPON GAKKI" which is actually the "Nippon Gakki Co. Ltd." (currently Yamaha Corporation). One tag is the old name of the company, the other is the current name. According to the history page on Yamaha's website, the company's name was changed in 1987 to mark the 100th year in business. Interestingly enough, it seems they were using both names up until that point as this siren was manufactured in the 1950s or early 60s (Not yet confirmed) which was way before the name change.

I believe the smaller tag may be the serial number of the unit. Though, this is just a guess and I have no actual evidence. Hopefully in the following years, someone can get better photos (read more below).





I would also like everyone to know who is still following this research project that I'm 16 so I will be turning 18 in 1.5 years from now. When that time comes, one of my items on my bucket list is to visit all the music sirens before they get deactivated. I have to do this as soon as possible as I don't know how much longer they will be around. If I'm able to do this, I will get very high quality photos which would just be a dream! This is a hypothetical trip but I'm going to try and make it happen in the next 3 years or so.

Also, I'm still making changes to the original post. I will be rolling out some more changes hopefully before the 31st as I will be busy with school the following week.

Thanks for following this project. Its been over a year in the making and I enjoy seeing that people are still interested!

[IHaveAName]

Good news! I have made contact with someone who is currently working on their production of music sirens. So far, answers are limited.
(If you want me to ask any questions, please reply)
EDIT because I had completely forgot: The user had decided to simply make one for their self. This is probably due to how complex making one of these things are.

[IHaveAName]

Something interesting I noticed about a week ago is that the Uwajima music siren seems to be exposed on one side.

It appears the siren is indeed going through repairs. We might even see a video announcing the siren's reactivation!

[IHaveAName]

[bump]
4 new locations have been found!
A few weeks ago around January 13th, a twitter user contacted YAMAHA and asked about the 2nd generation installations. After the locations of install were sent, the user went looking for the locations, and they actually found a location still existent. They also mentioned other locations. Enter:
Yamagata City Hall, Miyama Branch
It seems this location is of the slimmer 2nd generation. I had word that the music siren was installed in 1994 and deactivated in 1996. It also seems the music siren has the YAMAHA logos on it.
The siren played Humoreque, Home Road, Home Sweet Home, Home on the Range, Brahm's Lullaby, Edo's Lullaby, Clair de Lune, Wild Rose, Gabot(?), and Furusato. When each song played is unknown.
Iwakuni City Hall Kuga General Branch
While YAMAHA claims one was set up here, it is unknown where it is now, presumably removed. Likewise, the building it resided on is bound to be removed next year. All that's known is that the music siren played the Kugamachi Municipal Song at 12PM. The Bosai Musen unit next to it seems to be its replacement.
Tomika Town Hall
This music siren was removed some time before 2018 and after 2014. And yes, it was caught on streetview. No one has gotten in contact with the city hall yet. The songs and installation date is unknown. It's also unclear if the music siren has the new YAMAHA logo.
Omiya Town Hall
Once again, this music siren location was removed some time in the early 2000s. The municipal building was moved and has since been renovated, so locating the exact location is basically useless and won't get you anywhere.
Yes, we now have 11 of 12 of the 2nd generation music sirens.

Finally, I revised the graph I sent earlier in May. These are the 9 major regions in Japan.

I believe it's also important to say, the City Hall/Town Hall column could also contain municipal and regional offices such as the Okayama Prefectural Government Office, which would count in the Chugoku region.

[IHaveAName]

Introducing the Tono Shinkin Bank!
According to a few sources, this line of banks around Nagoya installed and used music sirens in the 1960s. Around the 1980s was when they were inevitably removed.
There were at least 3 banks from this brand that used music sirens. The locations of the Nagoya Branch, Honmachi Branch (their headquarters), and their Kasugai branch.
All that I'm aware about is that the location at the headquarters played:
"Where in the morning" at 7AM,
"Camptown Races" at 12PM,
"Yuyake Koyake" at 5PM, and
"Suguru Sasaki" at 9PM.
I think it's also important to state that the former line of the banks, the Tajimi branch, merged with two other branches to form the Tono Shinkin bank.

[IHaveAName]

The final 2nd generation siren location has been found!
It was located at a factory in Hikari city at the Takeda Pharmaceuticals plant. This location was also a Japanese naval base until After WWII, when the factory was built.
It also seems to be the larger siren with 24 notes.
Not much else is known other than that.
https://twitter.com/search?q=%E3%83%9F% ... ery&f=live