•-- non-subscriber, please reply to sender and MMD -- I'm a graduate student at the University of California, Santa Barbara and I've been given the task of doing some research on an Aeolian player organ that the university has recently acquired. I have been able to find a certain amount of informati...

•Paul Morris is quite correct: while the rolls and tracker bar hole assignments were standardized, just how things were connected to the specific organ most certainly did vary. And, it seems to be that the size of the organ and the room acoustics played some part in this. There is some correspondenc...

•[ Richard Broeker wrote in 060206 MMDigest: > If I added more pipes, what would be the most useful addition? I'm not sure whether the pipes you add would be played along with the Gedeckt rank (a softly voiced Bourdon) as an extra stop, or whether they would be controlled independently. It's not tha...

•"If you can't afford to advertise, do something newsworthy," is an old saying. Street organs were banned in New York City in 1936. The law was repealed in 1976. We brought them back in 2006. April 9, 2006 was a great day in Coney Island, when the Lady Liberty Chapter of AMICA, Intl., and Coney Isla...

•Two responses: In the words of Dick Nash (the owner of the famed 'de Hagenaar' 90-key Carl Frei Sr. organ) when asked, "Do you have a way to turn that down," the answer is always, "Sure, stand back, the further away you go, the softer it gets!" On a more serious note, I was asked to build a 30-key ...

•Hi Group, If you were in Southern California on July 1st and did not stop by Memorial Park in Sierra Madre you missed quite a rally. You would have seen a 45-keyless book operated Fairground organ in one corner of the park. On that side of the park were three self-built organs. One of them was desi...

•Hi Mr. Morgan and group, I happen to be a fan of Ghost Hunters, and I, too, have seen this episode several times (it is periodically re-run). I have gone nuts trying to figure out what the tune and instrument are. (Note: When referring to the sound, the TAPS/Ghost Hunters team think it is a "callio...

•Alan, I have three suggestions for you. First, find someone who is a native German speaker (assuming that the text is in German). Often times, a person who reads in the same language can recognize words with missing letters or other details. Whereas a non-native speaker must identify each individua...

•First of all I wish to wish all MMDers a most Happy New Year. To start the new season, I am seeking help on my Style 150 electronic organ. In my active years before I was wrecked in an accident, I built 4 or 5 125s, a 150, and several 165s. The only one remaining in my possession is a 150 which has...

•In response to Pete Knobloch's question (080101 MMDigest) about the sequence of events that occur as the crescendo pedal is depressed, I offer this expanded explanation. First, I must give a bit of background. Most of us who study the operation of various mechanically played instruments realize tha...

•There has been an awful lot of discussion on this subject, and maybe my comments are superfluous, but I have had a go at this. Since retiring to France, I have spent the last 12 months building a MIDI controlled band organ from scratch. MIDI control because (a) I would probably be dead before I had...

•Dear Justin and group, Owners of the Wurlitzer company, especially Howard Wurlitzer, were very frugal, and cared more about profit than musicality of their band organs. At one time, Wurlitzer's music roll arrangers were paid a nickel a foot for their arrangements, a pay scale that didn't contribute...

•Les, When transposing, you must remember that not all the notes in the major scale are one note apart. There are two points in every (major) scale that are only a half-step apart. In C scale, there is only a half-step between E and F (there is no E-sharp). The other place where this occurs is betwe...

•Hi Group, I had a long talk with Ray Siou and he is trying to sell the items remaining in his building that is for sale. He has an Artisan electronic theater organ for sale or donation. It has a horseshoe console and is a kit-built organ but was wired by a professional. He also says that he has lot...

•The web site giving information about my Aeolian pipe organ is being updated. It is time to remove the site's Christmas music and replace it. In thinking about how to use the site, I have come up with a concept of an ever changing podcast. Each new podcast will be unique. Some podcasts will feature...

•I have the following spare parts available from Aeolian Model "V", No. 8095. This is a late model with pneumatic stops and a brass tracker bar. The numbers relate to the photographs taken; please ask if you would like the photos. 1. The two carved legs below the keyboard (some in two parts for ship...

•Dear Folks, There have been several comments and questions about what band organs might appear at the Great Circus Parade in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in July 2009. Let me reminisce a little and maybe partly answer the question. For seven years in the 1990s, my wife, Cheri, and I participated in the Gr...

•On YouTube there is now a tantalizing video of the Weber Solea orchestrion in the Cafe Fribourgeois, Bulle, Switzerland. It has a case design the like of which I have not seen before. The case is triple-fronted. There are two side cabinets, each with a sumptuous back-lit animated scene, flanking a ...

•Dear MMDers, Charles Davis asks about the organs that were owned by Harvey and Marion Roehl. I have forgotten where some of the instruments have gone and perhaps some have been since resold again. However, I can offer the following comments which may be of some interest to those who knew the Roehls...

•Greetings all from New Zealand, Just to bring you up to date with where we are. I am pleased to say that the first major part of the project is about to get under way. This first year has been one of obtaining knowledge and exploring New Zealand for lost parts of this once beautiful instrument. We ...