Orchestrion Solea

[@vincentdemierre4470]

juste à côté de chez nous à Bulle. Une pièce que j'adore sur cet instrument c'est l'ouverture de Guillaume Tell de Rossini et il y a encore bien des roouleaux perforés, un trésor.

[@gregoryagogo]

I fantasize of this being on the adjoining wall in my little apartment... that would scare the shit out of not only my neighbor, but the whole complex! LOL

[@johnferguson4089]

What a wonderful instrument, beautiful music and I hope that many more will get to see and hear it.

[@andrewbarrett1537]

Luckily it is one of the very few large orchestrions still installed in its original location: a beautiful cafe in Switzerland!

[@zigouigouix]

Merci pour cette incroyable vidéo ! Voilà le Solea de Bulle passé aux rayons X ... La qualité d'enregistrement permet aussi d'apprécier la structure harmonique de cet orchestrion Weber "old school". Merci à nos amis Suisses

[@mbcommandnerd]

My favorite part of this beautiful instrument is the right glass panel, as it’s actually ALIVE! While the orchestrion plays, a pair of planes and a hot air balloon fly across the sky, people and animals walk across the bridge, and the water actually flows down the river below! The planes, ballon and figures on the bridge are all mounted on (and moved by) belts, while the water movement is done using a piece of black-speckled white fabric wrapped around two rollers with a light behind it. This isn’t just a music machine, it’s a piece of visual art as well!

[@larryjohnson6385]

These machines are outrageously outrageous, I love them and their music😍😍😍😍😃✅

[@arburo1]

I had the pleasure of listening to this orchestrion whilst eating my lunch a few years ago. Well worth a visit to Bulle, and don't forget to buy the CD.

[@Midihideaways]

Beautifully made video - congratulations!! and what a beautifully regulated instrument!

[@DEDEQUIER]

Fantastique !!! merci encore pour cette saisissante video..

[@creatonal]

Yes, totally compressed instrument

[@WelteMax]

50/50, The pump creates +pressure and -pressure(vacuum). The +pressure for the pipes and reading the roll. The vacuum for the piano and some of the percussion percussion parts.

[@andrewbarrett1537]

Does this one actually use suction at all? I thought the pre-WWI Weber instruments were all-pressure for operating everything. I could be wrong though.

[@lolachuniaud1685]

Bonjour, je voudrais utiliser votre musique pour la mettre dans une petite vidéo, comment puis-je vous contacter pour cela ? Merci -

[@WelteMax]

Okey i see, I'm mizzed up with the late style Maesto. Of course Solea there is only pressure. AND of course the Solea has no trumpet rank, wich the maesto does=) Thnx=D

[@andrewbarrett1537]

The late style Solea built in the 1920s (2 known to exist; one is in California; the other *WAS* but I'm not sure if it's been sold elsewhere since the owner has been gradually selling their collection) does indeed have both suction and pressure. I have seen and heard both of them in person. I think it has less to do with the model, and more to do with what era the instrument was built. Apparently pre-WWI or so they're all pressure, and post-WWI they're a combination of suction and pressure in the same valve chests for really fast repetition (although still using pressure to read the music roll).

[@andrewbarrett1537]

One way to tell them apart (besides the larger size of the all-pressure components) is to look the roll frame: the all-pressure instruments have the music roll moving side-to-side as viewed from the front of the case; the later pressure-and-suction instruments have it moving front-to-back (or back to front).

[@andrewbarrett1537]

I shall make a correction to my earlier comment: the only know. Early Maesto is an all pressure instrument, yet has the roll moving front to back (or back to front) like a typical later Weber. It operates on two wind pressures with two reservoirs: a high pressure for the action, and a lower pressure to blow the pipes. It’s quite likely the other all pressure early Weber’s use the same idea, but I don’t have technical details about them.

[@kimmajkosaveukraineroadto1127]

Great, now give it a roll that makes it play Shimmy Vamp. :)

[@creatonal]

Plusieurs Weber très anciens (Solea, Erato, Otero...) n'ont pas de vacuum. Le Solea n'a pas de trompettes. A la place, il y a un jeu de bourdons commandés par le trou 80. Il n'a pas non plus de basses couplées, ni de multiplex. Several very old Weber (Solea, Erato, Otero ...) have no vacuum. The Solea has no trumpets. Instead, there is a set of bourdon controlled by the hole 80. He did no bass coupled, or multiplex.

[@AquaSerpent9001]

The four types of pipes in the piano wurlitzer are "Violin", "Flute", "Bourdon", and "Clarinet".

[@andrewbarrett1537]

Yes, except I think what we would call a bourdon is actually called a gedeckt rank by the maker.

[@AquaSerpent9001]

@@andrewbarrett1537 Technically, I learned online that Gedackt, Bourdon, and Diapason are actually the same thing, just from different countries. Gedackt is from Germany, Bourdon is from France, and Diapason is from England. Each have the same height and shape, no matter the rank.

[@creatonal]

Wrong! There is no vacuum on this instrument, it is completely compressed air. While watching the pumps and bellows.

[@andrewbarrett1537]

Just as I suspected!

[@AlejandroParis]

What are the moving walls at 2:25 and 2:52 for?

[@michealridenoour5320]

Volume control?

[@WiktoriaSzalaty]

Swell box

[@andrewbarrett1537]

That is indeed a swell chamber for volume control. The louvers are known as 'swell shutters' and when they are open, the sound is louder. When they are closed, the sound is quieter. This is how most pipe organs control volume, other than registration (turning on and off various sets of pipes). Orchestrions borrow a lot from normal pipe organ and player piano technology as well as having some of their own technology.

[@tussetuss]

Gustav Bruder? Even if not, the arranger is a genius!

[@andrewbarrett1537]

Apparently several people arranged for Weber of which Mr. Bruder was the best known today. I don't know the names of the other folks, however. I am also not sure who made this arrangement, but it is a nice waltz, it sounds (to my American ears) so typically tyrolean as befits this location and cafe :)

[@tussetuss]

@@andrewbarrett1537 I think it's a Schuhplattler, not a waltz :-)

[@andrewbarrett1537]

Thanks for the correction. Do you or one of your friends recognize it and could give the title and composer?