Fairground organ
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A fairground organ is a pipe organ which is not played from a keyboard, but rather by mechanical means such as music roll or book music, and designed originally to be used on a fairground or in the United States on a carousel or in a dance-hall or skating rink. In the US, fairground organs are usually referred to as a Band Organ.
Fairground organs were popular as a means of playing music in public venues before the invention of devices for recording sound. They were most popular around the end of 19th and into the 20th century, until sound recording and broadcasting technology edged them out.
Historically these organs have been found in the UK travelling with fairs, often powered by a Showman's engine. Medium sized organs were often used in the centre of rides such as the carousel. The largest instruments were used to front the Bioscope shows, an early form of travelling cinema. In the U.S., while some band organs did travel with carnivals, they were -- and are -- much more likely to find stationary use on carousels and in amusement parks.
Today many of these old organs have found their way into private collections and make their public appearance only at events such as fairs (e.g., the Great Dorset Steam Fair) and steam rallies, or as they are called in the U.S., band organ rallies.
In the UK a permanent collection is housed at Thursford in Norfolk. Other interesting UK collections to visit are:
St. Albans Organ Theatre (C.H. Hart collection) www.stalbansorganmuseum.org.uk/
Amersham Fair Organ Museum (Teddy Reed collection) http://www.silcocksfair.co.uk/other/teddy-reed.php
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[edit] Operation
Early organs were primitive, with only a few pipes and rarely with percussion. They were operated by pinned barrels, which were expensive to produce, bulky and were limited in the number and length of the tunes they could play.
The adaptation of the 'cardboard book system' by Anselmo Gavioli enabled vast improvements in the size, performance, and musical repertoire of mechanical organs. The Gavioli company is a legendary name and the most famous of all the mechanical organ builders. Originally an Italian family from Modena, they settled in Paris in 1845 and soon had won a reputation for their innovations in mechanical musical instruments of all genres. Evidence of their prolific output can be judged by the considerable number of these instruments surviving in museums and private collections today.
In 1892 they developed the 'book' music system which had been patented earlier by the Frenchman Claude Setyre. This landmark innovation consisted of making long strips of thin, laminated cardboard, creased to fold 'accordion-style', onto which the music was transcribed and then punched in the form of holes to be read by the organ's mechanism. Overnight, the cumbersome cylinder system, which had been used for centuries to operate mechanical musical instruments, was rendered obsolete and music of any length could be produced.
Most European organs are operated by the cardboard book system, fewer by paper rolls, whereas American organs are all paper roll-operated. Books are read through a 'keyframe', whilst rolls are read by a tracker bar similar to the familiar player-piano or 'Pianola'. Books and rolls have holes punched in them, with the books usually having square holes and paper rolls having round holes. The holes in the music passing over the keyframe or tracker bar operate the organ using either a mechanical or a pneumatic system. The mechanically-operated 'keyed' organs have sprung metal keys that are pushed through the holes in the music books. This mechanical system can be used only with cardboard book music because metal keys would tear the paper of the roll system. The pneumatic 'keyless' system uses no keys; instead air pressure or vacuum reads the holes as they pass over the tracker bar, actuating pneumatic valves which play the organ. Keyless operation can be used with both books and rolls; when used with books, wear on the cardboard is greatly reduced. Books used on the keyed system must be toughened with shellac as used to harden piano hammers.
All the pipes are glued in drilled holes on top of the 'windchest'. This is an area where air is under pressure before being sent to the appropriate pipes. Air is let into the pipes by a small leather mechanism that uses air pressure or vacuum to open a windway. Percussion is operated by pneumatic motors that use pressure or vacuum acting against spring pressure to actuate beaters or hammers. This motion can be used in many ways to operate drums and other percussion instruments such as bells, glockenspiels, castanets, triangles, cymbals.
[edit] Modernization
A recent trend is adding an electronic MIDI control interface in addition to or instead of the traditional roll or book system. This makes operation easier because it shifts the storage medium to disks or a computer, and eliminates the problem of wear on the books or rolls. An additional advantage is that music can be created or copied for the instrument without punching holes in the medium.
[edit] Builders
A non exhaustive list of builders, past & present, categorised by the type of organs they built/build;
+ company still operatinging/new company - defunct company
Fairground organ builders:
- Gavioli & Co. (Paris, France) -
- Charles Marenghi & Co. (Paris, France) -
- Adolf Ruth & Sohn (Waldkirch, Germany) -
- Louis Hooghuys (Grammont, Belgium) -
- Wilhelm Bruder Söhne (Waldkirch, Germany) -
- Alfred Bruder (Waldkirch, Germany) -
- Gebr. Bruder (Waldkirch, Germany) -
- Limonaire (Paris, France) -
- Gaudin Freres & Co. (successors to Marenghi - Paris, France)
- Chiappa (London, England) +
- Dean Organs (Bristol, England) +
- Page and Howard (London, England) -
- J.Verbeeck (St Job, Belgium) +
- Rudolph Wurlitzer Company (North Tonawanda, NY) -
- Eugene DeKleist (North Tonawanda, NY) -
- North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works (North Tonawanda, NY) -
- Niagara Musical Instrument Mfg. Co. (North Tonawanda, NY) -
- Artizan Factories, Inc. (North Tonawanda, NY) -
- B.A.B. Organ Company (Brooklyn, NY) [converted European organs to the B.A.B. roll system] -
- Stinson Organ Company (Bellefontaine, Ohio, U.S.) +
Street organ builders:
- P.Trueman (Derby, England)+
- G.Perlee (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
- Koenigsberg (Netherlands)
- F.Krull (Netherlands) +
- A.Pell (Spalding, England) +
- Heesbeen (Netherlands) +
- J.Verbeeck (St Job, Belgium) +
- Stinson Organ Company (Bellefontaine, Ohio, U.S.) +
Dance organ builders:
- Theofil Mortier (Antwerp, Belgium) -
- Fr. Decap (Herentals, Antwerp, Belgium) -
- Gebr. Decap (Antwerp, Belgium) +
- Gaudin Freres & Co. (successors to Marenghi - Paris, France)
- Alan Pell (England) +
- Rudolph Wurlitzer Company (North Tonawanda, NY) -
- Stinson Organ Company (Bellefontaine, Ohio, U.S.) +
[edit] Societies
The Fair Organ Preservation Society (FOPS) www.fops.org
The Mechanical Organ Owners Society (MOOS) www.moos.org.uk
The Australian Mechanical Organ Society (AMOS) homepage.mac.com/ozorgans/
Musical Box Society International (MBSI) www.mbsi.org
Automatic Musical Instruments Collectors Association (AMICA) www.amica.org
[edit] Online Discussion Forums
iMOD, the independent Mechanical Organ Discussions Forum: www.fairgroundorgan.com/forum
Mechanical Music Digest (free daily delivery to anyone who subscribes; archived and indexed content at mmd.foxtail.com)
[edit] References
Bopp, Ron: The American Carousel Organ: An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Grove, OK: Ron Bopp, 1998.
Bowers, Q. David: The Encyclopedia of Automatic Musical Instruments. Vestal, NY: Vestal Press, 1972.
Jüttemann, Herbert: Waldkircher Dreh- und Jahrmarkt-Orgeln. Waldkirch: Waldkircher Verlag, 1993.
Jüttemann, Herbert: Waldkirch Street and Fairground Organs. Rufforth, York: A.C. Pilmer, 2002. (Revised translation of above)
Reblitz, Arthur A.: The Golden Age of Automatic Musical Instruments. Woodsville, NH: Mechanical Music Press, 2001.
Reblitz, Arthur A. and Bowers, Q. David: Treasures of Mechanical Music. Vestal, NY: Vestal Press, 1981.
Cockayne, Eric V. The Fair Organ - How It Works. UK, published by The Fair Organ Preservation Society
