The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. +more
More portable than pipe organs, free-reed organs were widely used in smaller churches and in private homes in the 19th century, but their volume and tonal range were limited. They generally had one or sometimes two manuals, with pedal-boards being rare. +more
Alongside the furniture-sized instruments of the west, smaller designs exist. The portable, hand-pumped harmonium or samvadini is a major instrument on the Indian subcontinent developed by Indians to meet local needs. +more
History
During the first half of the 18th century, a free-reed mouth organ called a sheng was brought to Russia. That instrument received attention due to its use by Johann Wilde. +more
The term melodeon was applied to concert saloons in the Victorian American West because of the use of the reed instrument. The word became a common designation of that type of resort that offered entertainment to men.
Harmoniums reached the height of their popularity in the West in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They were especially popular in small churches and chapels where a pipe organ would be too large or expensive; in the funeral-in-absentia scene from Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, the protagonist narrates that the church procured a "melodeum" (a conflation, likely intended by Twain for satirical effect, of the names "melodeon" and "harmonium") for the occasion. +more
At the peak of the instruments' Western popularity around 1900, a wide variety of styles of harmoniums were being produced. These ranged from simple models with plain cases and only four or five stops (if any at all), up to large instruments with ornate cases, up to a dozen stops and other mechanisms such as couplers. +more
The invention of the electronic organ in the mid-1930s spelled the end of the harmonium's success in the West, although its popularity as a household instrument had already declined in the 1920s as musical tastes changed . The Hammond organ could imitate the tonal quality and range of a pipe organ whilst retaining the compact dimensions and cost-effectiveness of the harmonium as well as reducing maintenance needs and allowing a greater number of stops and other features. +more
The last mass-producer of harmoniums in North America was the Estey company, which ceased manufacture in the mid-1950s; a couple of Italian companies continued into the 1970s. As the existing stock of instruments aged and spare parts became hard to find, more and more were either scrapped or sold. +more
Modern electronic keyboards can emulate the sound of the pump organ.
Acoustics
The acoustical effects described below are a result of the free-reed mechanism. Therefore, they are essentially identical for the Western and Indian harmoniums and the reed organ. +more
Using two manuals and two differently tuned stop sets, he was able to simultaneously compare Pythagorean to just and to equal-tempered tunings and observe the degrees of inharmonicity inherent to the different temperaments. He subdivided the octave to 28 tones, to be able to perform modulations of 12 minor and 17 major keys in just intonation without going into harsh dissonance that is present with the standard octave division in this tuning. +more
Lord Rayleigh also used the harmonium to devise a method for indirectly measuring frequency accurately, using approximated known equal temperament intervals and their overtone beats. The harmonium had the advantage of providing clear overtones that enabled the reliable counting of beats by two listeners, one per note. +more
In the generation of its tones, a reed organ is similar to an accordion or concertina, but not in its installation, as an accordion is held in both hands whereas a reed organ is usually positioned on the floor in a wooden casing (which might make it mistakable for a piano at the very first glimpse). Reed organs are operated either with pressure or with suction bellows. +more
Reed organ frequencies depend on the blowing pressure; the fundamental frequency decreases with medium pressure compared to low pressure, but it increases again at high pressures by several hertz for the bass notes measured. American reed organ measurements showed a sinusoidal oscillation with sharp pressure transitions when the reed bends above and below its frame. +more
Radiation patterns and coupling effects between the sound box and the reeds on the timbre appear not to have been studied to date.
The unusual reed-vibration physics have a direct effect on harmonium playing, as the control of its dynamics in playing is restricted and subtle. The free reed of the harmonium is riveted from a metal frame and is subjected to airflow, which is pumped from the bellows through the reservoir, pushing the reed and bringing it to self-exciting oscillation and to sound production in the direction of airflow. +more
Repertory
The harmonium was considered by Curt Sachs to be an important instrument for music of Romanticism (1750s-1900), which "vibrated between two poles of expression" and "required the overwhelming power and strong accents of wind instruments".
Harmonium compositions are available by European and American composers of classical music. It was also used often in the folk music of the Appalachians and South of the United States.
Harmoniums played a significant part in the new rise of Nordic folk music, especially in Finland. In the late 1970s, a harmonium could be found in most schools where the bands met, and it became natural for the bands to include a harmonium in their setup. +more
In the Netherlands, the introduction of the harmonium triggered a boom in religious house music. Its organ-like sound quality allowed Reformed families to sing psalms and hymns at home. +more
Western classical
The harmonium repertoire includes many pieces written originally for the church organ, which may be played on a harmonium as well, because they have a small enough range and use fewer stops. For example, Bach's Fantasia in C major for organ BWV 570 is suitable for a four-octave harmonium.
Other examples include: *Alban Berg. Altenberg Lieder *William Bergsma. +more
Artists
Krishna Das, American kirtan singer, composer and recording artist *Farrukh Fateh Ali Khan, Pakistani qawali performer, composer and recording artist *Mariana Sadovska, Ukrainian singer, composer and recording artist *Radie Peat, singer and musician of Lankum
Western popular music
Harmoniums have been used in western popular music since at least the 1960s. John Lennon played a Mannborg harmonium on the Beatles' hit single "We Can Work It Out", released in December 1965, and the band used the instrument on other songs recorded during the sessions for their Rubber Soul album. +more
Many other artists soon employed the instrument in their music, including; Pink Floyd on the title song "Chapter 24" of their first album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn in 1967, Elton John on his 1973 album Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player, 1976's Blue Moves, the 1978 album A Single Man, and 1995's Made in England. German singer Nico was closely associated with the harmonium, using it as her main instrument, during the late 60s and 70s, on albums such as The Marble Index, Desertshore and +more
Donovan employed the harmonium on his 1968 album The Hurdy Gurdy Man where he played it in droning accompaniment on the song "Peregrine", and where it was also played on his song "Poor Cow" by John Cameron.
Robert Fripp of King Crimson played a pedal harmonium borrowed from lyricist Peter Sinfield on the title track that progressive rock band's 1971 album Islands.
More recently Roger Hodgson from Supertramp used his harmonium on many of the group's songs including "Two of Us" from Crisis? What Crisis?, "Fool's Overture" from +more
The Damned singer Dave Vanian bought a harmonium for £49 and used it to compose "Curtain Call", the 17-minute closing track from their 1980 double LP The Black Album. In 1990, Depeche Mode used a harmonium on a version of their song "Enjoy The Silence". +more
During the 1990s the Hindu and Sikh-based devotional music known as kirtan, a 7th-8th century Indian music, popularly emerged in the West. The harmonium is often played as the lead instrument by kirtan artists; notably Jai Uttal who was nominated for a Grammy award for new-age music in 2004, Snatam Kaur, and Krishna Das who was nominated for a Grammy award for new age music in 2012.
In the Indian subcontinent
The harmonium arrived in India during the mid-19th century, possibly with missionaries or traders. The instrument quickly became popular there: it was portable, reliable and easy to learn.
The harmonium is popular to the present day, an important instrument in many genres of Indian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi music. For example, it is a staple of vocal North Indian classical music and Sufi Muslim Qawwali concerts. +more
Dwijendranath Tagore is credited with having used the imported instrument in 1860 in his private theatre, but it was probably a pedal-pumped instrument that was cumbersome or possibly some variation of the reed organ. Initially, it aroused curiosity, but gradually people started playing it, and Ghose took the initiative to modify it. +more
The harmonium was widely accepted in Indian music, particularly Parsi and Marathi stage music, in the late 19th century. By the early 20th century, however, in the context of nationalist movements that sought to depict India as utterly separate from the West, the harmonium was portrayed as an unwanted foreigner. +more
The inability to slide between notes prevents it from articulating the subtle inflections (such as andolan, gentle oscillation) so crucial to many ragas. Being set to specific pitches is a different musical concept than the Indian svara, which doesn't focus on specific pitches, but a range of pitches. +more
On the other hand, many of the harmonium's qualities suited it very well for the newly reformed classical music of the early 20th century: it is easy for amateurs to learn; it supports group singing and large voice classes; it provides a template for standardized raga grammar; it is loud enough to provide a drone in a concert hall. For these reasons, it has become the instrument of choice for accompanying most North Indian classical vocal genres, with top vocalists (e. +more
A popular usage is by followers of the Hindu and Sikh faiths, who use it to accompany their devotional songs (bhajan and kirtan) respectively. There is at least one harmonium in any gurdwara (Sikh temple) around the world. +more
Vidyadhar Oke has developed a 22-microtone harmonium, which can play 22 microtones as required in Indian classical music. The fundamental tone (Shadja) and the fifth (Pancham) are fixed, but the other ten notes have two microtones each, one higher and one lower. +more
Bhishmadev Vedi is said to have been the first to contemplate improving the harmonium by augmenting it with a swarmandal (harp-like string box) attached to the top of the instrument. His disciple, Manohar Chimote, later implemented this concept, also making the instrument more responsive to key pressure, and called the instrument a samvadini-a name now widely accepted. +more
In 1954, Late Jogesh Chandra Biswas first modified the then-existing harmoniums, so it folds down into a much thinner space for easier maneuverability. Before that, if the instrument was boxed, it used to need two people to carry it, holding it from either side. +more
The Shruti box, a keyless harmonium used only to produce drones to support other soloists.
Types
In the view points of preservation of cultural properties, maintenance and restoration, the pump organs are often categorized into several types.
Historical instruments
File:横浜みなとみらいポジティフオルガン「スージー」全体. JPG| cf. +more
File:Bibelregal1988ME I. JPG| Regal without pipes (beating reed organ, without pipes after the 16th century) File:8 key accordion. +more
Early instruments
File:Musee des Ursulines de Quebec 010. jpg| (invented in 1810 by , Paris) File:Reed Organ (Physharmonica) MET DP227017. +more
Harmonium
Harmoniums are pressure system free-reed organs.
File:Harmonium Debain - c. 1865. +more
{{vanchor|Suction reed organs}}
Suction reed organs are vacuum system free-reed organs.
Melodeons and Seraphines
File:Rocking Melodeon MET D3198 89. 4. +more
{{vanchor|Reed organ}}s
File:Sunday School Organ in Barratt's Chapel Museum, Frederica, Delaware. jpg| Folding reed organ (19th century) File:Geo. +more
File:Estey Phonorium. (front).jpg| Two manual with pedal reed organ (pipe-top) File:Alleyorgan.jpg| Enharmonic reed organ (1868/1871) by Joseph Alley
File:"Autophone" Organette MET MUS483A.jpg| cf. mechanical free-reed instrument, Organette in 1878
{{vanchor|Later instruments}} (electrically blown / electronic organs)
File:Harmophon koestler 2. jpg| Electrically blown reed organ File:Magnus electric chord organ (free stand, wood, 3oct, 6maj, 6min, 3stop, vib). +more
File:Gulbransen Organ, Museum of Making Music.jpg| cf. Electronic organ (1939-)
Related instruments
Keyboard instruments
Organs (music)
Sets of free reeds
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