We don't need no Steenkin' MIDI!!

[Brian Roth]

<g>

Bri

 

[Tubetec]

The choral type vocal effect off the music machine I like a lot ,

It hard visualise the scale of this wind up musical box from the video ,

 

[Brian Roth]

The choral type vocal effect off the music machine I like a lot ,

It hard visualise the scale of this wind up musical box from the video ,

In the first video at around 0:25 you can see the guy who "started up" the machine walking away from behind the instrument. It was tall!

Machines like those above are commonly called Fairground Organs:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairground_organ

Bri

 

[cyrano]

Over here, they're called "Decap organs". Decap is the name of a local manufacturer. Three brothers spent a lifetime making these. They went out of fashion in the late sixties. Yet they're still being made today. A lot of the new ones are exported to Japan. From 1.250€ to...

They were mainly used in dancings, not on fairgrounds. Too big, too expensive, too hard to transport. They also sounded a bit better that the ones in the video. Some had a built-in Hammond organ.









The old organs sell for a lot of money these days, even if they weren't really rare. Obviously, restoration is a lot of work too. You can even buy CDs with the music from these instruments. Hec, there's even vinyl for sale. A bit of a hype here, now that most of them are gone. There's even a small museum dedicated to Decap organs:

https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2019/0...m-in-westerloo-onterecht-onbekend-museum-num/

There was another manufacturer, Mortier. They ended production in 1952.

Current production no longer uses paper rolls for the music, but discs. There still is one dancing that operates a Decap, "Parasol" in Velzeke, Belgium. And there's still one fairground tent too.

 

[pucho812]

Would this by miai(musical instrument analog interface)?

 

[cyrano]

I've never heard of MIAI. But I would be surprised if these had any kind of interface. That said, the ones made today for export to Japan might be built to the customer's specs.

 

[Tubetec]

I remember being mesmorised seeing a mobile version of one of these organs at the gare Du Midi christmas market , back around the turn of the 90's .

 

[totoxraymond]

Would this by miai(musical instrument analog interface)?

I would say MIMI (Musical Instrument Mechanical Interface). But paper rolls have something digital to them, a note can only be on or off.

 

[Tubetec]

The lack of groove and swing is obvious in places , especially on the drums , seems to handle Waltz time best ,
Its has a very mechanical feel ,
MIMI sounds just right ,

 

[cyrano]

Another one I came across on YT: