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How the land becomes a tune
Height is pitch
The profile is read from left to right, like a line of music. Each note's height on the land picks its pitch, snapped to a scale so it always sounds musical; the lowest ground plays the lowest note the box has.
Notes a real box can play
Only notes on your box's comb are used. A tooth needs a moment to settle before it can play again, so the same note is never punched closer than one beat on a strip, or about 10° round a drum.
Paper-strip boxes
The 15-note boxes play two octaves of C major on a 41 mm strip; the 30-note boxes play almost every note from F below middle C on a 70 mm strip. Both have note rows 2 mm apart and 8 mm of strip to a beat.
18-note cylinders
The small wind-up movements with a lift-off cylinder have a drum about 13 mm across and teeth 0.9 mm apart. Sizes vary between makers, so measure yours, print the test drum, and adjust before printing the tune.
Elevation: Mapzen Terrain Tiles on AWS (SRTM, GMTED2010, ETOPO1 and others). Peak names: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Map © OpenStreetMap contributors, © CARTO. Want the skyline itself? See the view from here, open the TerraPrinter app or see more 3D map gift ideas.