I patched a hole in the underside of this 1892 Moline Reed Organ, and the fix works! I can play the organ now, so I decided to make a review of it, play some songs on it, and show you how it looks!
The keyboard is split between a bass and treble side. There is a break point between the two, in your case between middle E and F. Usually, every stop to the left of the Vox Humana is assigned to the bass and everything to the right is assigned to the treble. The Echo Horn and the Diapason are the same rank of reeds. The Echo Horn is a "muted" stop because the mute covering the rank is not fully opened, creating a softer version. Notice the layout of the stops. The Diapason and the Melodia comprise one full rank of reeds and are at 8' pitch. If you pull just the Melodia or just the Diapason, the sound should stop at the break point on the keyboard. Likewise, the Viola and Flute are the same rank at 4' pitch, split between bass and treble. Violoncello and Clarinet should also be the same rank split between bass and treble, at 16' pitch. I am hearing something other than the Clarient playing when you opened only that stop so something may not be working quite right. Vox Humana should provide a vibrato effect. The Celeste draws two ranks of reeds that are slightly out of tune with each other, maybe borrowing from the Diapason. So your Moline is a chapel style instrument with a finished back and 3.5 ranks of reeds plus a one-octave sub-bass. There are two similar instruments to yours registered with the Reed Organ Society database: #6311 and #3586. You can look them up on the database at their web site: www . reedsoc . org Moline is considered to be a good builder. You could learn to restore it yourself -- just use the same materials and types of glues as the original. The Reed Organ Society website has an article on restoration, too. Plus there are technical forums on Facebook with people who can help. -- Zane
That organ will be well worth a bellows rebuild one day. Maybe in the meantime you could check the leather valves on the exhausters (the 2 smaller bellows that the pedals are directly tied to) and the safety valve on the main bellows (usually positioned between the exhausters). If that safety valve on the main bellows is leaking they won't hold any air beyond direct pumping. When everything is sealed up as it should be the effort to pump the pedals is minimal and the bellows should take between 30 seconds and a minute to completely empty.
JPS, the "Davey Jones Theme" played on the reed organ is perfect, I do not think it would sound so mysterious and haunting on any other instrument. The Bach pieces equally as fantastic. I can only imagine how an instrument like this one could have filled a small 19th century church with beautiful sounds. Thank-you for another fantastic video.
Very nice indeed! I tend to agree with the earlier poster that it would be worth a total rebuild of the exhausters. It is sad to see so many of these instruments become just furniture, or worse, pulled out to the burn pile. It isn't that difficult to do a total rebuild of these. This Moline seems to have a very unusual depth of tone. Thanks again for your great efforts! There are other advocates of preserving, playing and restoring reed organs on the Tube, that you may enjoy! Thanks again for your great detailed presentations!
These things are not built anymore! Not in any place of the world. They are dying out. My heart is bleeding every time I see a reed organ put to the trash or eaten by woodworms. But the worst thing is turning them into furniture. They're not furniture! They're ingenious feats of musical engineering and deserve to be saved and restored.
I inherited one of these that completely closes with a flat top. I have always used it as a spot for family photographs, but hearing you play makes me want to get the organ restored. Thank you for your videos!
@@ThePianoforever I have watched each video a few times actually! Great job! I operate an antique musical instrument sales & repair business way out here in Colorado for many years (mostly drums and fretted instruments occasionally accordions) and have wanted to get into antique pump organ repairs and restoration for many years, I have owned several, organs I love these things! Your video was extremely informative and inspiring. Please let me know if you have any instructional videos or articles on repair I could purchase, I am definitely willing to pay for the education anyhow great job, thank you! - dutch from Antique Music Sales & Repair of Colorado
Intensely interested in that insrument! My great gram had the tall version in their very modest home in Springfield Oregon. It had the same carpet covering the pump pedals, i just assumed it was a 'comfort' feature, but may have been refurbished by the same folks in san Francisco
The Crescendo Knee Lever (the Left one that adds Stops) could be Partially Sticking as far as some of the Left Hand Stops playing on the Right Hand. At one time, I owned a One Voice Mason & Hamlin (Style "Y"), it only had One Stop (and only a Right "Expression" Knee Lever) that engaged a very effective Tremulant that was more effective than the typical Reed Organ "Vox Humana" Paddle Wheel.
Very cool, in depth tour of this lovely old organ. I love the sound of a pump organ. The old Casio 47 key keyboard that I was practising on had a pump organ button, and I loved it. I have just purchased a Roland FP 10, which has a much more piano-like action (and consequently is much more challenging to play), but no pump organ sound :-(
Outstanding James, I am so happy you were able to fix your organ. I enjoy watching you so much, nothing gets in your way and you are not afraid to tackle anything. I hope you do get it rebuilt some day and I am sure you will. Have you ever played a MIGHTY Wurlitzer Theater Pipe Organ. You should se if you can connect with a young man by the name of David Gray from England. He is really an amazing person like you. He does come to the USA a lot and has many videos on You Tube. Check them out. He studied in a top college in England and is quite a musician. He has played some amazing pipe organs around the world and a concert for the Allen Organ Company located in Pennsylvania. Let me know if you check out his videos. Thanks for sharing your talent with all of us. Brad Maier Long Island
I too am a big fan of the sub-bass. I think Reed organs work well on delicate music because they can be expressive Silent Night for example. Old time Appalachian music also works. Try some hymns out of Sacred Harp, they would be great. I am glad to see you excited about Reed organs.
Just solidified my wanting of one of these even more! Just wondering, since you’re in the studio with it how did y’all record the organ? If you remember, I know I’m about a year late to ask this question
It would be interesting to hear the introduction choral from Léon Boellmanns Suite Gothique on this organ. It is a piece for pipe organ, so it has pedal notes, but i think it will sound ok without the pedals as well.
I would really like to hear the “Swisskapolka” from Disney’s Movie “Swiss Family Robinson” in which it is played on a reed organ. I have always loved the sound of that one on a reed organ.
Mr. James the Moline Reed Organ only have one manual is very narrow to play because the piano have 88 keys. So I think if want to choose an instrument with 61 keys I think two manual will be the best due to the hand can play more freely one hand on the great manual one hand on the swell manual. If for me I will prefer the reed organ with two manual(great & swell), 61 keys(from C2-C7) & tuning in 440 Hertz.
The knee levers are interesting. I was cleaning the old Bridgeport at my church and I thought those wooden things were for hanging the stool maybe? I had no idea they had a function.
diapasons happen to be "tuning forks" as far as i know, supposedly a 'dry' or shall we say 'neutral' kind of sound that has no 'character' or 'feel' or 'spirit' or 'color' or whatever, thus making it suitable for tuning other instruments as well as used in science (at least in the past) to study the tune, timber and octave (pitch) etc in other sounds of all kinds: www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=diapason
Thank you for video. My Wilcox has an annoying key stuck that always emits a loud sound but nobody is pressing the key... any advice? It's the last white key
That happened on my baby Mason and Hamlin reed organ! In that case there is a little rod under the key that was sticking down, and I pulled it back up with a pair of pliers and it fixed the note. Usually the slab of wood in front of the keys can come off, and that is how you can get to those rods. Hopefully your situation is as easy as mine was!
I met a minister that had 1 in his house he played it for me, one of my aunt found a house that had a parlor organ in it I pressed one of the pedals and air come out
James and it's GREEN!! Batteries not included, no electric needed:) A lot of power ,especially the bass . I can imagine some preacher describing "The Wrath of God" and having the organ bellowing out those bass notes, perhaps to indicate the depths of Hades? Who knows ??? Cheers, Rik Spector
Shortly after I shot the video, I realized what was going on, and that's exactly it. It was my first time really playing the organ since the repair, so I wasn't exactly sure how it was supposed to work. :P
Excello, I did check out the site you mentioned, but way to negative for us to enjoy. It is really sad that some forums seem to be geared towards negativity. This channel is based just about how wonderful music can be and therefor encourage all comments to be of a positive nature.
This organ was never rebuilt just a temporary repair. It was just a fun little project to better understand how they worked. It still works fine to this very day.
@@bobbybearden9166 depending on the type of organ there will be a certificate somewhere. in our estey organ, after screwing off the back it was inside and beside the vox humana, it might tell you the date and/or serial number
