How It Works... Mechanical GAVIOLI FAIRGROUND ORGAN from 1905 ex Day's Gallopers with Nick Williams

Here we take an in-depth look at how this historic original fairground organ actully works, towards the end hearing a demonstration of it playing the song "The Whistler and his Dog".
Gavioli Seriel No. 9085 plays today exactly as it would have done when it left the factory in 1905, using perforated cardboard read by an pneumatic action controlling air to the 400 speaking pipes. There is also automatic percussion, and a 17 note glockenspiel. Everything is mechanical through pneumatic action; there are no electronics!
This magnificent instrument was installed in James Day's 3-abreast Gallopers in 1920, and was in showmans use with the ride until 1984. Previously owned by Chris Dobbs, I aquired the organ in April 2021, and look forward to touring steam fairs and special events across England and Wales in due course (please contact me if you are interested in hiring it for your event - [e-mail])
If you're enjoying the music and wish to tip me towards the organ's maintenance and help fund new music for future videos, you can do so at: www.paypal.com/paypalme/jollity

[@rvdb8876]

It played so well that after the music ended I felt the urge to applaud.

[@SeanDailey-dy8tn]

You and me both

[@khmam]

@@SeanDailey-dy8tn Ditto.

[@dieselbushcraft1299]

I’ve watched this video several times and still find it fascinating. These organs are magical and how on earth people first built these is totally amazing.

[@SeanDailey-dy8tn]

I know. It’s surprisingly capable of musical excellence being a century old. I bet one of these could play a TheFatRat song!

[@zappababe8577]

Yes, they were so incredibly complicated! If something broke, it must have been very awkward and fiddly to fix.

[@theDaftman]

That's Stuart Dobbs and families organ. so surprised they parted with it. at least the organ stayed in the UK and in very capable hands. Good look Nick, nice to see you back with organs.

[@brandonwendt1312]

My hat's off to you for saving and preserving such a beautiful machine❤

[@jameswest8280]

These magnificent works of art were engineering marvels in their day, and they still are.

[@bcu567obzx]

All the best of luck Nick with your new toy, she sounds just great.

[@100PercentOS2]

As a professional artist I can sure see such beauty in this organ as well as most other fairground organs. I love the intricate designs and the color schemes. I hope to get to see one of these magnificent machines one of these days.

[@coveredbridgeman4916]

Wonderful I Loved it - I Worked at a Fair When I was Hunger & always Loved This Fairground Organ & The Music. fr. Canada

[@wadessirenvideos6750]

This organ is a beautiful masterpiece of music and automation. Thanks for letting us see it work and hear it play.

[@penfold7800]

Really great video. Thankyou so much. I always wondered how they got so many different sounds into so few 'tracks'. Your explanation and physical demonstration of how the registry works was fabulous. It fills me with so much utter anazement that the designers were able to filter down so many on/off registry switches to such a small ammount. Grouping and the Reset valve were just pure genious.

[@DoctoreE644]

Listening to the joyful music from these by-gone instruments should be required, particularly today. I think it would calm the fiercest radicals on both sides of whatever irks them the most! This music is made for the enjoyment of any and all, and to set a tone for merriment and a return to times gone by...❤

[@harmonipan-bt1dm]

Absolut great Video about a wonderfull GAVIOLI Organ 👍👍👍 The Brother from my Grandfather (born 1892) was a Fairground Man, and had in the twentyth Years an " GAVIOLI - Waldkirch " Organ , playing on his Caroussell... Thank you for showing this Video, and with the best wishes from Germany. 🎼🎵🎶🎵🎵🎶🎵🎶🎶

[@jefflauber]

Smashing. We here in the states loved your story on this organ.

[@eurettahutchinson8276]

I know nothing about this stuff except hearing and enjoying the music at fun fairs. I don’t usually comment on videos but your love and enthusiasm for your topic shines through and is inspiring. How did stumble here? While reading a book, my 8yr old granddaughter and I came across a reference to a Barrel Organ and I wanted her to see and hear what one sounded like. As you may know KZbin will take you where you did not intend to go. Thoroughly enjoyed your video and seeing this beautiful organ and was eagerly waiting to hear the tune.

[@garrydruce]

Nice tour of the instrument. Sends shivers up my spine to see the parts moving as it plays. Wonderful. Well done Nick

[@mikesoule1352]

I can picture a herd of painted ponies gliding up and down in a carousel, and being ridden by excited children. Thank you for the tour. Your organ is amazing! 🐴🦓🦄😮

[@guysumpter6653]

A fascinating tour of this wonderful instrument; many thanks.

[@dbfairgroundfilms8195]

I’ve always had a rough idea of how these giants work, but I love how you’ve explained in depth the workings of these fabulous machines. Thanks for sharing, and good luck with her 😊

[@SamsTrains]

What a marvellous instrument, thanks so much for sharing!

[@Organdude]

Excellent video, keep up the work conserving these magnificent mechanical music machines!

[@bcu567obzx]

Sweet sound and all's good with the mechanics, good job Nick. Have many records of mainly the Dutch street organ from the early 60's, stiil love the Jupiter and The Arab. Very enjoyable.

[@64mung]

Amazing!

[@youtubasoarus]

Astonishing level of mechanical wonder! 😮

[@Idelia412]

Very nice video...Thanks for sharing!

[@Rollkragenpullover]

Ein sehr interessantes Video über ein wundervolles Instrument! Vielen Dank! 👍🎶😊👏

[@johnhicks913]

Hi Nick, very informative, you are a clever young man. Please keep in touch. You are hard to get hold of.

[@AVadim]

Phantastic sound! Great job!

[@RobSchofield]

That was marvellous! Thank you.

[@michaelkhoo5846]

Fascinating tour, thank you!

[@unequally-tempered]

Really superb tour. A really difficult instrument to tune perfectly.

[@lewiemcneely9143]

WONDERFUL! Thanks so much!

[@Tomcroese]

Thanks, that was nice to see!

[@1953PE]

Many thanks for posting Nick, most interesting

[@JimmyFreeman-b6d]

This was my great grandfather day's organ, I remember it being on the gallopers at aberavon and my uncle Tommy used to play it for me, wonderful memories of it, do you ever take it out for people to see it? Would love to see it some time

[@thegreatcanadianlumberjack5307]

The wild thing about those Books that are used to play the Music they are a very early version of Binary coding when you think about it Each hole is a "1" or "on" command and the covered up keys are a "0" or "off" command. I have seen the Wurlitizer band organs but this a massive and incredibly amazing machine. Keep up the great work of preserving it.

[@SentientMeatbag]

What a wonderful tour of the organ, thank you!

[@calumstudios4215]

This has been the most helpful video out there so far! Thank you so much!

[@JohnPiperBoots]

@Nick Williams - Absolutely beautiful, amazing and a stunning work of engineering! I just subscibed! Twilight Zone episode "Walking Distance" merry-go-round scene, music brought me here! 😀👍👍👍👍👍

[@zeebohm]

Amazing.

[@CBF1]

Great to see a private band organ owner showcasing their own organ, I remember now speaking of that, Max Huff did one of his Artizan C band organ shortly after it was restored some 8 years ago or so? I can't remember. Another thing? These machines are more than historic almost. Their history and how long they've existed, and what they have been doing for years that a modern person wouldn't imagine thinking circuit boards are the only way of automatic-ness I guess if that's how I say it, are all super duper important, but there's the one thing that I view is almost most important. THE SOUND. Superior to nearly all other music except church organs, military bands like that of the Royal Guards of London, and orchestras. Although I'm more of a Wurlitzer and Ruth & Sohn freak, BAND ORGANS PROVIDE THE HAPPIEST, AND SOME OF THE MOST MIGHTY, MOST HIGH AND MOST EXCELLENT MUSIC ON EARTH. Music that I'll never be able to own myself... I'm after a $135,000 Wurlitzer 155 Monster Military Band Organ. Oh well I'm only 17, but even when I'm what, 50 or so, I'll probably have screw all amounts of money like how everyone else does. Anyone who owns a band organ did good in doing so, and with the right care, passion, enthusiasm and maintenance, deserve whatever band organ it is that they have. Good job although I'm a Wurlitzer + Ruth & Sohn person.

[@alexwells6876]

Great insight into this magical machine, to think that these were designed and built by people is magical and mind blowing in itself. I'd love to see and play around with one in person. I found out about the Goose fair in Nottingham recently, i'll be going this year, i'm sure i'll find one there.

[@MrHeesbeen]

Talking about steam organs (which is more accurately called a calliope and used to be on American stern wheelers), I had a rather humorous experience with a know-all at a traction engine rally a few years ago. You can tell the ones whose mouth is bigger than their brain and at one rally, an animated bloke with his long suffering wife in tow, approached the organ. Looking between the pipes, I could see that he was sharing his mighty knowledge of fairground organs with his lady, so I left the organ in the care of my operator and quietly stood alongside him. I was just in time to hear him explain the intricacies of how a steam organ works. "You see my darling, underneath the organ, is a type of steam boiler that makes everything work and it is steam entering the bottom of the pipes, that makes it play music". Now the wife, who had seen me clamber out of the back of the organ truck and knew that I had something to do with it, flashed me a brief long-suffering look as he rambled on. Not wanting to miss out on my organ education, I decided to pose Mr Knowitall a question. "Excuse me, but I couldn`t help overhearing your excellent explanation of how a steam organ works" He puffed up with pride at my compliment. "But could you please explain why I can`t see any steam coming out of the tops of the pipes ?" He gave me a withering look that suggested that he thought that I was bred from moronic stock and said, "At the bottom of each pipe is a special valve/filter that dries out the steam before it can leave the pipe". By this stage his wife was having trouble stifling hysterical laughter and how she managed to leave the rally field with dry legs, is a source of wonder to me.

[@benjaminclasper9355]

Served him right.

[@benjaminclasper9355]

Not really much of a know all then.

[@benjaminclasper9355]

Than he thought he was.

[@bpark10001]

You should put a large automotive air filter on the input to the blower. This will help keep the insides of the organ clean. (I note dirt in the mouths of the violin pipes in the front from the airflow.

[@Tubecraft1]

It would need to be a large lorry one to handle that air flow without causing supply reduction

[@SnooziacTM]

This was an amazing and informative video! Great stuff, man!

[@dasy2k1]

The organ I'm most familiar with is an older 87 key Gavioli but that one doesn't have any registration and has 3 seperate channels for the conductor. Baton, left hand and his head turns. Plus 4 bell ringers

[@martcp71]

Fascinating, thank you!

[@wurly164]

On my channel I show a wurlitzer band organ in a trailer that is painted in ornate colors. The organ has 316 pipes and the band master plays off the bass drum. Most of the videos are of poor quality since I'm not the best at filming. But since the organ is so loud, the sound is too much for my video camera and it comes out sounding tinny. But you still get the idea

[@CBF1]

It's the Wurlitzer 164, the loudest Wurlitzer Band Organ in all of existence...

[@wurly164]

@@CBF1 I would say yes, it has no registers except for bells, so it plays all out. It's deafening

[@CBF1]

@@wurly164 I wonder whose next on the Wurlitzer 164's List of people to remove the ability to hear from...

[@wurly164]

@@CBF1 what do you mean ?

[@CBF1]

@@wurly164 yep that was a pretty complicated description, I wasn't really thinking of a better one then. Oof. What I meant was... Whose next on the Wurlitzer 164's personal list of people to absolutely utterly and completely deafen?

[@mattappleyard92]

What a great video, thanks for sharing.

[@christiantedesco1477]

Nick, thank you for producing this video! It looks like there are only 6 brass trombones.. where are those other 2 hiding?

[@starlite528]

Would be pretty fantastic to see some kind of MIDI adapter plate 3D printed up to fit in the card reader, for either pre-recorded music to be played by the computer or by a live organ keyboard!

[@RJ-wx3fh]

22:17 , i could make a joke about the innuendo, but i've genuinely heard of some completely safe for work creators making a packet with only fans accounts, and it'd be another way to show your organ off online, hopefully gaining some funding for maintenance etc. :)

[@MostlyPennyCat]

What _I'd_ like to know is: How would I go about composing or arranging music for this beautiful machine? Ever since hearing "To the Shock of Miss Louise" in the 90s and growing up riding the gallopers at Southsea Fairground in the 80s I've wanted to compare for one. Many a night my brain has kept me awake hammering out tunes in my head. First I assume i would need a mapping for watch of the keys/slots in the cardboard programmes.

[@andrewbarrett1537]

Hi, first you'll need to get the acale for the organ, and also arranging software. A good program is "Noteur" by Piet Pardekaam in the Netherlands. He has companion software called "MIDIboek" which lets your computer printer print a template to be glued to blank cardboard to punch out a music book. Another good piece of arranging software is by Melvyn Wright and is good for organs up to 64 keys. It's available from his website "melright".

[@davidnaythons8404]

Sir, you have a wonderful instrument. Do you plan on giving classical music concerts with your 89 key Gavioli organ?

[@leeanncotrone8369]

Amaizing

[@ScDMiller1]

Very informative and interesting. What I'd like to know is, how did they make the music (punch cards) books back then, and how (if) is it done today? 🤔

[@keithsyers5833]

You can add buy me a coffee or thanks button to your subscribers, like button lists to help with your fundraising. Love your work it's a beautiful sound. I'd love to see and hear it live. Thank you for looking after such a wonderful piece of history. I enjoyed it. I'm I the 10 millionth person to hear it 😊

[@Jon_Oates]

I love these informative walk-rounds. Could you do one covering how register changes are implemented in midi and books for us newbies?

[@KawhackitaRag]

There is a good diagram showing register changes with general cancel in a music book, in the book "The Fairground Organ" by Eric Cockayne, published I think in the 1960s. This book is fairly easy to find online.

[@Jon_Oates]

@@KawhackitaRag Thank you. I’ll look it up.

[@alanhiggins299]

@@KawhackitaRag thanks for the information on the register diagram, I would like to know more about how that works and I will be sure to source the book myself.

[@randolphfriend8260]

💙 how many hours of music do you have? The organ was VERY proud of playing THAT particular song! 🙉 Thank you for keeping these alive. 😁

[@fairorgan]

I'm up to around 700 books of music for this organ, at a guess must be in excess of 30 hours. I'm always adding to the library, tunes new and old.

[@Tubecraft1]

What a treat thank you so much for your work in preserving and being it’s guardian. Your knowledge is impressive too. I know it’s not period but . . . I’d look for a 90’s ERF tractor unit EC9 or EC11 to pull it around. But the rigid lorry idea is probably most practical because you might have more room in and around the organ to maintain it. But what a lot of work to transfer it ?

[@matthiaswynants4857]

Where did you find the patent drawings If I may ask please

[@fluteharmonique8]

How do you tune it without a pitch rank and a keyboard?

[@HoppyTheRobot]

What makes you say that the keyed system is more robust than keyless? Keyless is just a row of holes with no moving parts!

[@fairorgan]

I own organs on both systems... keyless organs need music in perfect condition to play, whereas keyed organs will still play well worn books perfectly. Once a keyed key frame is set up, it will give years of trouble-free service.

[@SeanDailey-dy8tn]

Somebody needs to transpose “jackpot” by TheFatRat for this Gavioli to play.

[@bpark10001]

I would like to look at that patent gb189511044, but all searches come up blank. Can you tell me where to find it?

[@gregmaxwell3605]

What does this organ cost?

[@sousafan100]

great video - where's tom...ha

[@Qeswara]

Is it contains any electronics Or electrical control except electrical powered motor? I heard you say "relays"

[@fairorgan]

No electronics! The relays are pneumatic / mechanical ones, using air to control more air.

[@Qeswara]

@@fairorgan Thank You, So Much 🌹🌹🌹

[@ergashmatyaqubov7703]

Hello from Khorezm(Central asia)

[@matthewpayton]

How many tunes can the organ play?

[@theorganguy]

one at a time

[@pouglwaw5932]

@@theorganguy Witty ! And how long do they play? From beginning to the end.

[@theorganguy]

@@pouglwaw5932 I would have loved to give a more practical answer... alas, there is a wide range of "truths" to that. Barrel organs for example had only up to 9 titles of between 45 seconds to 1 minute runtime, but of course these could be played non stop. How many "organ books" are with the organ in the video I simply do not know. However, if one was to take this question to its extreme end, then I have to even say: pretty much the majority of all tunes ever composed - the caveat being, that a lot of tunes simply have not been arranged for these, although they CAN all be played if one prepares the tune.

[@KawhackitaRag]

@@pouglwaw5932 I am not sure what is the longest known 89 key music book. But I would guess it's probably some overture or other and probably plays for over 10 minutes. If you have never seen one of these organs in person it is hard to fathom how heavy a stack of cardboard book music can be when it is a fairly long tune (short tunes aren't too heavy). A full wooden 'case' of book music can weigh over 100 lbs and take some effort to move around inside the organ trailer. However again most books of pop songs, marches, waltzes etc will be relatively shorter and only the big overtures (and a few concert waltzes etc) will be super long.

[@CBF1]

Unlimited, insert any book in the key frame with a different tune and you're set.

[@ergashmatyaqubov7703]

Good job. if it were possible to see it with own eyes. Unfortunately , far from here so I can't see

[@gregmaxwell3605]

I can’t find the link to your PayPal account.

[@philevans4021]

Any plans on MIDI-ising it?

[@fairorgan]

No... This is one of the most original Gaviolis to have survived, and will not be having any change to the original perforated card player system in my ownership (and I hope it never does).

[@aavuz]

@@fairorgan Glad to hear you won't be MIDIising it! It's a massive disappointment seeing a fairground organ at a show which ISN'T playing from books!!

[@ladyfirst5812]

So itallian the subtitles spoke Italian.

[@murraycallahan3716]

I often wish that the innards of these wonderful machines were featured more in posts and this has done so in spades. I’m not technical at all so I don’t grasp much of what you talk about, but I love it just the same. And when the music starts I get such a thrill, as if I’m experiencing it over 100 years ago. Thank you for your hard work and boundless enthusiasm.

[@Mr_Fahrenheit]

What an amazing combination of engineering and art, imagine the amount of people it took to design and build this beautiful instrument

[@davidwright8432]

So that's how it all happens! Many thianks for the very informative guided tour - with example. I must have been about 6 when I first heard one of these - a surprising number of decades back. The magic is still there!

[@urbex_coasters]

Being both an amusement park enthusiast and a composer that uses MIDI based software (which evolved from the rolls these use), I have quite an appreciation for these machines. I would love to hear my music on one of these one day.

[@alotl1kevegas860]

What a beautiful piece of machinery.

[@mariokuczyk7992]

Man what a beauty of mechanical Design

[@crazyleyland5106]

I was really interested to see that the Gavioli books were based on the jacquard weaving devices, as where I come from, Braintree, was a place of weaving, including Jacquard. The tune "The Whistler and his Dog" appears to have been popular with cinema organs as well as fairground organs. It had barking at the end, either done by somebody "barking" or with several loud chords.

[@djsherz]

I've been fascinated by these ever since my parents took me on a visit to Thursford back in the early 80s.

[@cl5307]

Hi Nick It's great to see that you are still keeping the tradition alive. I owe you a lot. You taught me a great deal and I'm eternally grateful. I have a Jazz channel myself at cl5307. I hope to see you sometime. Please give my best wishes to your family. Chris Latham

[@tomfuschetti202]

❤ Keep it on the trailer. And long hauling use a flat bed and truck or a rail road flat car. This needs to be seen by world

[@LawnBunny777]

Absolutely gorgeous. What a find! Mostly original and perfectly in tune.

[@ronaldschmuck9627]

Excellent presentation of a real clastic Gavioli Fair organ, Amy thought to Waldkirch in June 2022?? :-)) Ron Schmuck

[@danielnorton3330]

I'm not in a position to donate right now. But I love mechanical music and I am rooting for you and your endeavors

[@janikmeier8470]

Very nice and interesting explanation about this awesome fairground organ.

[@slendermanRblx]

Does it still have a 110V DC input? So if you met with someone with a Showman’s engine at a steam fair you could get the organ hooked up to the engine’s generator as originally designed?

[@DoctoreE644]

Watching this video and others like it takes me back 70+ years to my first exposure to these wonderful musical instruments, at the merry-go- round at the amusement park at Bertand's Island, Lake Hopatcong, NJ, USA. That was back around 1949 or 1950. The park was built around 1904, so had been around for 45 years or so. It finally closed in the early to mid '70's, much to my great sorrow. I have no idea what happened to that wonderful carousel, but I hope the musical instrument and the horses live on to this day. I have an idea that they have not, as they had already seen hard years by the time I was trying to catch the brass ring, back before the dawn of time...😜👍Anyone else out there know of the brass ring??

[@andrewbarrett1537]

The Bertrand Island band organ was a Gebruder Bruder model 106 fairground organ playing 59-keyless book music. It has a facade very similar in style to the Gebruder Bruder ("Berni") 107 facade found on the Knoebels 107, but larger. The Gebruder Bruder 106 model is a rare model today (few were built) and I know of only maybe 5 or 6 known surviving (vs over 50 of their most popular book organ model, the 107). The organ had been converted from books to a duplex paper roll system by the B. A. B. Organ Co. of Brooklyn; sometime between the late 20s and early 50s. This system used BAB "66" rolls with 67 actual holes in the tracker bar. Some recordings of this exact organ playing BAB music can be heard on the KZbin channel "BandOrganMan". After Bertrand Island and Circus World, the organ went to a private collector in New Jersey whose name I don't recall. It was later sold to someone else in Europe (I don't know who), and the late Johnny Verbeeck in Belgium restored it back to books for them, adding 3 figures and a glockenspiel. I presume it is still with this European owner today.

[@ltva8781]

I, as a fan of sound chips, see strikingly many similarities. Limited timbres, limited number of notes (this doesn't apply to many chips but still)... A wonderful instrument! The only thing I do not understand is why base drum and cymbal share the same control, but well, I am a century away from those who designed it! Fun fact: small handheld barrel organs can also do drum-like sounds when you rapidly switch all the keys on and off. When you said that some organs use paper holes to block airflow, I immediately wondered: can tremolo be done on such organs by making a hole which has changing width along it's length? Since these instruments can't do portamento nor vibrato, a tremolo could be a nice addition.

[@DocRoblox]

Hey, can my friends and I re-create this in Roblox Studio?

[@fairorgan]

Go for it! Please credit www.jollity.org

[@DocRoblox]

@@fairorgan Of coarse!! Thank you!

[@DocRoblox]

@@fairorgan Question, what's at the bottom of the Cor Anglias? Like, what color is the toes, are they like the cello pipe reed color/model?

[@KynG5]

So say I were wanting to transcribe Toby Fox's THE WORLD REVOLVING into a jaunty, fast-paced Fairground Organ track... where would I start? Is there any kind of "limit" to the tempo speed? How many instruments are there? What are they, specifically? Can they all be playing at one time, or is there a limit to that? What scales can they reach? I know this video is two years old, and it's a wild shot in the dark to hope for a response, but hey why not give it a shot?

[@andrewdriver3318]

I think people calling these a "steam organ" are confusing this with a Calliope which uses steam through whistles to produce the sound. A similar but different device with different sound and characteristics. A bit like confusing a piano and pipe organ.

[@8546Ken]

You wondered why people often call the fairground organ a "steam organ", Of course they don't know what they are talking about. But surely you are aware of the steam calliopes which were in fact a set of steam whistles, which actually are blown by steam from a boiler. These were commonly used by circuses and steam river boats. They were meant to be heard a mile away. They were usually played from a manual keyboard. There were also air calliopes, using high pressure compressed air. They could be played from a keyboard or a paper roll. There is a large collection of fairground organs and band organs near Chicago at the Sanfilippo estate. Some of them have been modified to play from a midi controller to save wear on the cardboard books. They also have a restored carousel.

[@hapanjuuri]

I wonder if there are any compositions made especially just for instrument like this or is everything just normal music converted to this form?

[@rogerhewettmusic]

Fascinating! The characters on the organ look familiar. I think I have seen a similar one at the Thursford Collection in Norfolk.

[@danensis]

That was really interesting, thank you.

[@fairorgan]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@markchriestenson3257]

You must have very understanding neighbors! Say chap, do you mind turning down your music a bit. Uh yeah sure...

[@dennisspinkshappyforbusker2523]

Brilliant 👍

[@tortysoft]

I really wanted to watch this but I get motion sickness.