12 Days of Christmas

This is Bob from across the 'pond' with his home built organ.

It is to the John Smith design the same as mine.
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" Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer"

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A time for some Christmas organ music perhaps?

Draaiorgel 'De Jantjes' plays Rudolph.

Arrangement: John van Kleef

Piano roll production at QRS Music

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An interesting video I came across the other day showing paper roll production on a large scale.
I of course can only punch one hole at a time, which is why it usually takes me two days!
I can however punch two or three copies at the same.
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On Arranging and Punching

Sage was inquiring about how I go about arranging and punching the organ tunes.

Here are a few links back down this blog to various posts.

Which-twenty-six-notes

Arranging-part-1

Arranging-part-2

Using-midi

Hole-punching

Production Halted

Delta Queen Calliope Music

A sister sternwheeler to the sad Mississippi Queen still with a bit of life.

There is a bit more about these boats over on Monkey-organ.

Bell Ringers for the Organ Front

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And here they are, a beautiful pair of 'Bell Ringers'. I have dropped the word 'Lady' because several people have suggested they look more like boys?!?

Well.....principal boys from show biz perhaps, but with figures like that who cares.

They are 10" high and will really add that finishing touch to the the organ.

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Playing the John Smith Universal 26

A five rank "John Smith" sounding very nice.
Same design as mine but with an extra rank of 'violin' pipes at the rear. He has a problem though.....they are too long and will stick out through the top of the case!

Hurdy Gurdy Duet

Cecilia and Scott at the Youlgreave gathering 2008.

Jesu Joy of Man's Desire on Autoharp

An arrangement of a baroque classic on diatonic autoharp in the style of Bryan Bowers.

Only one problem......The sound is out of sync. with the picture! Blame You-Tube.

Peter, Paul and Mary

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Just the way I remember them.

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Peggy Seeger - First time ever I saw your face

The Organ gets an Airing

"The time has come the walrus said to talk of many things."

Not of sealing wax, but of how to get the organ out of the front (music) room, through the house, out the back door, down the side 'entry' across the front and into the car!

The reason for this unusual route, is that I have about eight steep steps from the front door!

The organ has its own 'playing' trolley which puts it at the right height but is not ideal for moving it around in the house. Why? It is too wide and won't go through the doors on its wheels.

I therefore have made a lower and narrower one to get the organ on this devious route.

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It is based on one I bought but with a wider base added and small strips to stop the organ sliding about.

Will it fit?

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Yes....."perfeck".

Now out to the garden.

I have just bought this 'cracking' tent from fellow organ grinder, Dennis, who has opted for a new smaller and lighter one, but this one should suit me down to the ground.

Well......there she is, out in the fresh air for the first time!

I had to give it a good cranking to see how it sounded. I have been told they sound quieter in open air compared to being indoors.

I was very pleased.....the old girl sounded great (to me.....I can't speak for the neighbours).

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And a closer look, now that I have the Henley painting in place.

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And a chance to see the plain(er) front in place.

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And its picture......this time of a pump mill on the Norfolk Broads.

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You will probably need to click on the pictures if you want a closer look.

But please......not too close!

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Automatic Punching

For years I've been arranging tunes, marking the position of the holes on the back and then punching them out manually. Oh, for an automatic system!

Well, a semi-automatic system actually. You see you still need a human at the front end to do the arranging.

John, a fellow organ builder, who lives just round the corner, has taken this step to automation and built himself a Midi controlled punch.

I arrange the tunes using Cakewalk (Midi software), e-mail them to John and "Bob's your Uncle".

I have just sent him over Mozart's 'A la Turca' and I am waiting to see what the punch thinks of this?

It can't punch 'half holes' so the software seems to round it up to the next whole number. OK for long notes but not so good on short quick runs.....we shall see.

Here's a set of pictures of John's punch....

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Organ Festival - Switzerland July 2009

Three is better than one?

Well, Three Raffins playing "ABBA - Mamma Mia" for my friend John.

Organs at Shabbington

It turned out a lovely day for Shabbington Rally. Of course I could have taken dozens of photos, but I have chosen to show just a few here which I found unusual. Of course there were rows and rows of vintage cars, tractors and motorbikes in addition to the traction engines.

However it was this amazing Showman's Living Van that caught my eye. (Note: a left click on any of my photos should enlarge them to show more detail.)

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There was so much decoration on every single part....hardly anywhere was left untouched.

However, the surprise here was to be found inside......

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A small organ. I couldn't get a close look but with 16 melody pipes up front, it seemed a rather unusual one. Most organs show a odd number of pipes, 11 or 13 etc. ...the largest in the centre and an equal number either side. But this little fellow had 8 on one side and 7 on the other side of the central pipe.

It is not part of the original van as it was used for living in. I expect the little organ was rescued from the centre of some fairground ride.

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I took this last photo of the Bruder Organ because the scroll work is very similar to the decoration on mine and I was looking for some ideas for colour schemes etc.

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Bruder Bros. Concert Organ

This video shows the Bruder Bros. concert organ (with this really inventive brass band!) of the GERMAN MUSEUM OF MECHANICAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS BRUCHSAL in September 2004.
Found on YouTube the other day.
Fancy making all those little bandsmen!

Using MIDI

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A special request today.

Roseanne at Street-Organ,blogspot has asked if it was possible to arrange a tune called Tetris for her 20 note organ. I have to admit that I have not arranged any music for this scale. It is six notes short of my usual 26.

She has found a MIDI file of the tune and I have loaded it on 'Cakewalk'. This is the name of the software program that I use to modify (edit) the MIDI files.

Now I am sorry about the pictures. I used my camera to photograph the screen. I expect there are better ways of screen capture, but I am no expert in this field.

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This first shot is what you get when you load the file. It shows each Track, and the instrument associated with that track. You will see the Tetris theme is played by the Clarinet. This is the important track to look at first. That green 'blob' to the left shows that I have marked it SOLO, so that when it is played that is all you hear.

What I next do ...is to display this track in PIANO ROLL view'

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Now here we see the notes and their durations. If the view is compressed so that the whole tune fits the screen.....you notice that the theme is repeated so we only need to look at one half.

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Now if we condense it down a bit more you will begin to see that there are whole (horizontal) lines where there are NO notes. This is the important key (not musical key) to getting the tune to fit our scale. If we can align these 'gaps' with the notes we cannot play...hey presto...we have it!

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On this next shot below, I have, just for this example, added 'large green bars' against the notes we CANNOT play on the top melody pipes. (I was going to do them red, but couldn't find out how to). There are a few more lower down we can't play but they are in the acc/bass.

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The trick is, to transpose the tune up or down to get our 'gaps' to align with the 'green bars'.

This comes with practice, and I noticed that a move UP of THREE lines would do it.

Three lines here represents three semitones.

How you transpose will depend on your software program.

Below you will see the finished result. The tune is now 3 semitones higher and all the 'gaps' match up with "notes we cant play".

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Had there been any notes, they would not be available and you would have to either, go back a stage and try a different 'shift', or decide whether you could miss the note out or choose an alternative. (Note: there is a low B natural that will have to be changed - that last note midi 59 )

It may seem difficult at first, but after you've done a hundred tunes or so, it becomes easy!

Those green bars I have added are not all the missing notes and are only there for illustration. What some people use is a card mask to hold up to the screen.

If you can get the tune (solo instrument line) to fit I recon you are 90% home and dry.

What I do next, is to add the bass line to this view (also 3 semitones higher) and make sure that those are also OK. There is a high chance that you will not have all bass notes....choose an 'alternative' bass note (from the chord).

Lastly you can 'fill in' between the bass and solo line with the accompaniment, which I think in this case were 'strings'.

Ignore and/or delete all drums, "bells and whistles"

Good Luck.

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"I must be off my Trolley"

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Well I've seen quite a few unusual trolleys in my time.....

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Like this....

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Or this.....

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Or even this....

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But never like this!!!

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No......It's not fair to laugh.

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Just a wee smile then

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Black Forest Flute Clock

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I was going to do another in the series on arranging....but have not found time this weekend, however, I have found another bit on Flute Clocks for Derek.

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Please don't think this is my clock, it is not. The following is taken from the description on YouTube.

"It is by an unknown maker (possibly Mukle of Neukirch) playing eight unknown tunes.
The thirty-nine pipes were missing when found in 1985, so all of them had to be reconstructed (using the holes in the windchest and the note names on the keyframe as a clue)"

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Pianoharpa

An automatic dulcimer....isn't it sweet?

D.I.Y. Arranging - Part 2

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Start by opening out the music and looking at the chorus. This is the part that most people will recognise and therefore will notice if you get it ‘wrong’.

By ’wrong’ I don’t mean mistakes, I mean changes we have deliberately made to the tune to make it fit into our scale. You may get away with a one note changed or omitted, but two or more notes changed will surely be detected.

The first ‘rule’ is always try to get the chorus sounding like it should.

Now with the ‘introduction’ and ‘verse’ it is a different ’kettle of fish’.

Here’s an example….there can hardly be many people in this country who cannot recognise, or even sing “Oh I do like to be beside the seaside”.

So if you change that chorus, everyone will know. But how about the verse?

Well I included the intro and verse on my arrangement…..and do you know, when I play this roll, nobody has any idea of the tune until I get to the chorus.

Firstly then, scan through the chorus looking for the highest note that is played.

This highest note must, nearly always, be included and will of course correspond to one of our highest sounding pipes.

I am therefore ‘planning’ to transpose the music so that the highest note is played on the highest pipe. I say planned because this will not always give a note-to-note match lower down the scale.

On the 26 note organ we only have one note (of the twelve semitones) of the octave missing on the melody pipes. This is B natural.

It is the third note down from the top C# that is missing. (Ignore my MIDI numbers for now).

So when we transpose the music, either up or down, we must make sure that the new key does not require a B natural.

A good choice would be the key of F, which of course uses Bb and is rarely likely to require a B natural. Other options include Eb, Ab, Bb and Db. None of which require B naturals except as accidentals etc.

Now it is much harder with the 20 note scale, as in addition to the B natural you are also missing A natural, F#, and E natural in the melody pipes.

How on earth do they get so many tunes to fit? ….I hear you ask.

Well, years ago, the people who devised these organ scales, knew what they were doing.

I expect they evolved over time to give an optimum balance between - the maximum of providing every pipe and the minimum of a very limited repertoire.

The above photo shows two strips of card. On the lower one is the 20 note scale and on the upper I have marked the 8 notes of the tonic sol-fa.

You will notice in the key of C we cannot sound three of the notes - 'me', 'lah' and 'te'. That is the 'third', 'sixth' and 'seventh'. Now by sliding the card along to the key note of Ab, we get a perfect match.

So if our highest note on the music is a 'doh', then the key of Ab would suit.

I have built myself a more versatile version of this cardboard transposer which I will explain next time. It is however designed for 26 notes.

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Champagne Time

The Organ.

And the Builder.

The winner of 'Best in Show' was Roseanne Wakely from the Arts University College at Bournemouth, who received a gold plated scalpel and a magnum of champagne.

Mozart - Rondo Alla Turca

For anyone interested in hearing the rondo

On Prestwood and Mozart

A few more pictures from Prestwood.

I had spent about six days last week, arranging, marking up and punching a piece by Mozart.

It was his 'Rondo alla Turca'.

Dennis, shown below, had wondered if it would fit into 26 notes?

Well, I like a bit of a challenge and so last Monday I had a crack at it. It did fit ....just. I had to re-arrange several bars when it went off the top of our scale but on the whole, a good fit.

The finished roll was about eight metres long and it took me a good eight hours over the Thursday and Friday to punch it up. I gave it a quick play on my organ on Friday afternoon and managed to deliver the finished roll to Dennis for it's 'first public' airing on the Saturday.

I'm pleased to say it was well received........

.......I even detected a small burst of applause!

It was way back in 2000 that I sent off to John Smith for a set of plans for building the 26-Universal.

Little did I know that, just a quarter of a mile away, someone else in Bourne End was doing the same. We must have both been beavering away and not knowing of each other's existence!

It was a shame because we could have helped each other overcome some of the problems encountered during the construction.

Never mind......we both got there in the end. The above picture shows John's (a different John) finished organ on display in the model tent.

Oh yes, one of the other 'small' organs adding to the atmosphere, a Limonaire.

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Rosie's Winning Organ

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Rosie won a prize for this fantastic version of the John Smith 20 note Busker organ.

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I've put it up here because of several requests to see the finished organ.

Of course the organ 'innards' are built to a standard design, but the front....or to give it, it's correct name, proscenium!....is left to the whim of the builder. I think you'll agree, this a very original design.

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20 Note Fussell Street Organ

William Tell Overture on 20 notes. How about that?

D.I.Y. Arranging - Part 1

Rosie on 'Street Organ' has finished her John Smith 20 note, exhibited it and won "Best in Show".

Congratulations.

Now we come to stage two.

Shall we spend around £50 a roll and buy music for it?... or

Shall we try punching it ourselves?

I had no trouble in deciding what to do as I had an elementary knowledge of music.

Understanding music is definitely helpful, but I would say, not essential, as you can learn a lot of things as you go along.

Once you have decided to have a go, there are two paths that you can take.

One is to arrange straight from the sheet music....this is ok if you play another instrument and already have a collection of music. You will of course need more than a single line as for solo instruments (ie clarinet, trumpet, flute etc.) Piano music is best although I have arranged from guitar music and keyboard music, where the later give the chords for accompaniment.

The second way is, if you do not have access to sheet music, to arrange on the computer using standard software like "Cakewalk" or similar. These programs use MIDI files for the tunes and can be found all over the web. Nearly all are in the public domain and many sites will allow you to download the files provided they are for private use. There are strict rules applied by the music industry once you want to start selling copies. (which I personally don't)

I now arrange using either of the above methods. I started off with the sheet music method but after a time switched to downloading when I did not have the score of the tune I wanted.

A word of warning.....you cannot just pick 'any old' tune you fancy and expect it to fit on a 20 or 26 note scale, we are a bit limited. To get started it is best to practice with a simple, short tune.

Two reasons for this, one, it is more likely to fit into our small scale and you won't have any missing notes to worry about and, two, if it is a short piece, you will not have wasted hours marking it all out, punching it all up and then find out it sounds awful.

So, start small and build from there. I know, I have a large box of early attempts. The 1812 overture was not meant for 20 pipe street-organs!!

Children's music books are a good starting point and also hymn books are a good source.

They have simple tunes usually with three chord accompaniment and more important, you will find that vocal works have a range not un-similar to that of our organs.

If you can 'sing it'.....it has a good chance of being transposed and arranged for our limited scale.

The key of the original score does not matter. We are going to transpose it, up or down anyway to fit the organ......the key of Eb is the only one case where you will get away with 'as written'.

Try to avoid tunes with too many accidentals......you will not be able to play them all and tunes do not sound right if you miss notes out or put in wrong alternatives. Believe me...it's true!

Always try to choose a tune that keeps moving......you know the sort of thing. Jigs, dances and marches. We need people to stop and listen and enjoy. Avoid music with long, sustained notes...we don't want it to sound like the 'drones' on the bagpipes!

Enough for now.....I have a sore forefinger!!

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"Painted Pianos"

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On "Organ Grinder's Monkey" on my post of 30th May I mentioned that pianos were to be placed around the streets of London and the public were invited to 'have a go'.

The pianos were to be painted in various styles to suit their location.

Some of these are now in position and I have located a web site where they can be seen and where you can leave comments. (www.streetpianos.com)

My first reaction was that I didn't think much of the artwork....I was expecting something better similar to the piano that Deb (of Harmony Club) had painted some years ago.

I expect it was all done on a tight budget.

One tin of paint per piano!!

Here's a few examples from the 38 shown on their web site.

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"Taking the Mickey"

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This has to be one of the most unusual Organ Grinders around.

It is a Mickey Mouse tinplate clockwork organ-grinder with Mickey operating the organ and Minnie dancing on top in place of the monkey.

I have no further details.....it's probably German, from around 1930.

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Bungee Straps

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Well I had a good day in Thame....and I got my 'whats-a-names'.

Actually I was after straps to hold the organ and cart steady in the back.

You can get stretchy ones called 'bungee' straps, maybe OK for somethings but not quite right for heavy items.

Oh Yes. A trip to the market would not be complete without a few delicacies!

This is the only place for miles around where I can get 'White Pud'.

The other was a new one for me.

"Stilton and Celery" sausage!

The chap in the market was cooking them there, and let you try a piece (or two)...excellent.

I'm sure I'd not have bought them.....without a little taster first.

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Market Day in Thame

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If you're free on Tuesday,

Let's go to the Market in Thame,

For I'm after some "What do you call its ?"

And I'm looking for "Oh, what's its name ?"

If we're lucky we might get "Thing-a-me-jigs",

As we saunter between the stalls,

Some nuts, bananas,

Some home-made jam

And a quarter of Aniseed Balls!

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Sun shone on Marsworth

What an excellent day.

Sun shone, organs organised and people enjoying a truly English Sunday afternoon.

Sorry no cricket.....but a beer tent, chip van, steam engines and sheep dog demonstrations, to mention but a few.

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Dennis, here choosing which of Kipper's arrangements to play next.

No.. not the 'Arrival of the Queen of Sheba'... but if I remember correctly my version of 'Peggy O'Neil' Waltz

A very nice John Smith 20 note 'Busker' organ...at rest, with the owner enjoying some well earned refreshment in the beer tent.

I took this photo especially for any pony lovers who drop by to read my blog!!

And of course.. a special place for Terry with a superb line up of his home built organs.

I would like to thank him for allowing me to 'have a turn' on his excellent JS 26 note.

Trolley now Secure

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This is how I 'locked' the organ in place to stop it sliding backwards in the car.

After the organ is in, they swing round and a pin is dropped into place.

Next ... I had a think about how I would stop the trolley rolling around in the back.

The trolley has two wheels and a single leg. Therefore two strips on either side of the wheel rim would stop forward/backward movement in the car. These strips are not fixed down, if they were they would make sliding the organ in, impossible, so they have small locating pins which fit into the holes on the board and are removable.

Then to stop any side movement across the car.....a little recess for the leg to sit in.

Of course I will use a few straps to stop it jumping around on these 'pothole' roads that we find everywhere.

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Problem solved........now to try it out.

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A Little Mechanical Music

This nickelodeon has 12 flute pipes, piano, bass drum, snare drum and tamborine. It plays a 10 to 25 tune Coinola O roll.

Taking to the Road

The next question I have to address is....how do I get the organ, trolley and other bits and pieces, into the back of the car?

There was no hope of getting it into the back of my previous car, even with the seats down, but with the current one things are look much better.

So I put the back seats down,  measured the back inside,  and cut out a large board the same size. It was two boards actually, hinged in the centre so it could be put into the back and then folded open.

The reason for having a board is to make it easier to slide the organ into its position.

It is going up behind the seats so that it can be strapped to them.

In order to stop it sliding around I have fixed pieces of strip wood to the board at the organ corners.

The organ has removable (alternative) fronts, so I shall take them off when in transit to prevent them getting damaged. 

Having the organ placed across the car, I was able to get the trolley in as well without having to take the wheels off as originally intended.

You can see that it is a tight fit for the trolley across the car, not much to spare.

But now I have to think of a way to stop the trolley moving around in the back!!

Back to the drawing board as they say.  

X Marks the Spot

Well I had a little taste of democracy yesterday. Did my little bit.

But......

Did you notice the Poll Clerk write down the number of the ballot paper next to your name?

Big Brother knows how you voted. 

All you people out there who voted UKIP or BNP are about to be put to the back of the NHS waiting list and will be removed from your GP's surgery list. Also your children just failed their upcoming GCSE exams and owing to an administrative error covering the last few years you owe the Inland Revenue £15,000. Also your Local Authority will no longer empty your dustbin and your Internet Service Provider has reported you to the Police for persistently downloading Child Pornography.

  

A not so secret ballot…..was it?

Well, what we have are ‘private’ ballots….. not anonymous ones.

They are secret or private, only in sense that there is no one to influence your choice ‘when you make it‘.

No CCTV looking over your shoulder.

One amusing question I did find :-

UKIP - is that a mattress manufacturer?

Mutiny on the SS Brown

Todays headlines.........

"Gordon Brown is facing a concerted attempt to force him from office as Labour MPs circulated a letter calling for his resignation."

Oh dear, 

"Gordon Brown has lost the backing of Britain's most pro-Labour newspaper, with The Guardian urging party members to "cut him loose" and elect a new leader."

Oh dear,  oh dear, 

"The mutiny on the SS Brown has worsened, with more members of the crew joining the rebellion, but the captain insisting he is still in full control." 

Oh dear,  oh dear,  oh dear!!

Actually this last headline takes me back to a post I did in January....

                 "I'll tell the tale of the Nancy Lee,

             The ship that got ship-wreck'd at sea,

             The bravest man was Captain Brown,

    For he played his Ukulele as the ship went down;"

                 "All the crew were in despair,

        Some rush'd here and others rush'd there,

        But the Captain sat in the Captain's chair,

   And he played his Ukulele as the ship went down:"

There are at least another twelve verses, each from a different member of the crew.....

...I think it is probably best to spare you all those.

But fits todays news, don't you think?

.........................................Must go now....... and vote.

Global Warming ?

I know you ladies are thinking that Kipper has a one track mind ......but I only remembered that I still had this on file after reading Sage's joke on Saturday!