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HomemadeFairground OrganIbuilt this from scratch many years ago as I couldnt afford a real one!2Ranks of Pipes (sourced from old chapel organs in Wales) Open Metal Flute / Diapason Pipes (loud with sharpattack) Stopped Wooden / Bourdon Pipes (mellow and bassy)44 Pipes in number, covers notes C3 TO G6 on Chromatic Piano Scale44 notes including all sharps and flats 12 notes below Middle C & 31 notes above Middle CBothranks have their own individual wind chests which contain the relay switchesthat open and close the felt valves to the pipes.Thereis also a blower box / reservoir with two powerful electric blowers on avariable control switch. These are all wired up and pipes are all connected buthave removable connectors / fittings. Its all marked up for information.Thewheels on the case are solely for transportation and do come off as they spoilthe look when its in place. I havent taken them off for the video or picturesbecause I was too lazy! The organ became heavier as I added new features andeventually was too heavy to lift, hence the wheels. I should have built it intoa trailer I guess!ItsPainted in Regal Red gloss enamel inside and the outside is painted in a uniqueemerald / fern enamel blended by myself. I still have a pot of the mix. Therope beading and reliefs are all wooden and painted in a mild pink / whiteblend and have gold painted detail.Theelectric lighting is all 240V and is as follows;Thetwo brass picture lights on each side panel door are on all the time whilst theorgan is switched on (playing or not playing).Thered and yellow fairground lights around the proscenium automatically come onwhen music starts to play and all go off when the music finishes.Insidethere is a single LED (no heat) spotlight fitted to the ceiling which can bedirected at the mirrors or onto the pipes. This light is a nice feature tohighlight the pipes. This light switches on automatically when music starts toplay and goes off when the music finishes.Allwiring is concealed and mains rated insulated.Twoold plaster oval mirrors with gold detail internal on hinges that can swingflat to the walls or can be angled to reflect light and / or show the back /centre of the pipe ranks.Theouter casing has two panel half doors that close when organ is stored and opened up for play with two large picture frames light pinkand gold detail frame each with its own brass picture light on the opened doors. Onthe outside of the doors there are two smaller picture frames with pictures.Frames are pink / gold. These are surrounded by acrylic mirrors. Allpictures can be changed. They are behind glass but the frames do come off.Allthe case hardware and furniture; handles, latches, cabin hooks and locks are allbrass. They offer some authenticity and are a nice feature but are alsopractical. The handles in particular!Thewhole thing can be taken apart for transportation to an extent. However, it issturdy enough to travel fully assembled. The pipes can come out. The windchests can be removed. This all makes it lighter but from experience it is kindof safer to leave assembled.Thefront top proscenium emerald / fern in colour with detail in pink and goldrelief. The flags are proper material with brass flag poles. The clock alsoworks. This top section adds to the look and finishes off the decorative frontand it comes apart. Its held in place by brass cabin hooks.Therear of the organ is split with upper half with a red velvet curtain and thelower half with a solid panel that has a brass lock and key and two brass cabin latches. This panel can be fitted back in place once the midi controller and computerhave been set up to play.Theentire bottom half inside has many layers of carpet fitted all around theinside walls and panels as well as the blowers and reservoir fully covered. This is to muffle the blower noise.Inthis bottom half the MIDI controller, interface and computer are fitted as well as thepower distribution and switches. The whole thing is powered from a domestic UKplug on a very long cable. The MIDI controller has been programmed and wired upto the wind chests. A circuit diagram and documentation will be provided. The MIDI Interface board is from ‘j Electronics’ model MTP8. 64 notes possible so scope to expand the organ by another 20 notes of scale. Theorgan comes with a very light, slim SONY laptop computer. It has Windows andAnvil Studio installed and more than 500 MIDI music files already installed butof course being digital you can get any song you like in midi format off theinternet. The organ will play anything old or modern. Not all songs sound goodon a fairground organ. I mean Ive tried things like AC/DC etc. The organ cancope with such songs but they are not really suited to organ pipes if you knowwhat I mean. Itsa normal computer so you can install whatever you like. The computer has wifiand bluetooth, USB and HDMI ports. The organ will run from any audio control software that youprefer. Anvil Studio was used by me as I kind of liked it. You could installwhatever you like.The MIDI USB interface plugs between computer and MIDI board. The MIDI board acts asthe digital to analog convertor. Where the MIDI notes in digital form are sentfrom the computer serially and are routed to the relative parallel output and converted to analogvoltages which in turn switch the organ relay valves and hence the music is played by the pipes. So,this part does what the old punch card readers used to do on the real organs.Making that part authentic was too difficult for me. The advatage of MIDI of course is that you can change things like tempo, pitch, sustain and many other kinds of note manipulation. The MIDI Board can also be configured to play on more than one channel so if you wanted to have pipes as a counter melody or harmonising or a bass line, then the board can do that. I think you have 10 channels to choose from. It’s currently set up on channel 1. The MIDI board outputs can also sink enough current to control two solenoid valves per output. So you could have two different ranks of pipes playing the same not to add more voice / texture. The MIDI board from j Electronics’ is really very versatile.Notevery day you see such a thing so there is far more to say about this and Ihave probably missed a few things but Im open to any questions and viewings tosee and hear the thing are highly recommended. I can also provide some training in running it. It’s very easy! Ive uploaded a few examples onYou Tube but recorded on a smart phone does not give the organ full justice asthe bass isnt quite captured Im afraid. Any organ that can play Toccata cantbe bad!Youalso get a music box that includes an organ pipe electronic tuner. Very easyand useful! And two Flower Pots that match the organ dcor.Ienjoyed building it and it has been used at school fetes, garden parties andschool educational demonstrations but for the last 10 years it has sat in my garage safebut unplayed! It did see action in a street party for VE Day a few weeks ago!It performed and remarkably the pipes didnt need tuning much. Everythingworked after 10 years! The pictures and video you see are veryrecent.Imlimited to 12 pictures so Ive tried to show as much of the workings as opposedto many pictures of the organ as a whole. If you need to see more then I cansend via email or something? Movies can be found at;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmPcGD2aYZohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baC66eNYzmoDimensionsapprox. Width 98cms closed doors (196cms open doors) x Depth 52cms (72cms with wheels) x Height 160cms (190cmswith top proscenium)Buyerhas to collect. I have no suitable transport! It really needs a medium sizedtransit van. It will not fit in a small van or large 4×4. Ideally a large vanwith tail lift but it can be pushed up a ramp with 2 or 3 people. I can help.The organ is situated in Waterlooville (just outside of Portsmouth). AnyQuestions Please Ask
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Category: Musical Instruments:Keyboards and Pianos:Organs
Location: WATERLOOVILLE, Hampshire