1880's Mason and Hamlin Pump Organ
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- Опубліковано 21 сер 2024
- One of the most sought after pump organs in original Survivor condition. I just loved playing it, and we thought for days about buying it. After much thought we decided we did not have the space, but what a wonderful instrument. We really hope someone will buy this great organ and give it a home where it can be played once again.
sacramento.cra...
Maxwell has such a nice singing voice.
YESSSSS
First comment I see. YES
i too, searched for this
Love that a young person has learned to play one. It’s becoming a lost art.
Yes it says “Full Organ”. It opens all the stops when you push that knee pedal. If there’s another knee pedal, it is a volume control. The organ probably has two banks of reeds that have baffles connected to the stop knobs to give variations in the voices. The pumps can be easily recovered which would really improve the sound and volume. Nice reed organ!
Both of my knee levers are broken LOL
This organ is tuned a semitone higher than modern concert pitch. Really interesting to see the pitch variations of these old instruments!
Not quite, it is tuned to approximately A456 which is 3/4 of a semitone sharp of A440. Most reed organs made before 1900 were not tuned to A440. Mason and Hamlin tuned their organs to A456 until 1892 when they switched to A435 which is 20 cents lower than A440 concert pitch.
@@loamy4107 Reed Organs of the 1800s could be ordered with different tunings, like A432, A456, and A440. Fortunetly, reed organs usually didn't accompany other instruments so it wasnt as big of a deal
I have a pump organ that was made by the “Ferrand and Votey” which later became the Ferrand Organ company and it is also off. When I record it I have to pitch shift it afterwards to be able to add accompanying instruments
I have an 1880s Mason and Hamlin organ a friend gave me. It's a really great instrument. I'm very lucky.
2:07 It's "Full organ", it should pull out all the stops ;-D
Yeah, 1880s is kinda old. My great-grandpa was still alive and I knew him as a child. I was with him at the time of his death at 107 years old. He was born around 1840, 40 years before this organ was made.
There is lots of good, accurate info among the comments that I won't reiterate.
M&H reed organs in the 1880's and earlier had high quality brass reeds that sounded better and richer than later models from the 1890's. This organ is probably from the early to mid 1880's. It dates after 1881 because of one of the awards.
The tremulo on this organ is not the fan-type, but is actually a "beater tremulo" that was introduced by M&H in 1871. It has a distinct vibrato that I don't personally prefer. The fan type of tremulo, which I like much better, is usually called "vox humana." I once had a M&H organ dating 1889 that had "vox humana," not the "beater tremulo." So this organ presumably dates before 1889 because of the type of tremulo.
The keyboard of almost all American-built pump organs is divided into two sections. The top section (toward the right) usually begins at the A below middle C, and is controlled by the stops to the right of "Tremulo" or "Vox Humana" draw knob. The lower notes are controlled by the stops to the left of "Tremulo" or "Vox Humana." Pulling out the draw knob for a stop activates that "rank" of reeds. Pushing it in blocks the "rank" from sounding.
I noticed in your demo that even when all of the draw knobs were in, the full keyboard still played, although it should have been silent. This is probably caused by at least one treble stop and at least one bass stop remaining open, even when the draw-knobs are pushed in. You mentioned that a few of the stops didn't feel like they were working. Those may be the ones that are disconnected from the internal valves, with the valves always open.
Finally, the pieces you played were well suited to a reed organ. Nice performance on a beautiful sounding organ that only needs a little repair on some of the stop linkages!
I own one of these its the most soulful instrument ive ever owned. Like you i love the low end it goes to the heavens.
Great video. Glad to see that you appreciate and enjoy playing these amazing instruments.
Very good Sound.you played excellent..It's looks like well maintain..
Good Video dear..
Thank you for shsring
Rj
I need one of these in an empty room in my basement, and I'll just play it late at night to confuse my neighbours.
When I was a teen we often went to country auctions and organs like this, and some much more ornate, were frequently found. Many were playable, or seemed to be, and rarely sold for more than $5. Often there were no bids at all. It's great to hear one being played again.
If you stay tuned to this channel you will see a great deal more videos from reed organs.
@@ThePianoforever If my parents had bought one, I wonder whether I would have remained only marginally musically literate. Oh, well....
I remember, that you couldn't give them away! Like later "consumer" model organs, they were marketed as a cheap alternative to the piano. When Hammond came out with their electric organ in the 1920's, which was hard to distinguish from a real pipe organ, it was the beginning of the end for the these old pump organs.
Classic! Looks to be in really good condition. Cool pirate tune - unique mellow-happy sound.
Usually when you have a 'dulce' (e.g. viola dulce) or 'dulciana' stop, it is a modification of another stop. So on this organ, when you draw the diapason stop, the reeds are fully engaged for that rank. If you draw the Dulciana stop, the same Diapason reeds are engaged but not fully, so you get a more muffled, distant sound.
This was how reed organ makers made different dynamic and tonal qualities for their organs.
Personally I don't like having too many modified stops on a reed organ as they're a bit of a cheat on the maker's part to make the organ seem more sophisticated than it is.
This organ is nice enough and it looks in good condition but it's a shame there is no subbass in the left hand. This is a 16' set of big thunderous reeds that produce the effect of bass pedals on a pipe organ. If you want a really good reed organ, look out for one that has a subbass.
The left knee swell is Full Organ. It does the same this as pulling out all the stops, except the tremulant and swell shades. If a reed organ has (a) coupler(s), it will also engage those too. The tremulant on this organ is called a "beater" or "beater bar" and preceded the more common Vox Humana (fan) tremulant that you see most of time.
Great video, James. Thanks! I've been lovin' your channel.
Simply awesome! Incredible!
Dude best song in any of the potc movies! Also slick haircut bruv! Keep the excellent content coming! Love your vids!
just bought a mini one of these! by the way love the song x
Shop: has a pump organ
James: DaVy JoNeS
Wow! 144 years old and still going strong. Such a cool instrument and a great way to get your leg workout, lol.
Hi James, this is amazing. I actually saw one of this come up a an auction and it sold for only $25.00, yes I said twenty-five dollars. No one wanted it so a gentleman too this one and another one that I don't remember the name of. As I already have the 1887 Mason & Hamlin screwstringer and really have no room to put a second piano I had to bite my tongue and not bid on this organ. It was difficult especially because it got no interest and was steal. Thanks for the demonstration.
Regards,
Carol
I went by to check on your Mason and Hamlin, and it sounds like it's still very much full of life.
Yes James, it surely is and I am learning to play better and better every day. I might start cleaning and tuning it again soon. My latest song I've learned is a version of "Dust In The Wind" by Kansas and I am having a blast. Thanks for your comment. I will have to post a new video soon.
Regards,
Carol
On a typical reed organ, there will be two sets of reeds an octave apart, each of which may be enable or disabled on either half of the keyboard. Some reed organs add a detuned third set of reeds on the upper half (the Voix Celeste), and some (though not this one) have a partial set of 12 or 13 reeds on the left half an octave below (Sub Bass). If there are dead notes on the upper-octave reed set (as seems to be the case for the bass end of this organ) that can often be remedied by removing the key skip (the board under the keyboard), using a reed puller to remove the reeds from the dead notes, blowing away any dust, and re-installing them. On an organ with just two sets of reeds, the lower-octave set can usually be pulled fairly easily from the rear. When there are three sets of reeds (as seems to be the case for the treble half of this unit) the lower-octave set can sometimes be a little harder to get to, but the dead notes here would likely be in the front.
Although blowing off dead notes is usually an easy fix that owners should expect to do occasionally, it's something sellers of reed organs should do before demonstrating them. While dusty reeds are an easy fix, broken reads can be much more difficult to repair or replace. On my own Smith American organ, I was lucky enough that an organ repairman happened to have a low D reed that matched my broken one, but that doesn't always happen, and uncertainty about whether a reed is dusty or broken may adversely affect sale price.
Usually if you have a celeste stop, it's tuned slightly sharp. On a pipe organ, the string tone stops will usually have a celeste. If a celeste is drawn with another stop, it will cause beats that warm the tone a little. Examples of celests could be voix celest or vol celeste. Sometimes you can find a flute celeste. I would imagine on that organ that the companion stop for the voix celest would be the melodia. Voix is French for voice.
I found the exact same one for 50 dollars online. I think I might buy it
There are two types of tremolo you find on American Reed Organs: Fan Tremolo (usually called Vox Humana) and Beater Tremolos. Beater tremolos came first. These really don’t beat (a European Harmonium tremolo does though), but there’s a passage that is closed by a hinged metal plate which goes back and forth causing the undulating sound. The Vox Humana was patented by Estey in 1865 and considered an improvement over the beater style tremolo. In a Vox Humana, a fan with cardboard blades turns in the back of the organ which causes a milder, more nuanced effect than the beater tremolo. For a while these were only available on Estey, organs, but in 1868 Mason & Hamlin patented an “Improved Vox Humana Fan Tremolo” which was basically the exact same thing as on Estey organs. Smaller companies continued to use the beater tremolo because of patent laws, but by 1890 I think all American organs used a Vox Humana style. So the weird thing though - this M&H has a beater tremolo, not a Vox Humana. It’s also a well balanced one, as they can be a lot more shaky than this even. Seems like a late date for M&H to use them, but there it is. Some people must have still preferred the beater tremolo to a Vox Humana, and M&H must have been providing both.
The knee lever on the left says "Patented Full Organ Jan 20 1874". When you pull out most of the stops on a pipe organ, it is, of course, sometimes referred to as full organ. I'm not sure if the term is used in musical notation, as it might be, but I have never really seen pipe organ sheet music. So, this knee lever, when extended, opens all the stops much like a crescendo roller/pedal would.
Sounds great! I can tell the bellows are leaking, but that is to be expected at its age. The tremulant is like vibrato. There is a cardboard or thin wood blade that stretches across the whole back of the keyboard that rotates like a fan when you open the stop. It blows air on the fan which makes it rotate and that trembles the sound. I bet you notice you had to pump a little faster when you use it because the bellows are leaking anyway and that stop uses air to power the fan.
I can hear Maxwell I’m there, someone save him!
what is that amazing piece you are playing at the beginning of this video ?
Nice work man
What a great instrument. :-)
How remarkable.
Awesome! Someone is giving one away near me so I am going to go grab it!
Voix Celeste (Vwah selest) heavenly voice. Clarionet (Clarinet)
voix = "vwahh"
The Viola dolce is the same register as the Viola. But the dolce is like you pulled half the stop wich says Viola.
Just found one in my mum’s room but don’t know how to use it. It’s exactly the same one but it’s dusty and old
The 1874 is clearly a patent date. One award dates to 1881, so this was produced after '81.
Is there a Hamlin Hamlin McGill reed organ
Works for me.
That Mason and Hamlin needs some bellows work and some new felt under the keys.
These show up on Craigslist for free all the time..
That vibrato sound is achieved by a rotating flap that gets turned by an air ‚turbine‘ when you activate the stop.
Judging from the sound, this is more likely a "beater" tremolo (see comments above).
It's surprising to see that there's a tremulant on a reed organ!
James, I am a new subscriber to your channel and have really enjoyed your videos. Your enthusiasm is very uplifting. I have a daughter who has autism. At one time she played the piano and was very good at it. Unfortunately for one reason or another she stopped playing. I just wanted to thank you for your videos. BTW, awesome leather jacket, may I ask who made it?
The Jacket was made by Aeropostale.
Now you need a foot powered leslie speaker to go with it.
Hey Mr. James why today no factory make and produce the reed organ? The reed organ is the best musical instrument but people most love the piano. I think the reed organ on modern day should make it outward looks bling like a piano and without any classic crafted art on it. Otherwise the Modern Reed Organ also need derive air by a small silent electric motor but also need the manual pump too to make it possibly could performs at outdoor and indoor.
I guess we have melodicas? But yeah totally agree a brand new reed organ would be cool
Cool.
voix celeste works with viola, or viola dolce and sounds like a choir
On reed organs, you would use the celeste with the Melodia stop in the treble and the Diapason in the bass as the stops are split into bass and treble.
I have one and it works and I can’t even give it away
Lol! Even when I was a kid in the 1960's, you couldn't give them away! Like later "consumer" model organs, they were marketed as a cheap alternative to the piano. When Hammond came out with their electric organ in the 1920's, which was hard to distinguish from a real pipe organ, it was the beginning of the end for the these old pump organs.
@@sparky6086 Indeed: when reed organs became popular, towards the mid 19th century, pianos were quite expensive. Reed organs were far easier and cheaper to manufacture: even so, the more expensive types of melodeons imitated the cases of square pianos. Towards the beginning of the 20th century, when piano companies took advantage of mass production practices, manufacturing costs began to fall, and reed organs started to fall out of favor.
One symptom of this change was the appearance of the so-called "piano cased" organ, which looked to the casual observer exactly like an upright piano, including the small metal pedals and the lack of readily visible stop knobs.
I have a pump Oran by Mason and Hamlin in excellent condition .what is the value
Is it normal to have to work so hard to play the organ?...I find it to be quite a workout.
1878😎
Can someone pleaaaaase tell me the first song :)
Can you hook it up to a Leslie
whats the song your playing at the start?
The Davy Jones theme from Pirates of the Caribbean.
and the swell? did you use it?
Yes I did, but the camera audio adjusted for it.
we dont have those kind of instruments here, im from Paraguay, i guess theres only one in a church, i`ve never seen Hammond organs too, i like all your videos, theyre so interesting.
Glad to have you come by.
Play some ELP on it
: )
I have for sale
How much did this sell for?
THAT'S AN OLD ORGAN
I think It says Call organ.
*Full Organ*
The lever opened all the speaking stops at once. It was also called *Grand Organ* and *Plein Jeu* .