On the face of it, barrels and music would seem unlikely bedfellows. Their alliance, however, goes back at least to the ninth century, when the first detailed description of a barrel organ appeared in an Arab treatise. Mechanics of the Barrel Organ The mechanical principle underlying all such instruments, from the automated organ and piano to ...
The larger positive organ was not intended to be moved. The biggest difference between medieval and modern organs is that the positive organ’s pipes were all of the same diameter; the pitch was defined by the length. This caused variation in tone quality across the range, making it ‘flutier’ as the pipes became shorter. Gradually organ-builders introduced ‘reed’ pipes, ...
Because the name ‘hurdy-gurdy’ was abducted by the nineteenth-century barrel organ, this instrument is rarely taken as seriously as it deserves. Known as the ‘organistrum’ from the tenth to twelfth centuries, it was a stringed instrument played by a cranked resined wheel, not a bow. It required two operators, one of whom would crank and one play ...
Alternative-rock guitarist Billy Corgan (b. 1967) was born in Chicago, Illinois. Shortly after starting high school, Corgan began to learn guitar on an imitation Gibson Les Paul. His father, a musician, suggested that Billy listen to Jeff Beck and Jimi Hendrix but refused to teach him to play; consequently, Corgan was self-taught. His early influences were ...
Many of the famous German Baroque organs are what is known as Werkprinzip (‘department principle’) organs, built up of several separate ‘departments’ (i.e. a manual or pedal keyboard and its chest), all linked into the single console at which the organist plays. This method of construction means that organs can be tailored to specific requirements and added to over ...
While the medieval, Renaissance and even Baroque organs produced effects with the keyboard (or ‘manual’) and the stops, the Baroque period in England saw the first development of the ‘swell box’. The front of the swell box comprises a set of movable shutters connected to pedals which, lying under the organist’s feet, allow the sound to grow ...
The organ is an instrument of extremes – the biggest, the loudest, the lowest, the highest, the oldest, the newest and the most complex, it is also among the smallest, the most intimate, the most modest, and the simplest. Organ Extremes The aptly named portative organ – much played from the twelfth ...
The term electric, or electromechanical, organ is used to describe instruments that produce sounds using a dynamo-like system of moving parts – as opposed to electronic organs that employ solid-state electronics. Laurens Hammond In the same way that ‘Hoover’ is used instead of ‘vacuum cleaner’, the very name ‘Hammond’ has become synonymous with electric organs. The Hammond organ was ...
(Trumpet, 1895–1936) An early practitioner of New Orleans jazz, Morgan travelled the Bay St. Louis-Pensacola-Mobile circuit and played Crescent City venues, including the Savoy on Rampart Street, before suffering a stroke in 1925. He recovered and in 1927 made recordings at the Werlein’s Music Store on Canal Street for the Columbia label, including ‘Mobile Stomp’, ‘Bogalousa ...
(Trumpet, 1938–72) Born in Philadelphia, trumpeter Lee Morgan led one of the storybook lives in jazz. He joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers in 1958, having already worked with Dizzy Gillespie and John Coltrane. A magnificent hard-bop stylist who effectively utilized half-valve techniques and staccato blowing, Morgan was a star of the Blue Note Records roster, hitting ...
(Vocals, 1924–75) Waverly, Tennessee-born George Morgan is best remembered for the smooth, late-1940s, chart-toppers ‘Candy Kisses’ and ‘A Room Full Of Roses’ (which also reached the pop Top 30). Morgan was a favourite on the Grand Ole Opry from 1948 until shortly before his death due to complications from open-heart surgery. He was the father of contemporary ...
(Vocals, b. 1959) The daughter of country star George Morgan, Loretta Lynn Morgan first performed at the age of 13 at the Grand Ole Opry, which she joined in 1984. After two years singing back-up for George Jones, and singing demos for publishers Acuff Rose, she made her first Top 10 hit single, ‘Dear Me’, ...
Although the early church had been hostile towards instrumental music, the organ was gradually adopted by Christianity following its rediscovery in the eighth and ninth centuries. Since then it has been a largely ecclesiastical instrument, though chamber organs have also been used for secular music in aristocratic houses. Most medieval organs were small, especially by modern standards. Indeed ...
Unlike all other instruments, the organ can actually form part of the building in which it performs and its effect on church architecture has been matched only by that of the choir. While the internal workings of the organ have changed little over the centuries, one thing that has changed is the organ case. Every instrument needs to be ...
(Vocal/instrumental group 1963–68) Though Dick Heckstall-Smith (saxophone), Jack Bruce (vocals, bass) and John McLaughlin (guitar) became respective mainstays of Colosseum, Cream and The Mahavishnu Orchestra, it is too sweeping to say that this group was most notable for those members who went on to greater success. The late Bond (vocals, keyboards, saxophone) was one of the ...
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David Bowie
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