This article is a translation from "Mechanische Orgelwelt aktuell"
("Mechanical Organ World News"), 7th year, Nr. 7/8, a commercial
"public relations" journal published by the manufacturer.  Many thanks
to Claus Kucher for typing the German text of this article and sending
to us.  I have translated it and had some local German Americans check
my work.  I hope you find it interesting.

Robbie

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   Orgelbaumeister Hofbauer GmbH
   Postfach 2317
   D-37013 Goettingen
   Tel. 0551/71001 - Fax 0551/7703351

Part 1, Old-Berlin Traditional Organ¶
Part 2, The historic Tanzbaer¶
Part 3, The modern Tanzbaer¶
Part 4, The End of Music Rolls¶

- - - -
Part 1.¶
"The Old Berlin Traditional Organ -- Built in Goettingen"¶
from: "Mechanische Orgelwelt aktuell", 7th year, Nr. 7/8

The pinned-cylinder opens and closes the valves purely mechanically,
the micro-box electromechanically.  Therefore both of these types of
organs are the same, with the crank generating the air pressure for
sound production, and so the micro-box organ can be correctly
described today on the basis of it's voicing as the newly-built Old
Berlin Traditional Organ.

                        Hofbauer's Zauberfloete [magic flute]

There's another equivalence to this "technically conditional
identicality":  the magic-flute, indigenous to the Berlin tradition
-- with the typically smoky character of the pan-flute -- is
deliberately reused in the Hofbauer instruments.

Another aspect is the appearance: with most of today's music organ
manufacturers the visible pipes are ordered in a pyramid.  In
Bacigalupo organs and at Hofbauer the pipes of the "Harmonipan"
organs are arranged "as the organ-pipes", in a line from the
smallest to the biggest.  In trumpet-organs there is also a visual
similarity: the perspective-view arrangement of three fields,
characteristic of Bacigalupo [*], is also found at Hofbauer.

So the most important components of the Old Berlin Traditional Organ
-- air supply, voicing, appearance and music-- are today combined
again in the Hofbauer organ, and one can claim, with justification,
that in Goettingen the Old Berlin hurdy-gurdy tradition continues.

- - - -

* Bacigalupo - "A name like music"¶
The Bacigalupo clan was a leading manufacturing group.
Originally from Italy, the family immigrated to Berlin,
and over several generations brought the Berlin hurdy-gurdy
industry to world fame.

- - - -¶
Part 2.¶
"The Dancing-Bear: an instrument for all events"¶
from "Mechanische Orgelwelt aktuell", 7th year, Nr. 7/8

The historic Tanzbaer [Dancing-Bear]

Once again a self-playing accordion causes a sensation.  It was
this instrument after which the Hofbauer instrument was named:
the "Tanzbaer", built by the firm A. Zuleger of Leipzig.  It was
provided, in part, with punched-paper control, and built for
approximately 80 years

It took lots of intelligence to solve the problem of the music
transport.  Whereas in a crank organ the twisting motion was already
existing, and so had only to be connected to the paper transport (in
cylinder organs with a cord, in music-roll organs with a belt), in
an accordion you can't get a turning motion.

With the accordion the left arm and hand are fully occupied opening
and closing the bellows, so it was obvious: move this action to the
right hand.  So a lever was installed outside on the right, so that
closing the right hand in a fist would move the lever.

The up-and-down motion of the lever was transferred inside the
instrument via two links, where a ratchet-and-pawl mechanism rotated
a shaft which was connected by a gear-train to the music transport
and a fairly heavy flywheel, which was responsible for keeping the
music running smoothly in the proper direction.

It required a lot of skill to generate the cranking movement without
any speed fluctuation, especially since the right hand had to
coordinate with the left hand for air-pressure production.

As complicated as this description sounds, that's just how
complicated was the operation!  Therefore it's no wonder that, after
the production of the Tanzbaer in Leipzig was shut down in 1930,
nobody has been concerned with present-day production of this
instrument -- except for master organ builder Hofbauer.

- - - -¶
Part 3.¶
The modern Tanzbaer [Dancing Bear]

After the development of the micro-box technology led the hurdy-
gurdy to entirely new shores, it appeared quite meaningful to apply
the new technology to awaken new life in the Tanzbaer tradition.

Many organ operators had thought of purchasing the Tanzbaer only for
use as an organ substitute or "stop-gap".  When the hurdy-gurdy
presents a problem because of size or weight -- e.g., transporting
it in a tour bus or an airplane -- that's when one wants a Tanzbaer.

However, there's no need for traveling hurdy-gurdy players to be
squashed like this!  The Tanzbaer is quite beautiful and complete,
and is everywhere a welcome alternative to hurdy-gurdy music.

Although it has relatively modest loudness with respect to the
hurdy-gurdy, in small social gatherings it encourages "Singing and
Swaying".  If the player moves across the area while playing, in no
time at all the guests will follow in the most beautiful Polonaise!
...
The sound mixture from real flutes and reed voices has a strong
fascination, and is well received by the audience.  At the same time
it's especially very interesting that the micro-boxes of the 37-key
hurdy-gurdy could be all utilized in the 40-key Dancing-Bears.

- - - - -¶
Part 4.¶
"Hofbauer music-roll organs find no more buyers --
an era comes to the end."

The renaissance of the hurdy-gurdy was inaugurated with the modest
production of standardized music-roll organs in the Seventies.  Even
before that a half-dozen different models were built that found
buyers throughout the world.

At this time the music-roll was the best possible data memory for
these instruments.  To be sure, there was already modern data memory
{magnetic core}, but for the hurdy-gurdy it was inappropriate
because of size and weight.

The crucial breakthrough was the development the micro-chip. This
tiny memory-medium was immediately recognized in Goettingen,  and
incorporated as the forward-looking new product for the mechanical
music-area. In comparison to the music roll system it is feather-
light, needs hardly any space, and has precision and a huge
capacity.  It was first of all fitted to the organs equipped with
the music roll technologies, which now can operate just the same
equipped with this new data-memory.

Beyond the obvious advantages of this new technology there was the
possibility of making new and dynamic music recordings.  So the
mechanical music is not only quantitative, but especially leads to
new horizons of quality.

There is nothing more to improve in music-roll technology.  Just as
the music-roll is superior to the cylinder as a data-memory, so were
its limits also quickly recognized in Gottingen.  While the music-
roll organ, to be sure, preceeded the hurdy-gurdy renaissance, it is
however wholly inappropriate to carry this movement for many
generations further, because way too little music exists, and on top
of that it's mathematically arranged.

Based on this realization, we at Orgelbaumeister Hofbauer drew the
line and completely curtailed production of the music-role organs.
For many years we had allowed ourselves at the luxury of preserving
both organ types, but there were no customers who specifically
wanted this old data-memory.  They all "jumped upon" the micro-box,
because the advantages were quite clear.  For two years it was
impossible to sell even one single music-roll organ in Germany, and
so with a heavy heart we had to abandon it for continuing progress,
and realign Firma Hofbauer.

To be sure we in Goettingen are a bit sad about it, that we had to
separate from the much-loved "child", but the grief isn't as great
as it might be, because of our excitement about the new world - not
quite yet under control - into which the mechanical organ is being
drawn.

[End of the Hofbauer story.]