Possibly The WORST MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Ever Invented?

_
MAGPIE PEDALS: www.magpiepeda...
MY MUSIC: simonthemagpie...
SPOTIFY: open.spotify.c...
FASHION: simonthemagpie...
Magpie Pirates
JOIN: / discord
MUSIC: magpiepirates....
KZbin: / magpiepirates
WEBSITE: www.magpiepirat...

[@AudioPilz]

I'm a fan of this organ...

[@idiotschmidiot]

Needs more MIDI

[@aphexon.]

witch organ in particular is the worst? in your body.

[@grunions9648]

Can't wait to hear the intro you make ;)

[@stephenmandelbaum2027]

Nice pun :P

[@paulkim1521]

Probably the best vacuum cleaner ever invented Hahahahaha!

[@chiraleven5552]

At first I thought the middle C on mine was out of tune... then I found out the middle C was in tune and the rest of the organ was a 1/2 step out of tune.

[@Mnnvint]

Maybe someone tried to tune it and just went, "You know what, fuck it" after the C.

[@heggy_69]

Exact same thing is wrong with mine, except the middle c is out of tune too. But it's only a little bit off lol

[@darbling311]

Honestly, would prefer that to random notes being out of tune

[@emojijoyio]

​@@heggy_69MINE ORGAN C4 IS AT 265 HERTZ MAN

[@l0rd0ct0d0rk]

This sounds like a melodica for people who don't have lungs.

[@adrianlerma9778]

The iron melodica

[@ManoNegraCG]

@@adrianlerma9778, I laughed harder than I should at that. Slight sense of guilt now...

[@dylandenney3980]

Jon Batiste needs this

[@kilgoretrout9523]

I was thinking "oh, this is kind of cool! I should try and build one." And then I realized its just a shitty melodica.

[@jdjk7]

It works basically like a melodica.

[@IPODsify]

"worst instrument ever" "Everyone should have one" this the kinda thinking that lead to public schools teaching recorder instead of flute

[@scumm1075]

also flutes are like $200-2000 and recorders are like $2

[@ConvincingPeople]

Naruhito Da Grandaddy of Japan EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE BOTH.

[@BambiTrout]

It's possible to make a recorder sound good with enough practice and the right music. The problem is the way it is taught and the way music is treated in schools by both students and upper management as "one of those wishy-washy arts subjects for people who are too stupid to do science". If music was respected as a subject like it should be, then maybe more kids would actually try harder to get good at it.

[@lucasyouell]

Same with ukeleles

[@rasmillion]

A sliver flute is not accessible, a plastic recorder is, I played both in elementary school And ukelele Edit - and omnichord which is another worst instrument everyone should have

[@kentaccordionist]

It’s called a chord organ. And is related to an accordion. I had one with 40 bass buttons and two reeds per note to produce a slight chorus or musette sound. I could teach you how to tune the reeds but on a bontempi it would not be worthwhile.

[@SimonTheMagpie]

That sounds spectacular with the double reeds per note. I tried google out before I recorded this video and had a hard time finding a good rabbit hole to fall down for proper info on when the idea of turning lovely intstruments into massproduced plastic came about. Im swedish so I very much grew up to the sound of the accordion. But the swedish chord organs I’ve come by over here are just embarrassing 😅 even worse than these bontempis. Would love to know how to tune anything with reeds since it most likely opens up my mind to more experiments.

[@devenscience8894]

That what I figured. Sounds like an accordion, except it's got a machine to blow the bellows for you.

[@bloop9042]

I thought it sounded a lot like an accordion, I actually really dig the sound

[@ahuhonline]

I just bought a '76 chord organ 3 months ago for 15 bucks. i have been using it in a lot of tunes and have sampled it for a drone. Worth the money but I have no space for it. Would like to see one taken apart.

[@kentaccordionist]

Simon The Magpie Instruments such as accordions melodeon harmonium harmonicas melodicas etc are called free reed instruments because they have reeds that are fixed at one end and free to vibrate when air is pushed through at the other. In instruments such as accordions melodeons harmoniums the reeds are attached to a metal plate which sits on a wooden or sometimes plastic block with holes in to allow the air to pass through and make the sound. In instruments with bellows ie accordions and melodeons each plate has 2 reeds. One on the top right hand side of the plate which operates when air is pulled through the bellows and one on what would be the left hand side when the Reed plate is on the block but underneath the block which sounds when the air is pushed through the bellows. Both reeds have covers on the opposite side of the reed plate made of leather or more recently thin plastic whic lift when air is going through the reed so you get no leeks, ie. the reed on the bottom will sound only on its own as the air going to the top reed will also push the cover for the bottom reed to stop air getting to it. The reed plates re usually held in place with beeswax. To tune these reedsyou must first insert some paper thin wood or metal underneath the reed at the free end to stop the reed from bending. When this is done you file at either the free end to raise the pitch of the reed, or the fixed end to lower it. You can get special tools to do this but I use fine Emery paper. If you have too take the reed plate off the box to get to the underneath reed make sure to seal i well with beeswax around the outside does of the plate so it will remain airtight when innolace again. I use a soldering iron for that. You could also experiment with adding small amounts of solder to the top of the reed at the free end which will have the effect of lowering the pitch. Just file or solder a small amount at a time and reference with a chromatic tuner. Some instruments like accordions mat have multiple sets of reeds per note.4” 8” and 16”foot reeds named after lengths of pipe on a pipe organ. The 8” reeds also called clarinet reeds may be detuned so one set is at 440 and another set is slightly higher. Sometimes you have 3 sets of 8”reeds and would also tune one slightly lower. This creates a chorus when all reeds play together which is known as musette. Like french accordion sound. With 1 set at concert pitch the further you tune the other reeds away from concert pitch the greater the chorus effect will be. These days I play Roland digital accordions capable of playing 4 part multitimbral on different midi channels at once.

[@alcolludi]

There was one of these at my grandmother's house, I used to "play" it when I was I child.

[@roarimatrex]

I was about to leave the same comment

[@staz3014]

Me too haha

[@mattsmith7962]

I cant imagine a combination worse than a child and this

[@QUIZFILTER]

@@mattsmith7962 hahahahaha

[@wildweedle6012]

Same.

[@sparrowcount1]

The late Daniel Johnston’s famous weapon of choice for a handful of his albums. I have one with a “Hi, how are you?” Sticker on it that came with my “Yip/Jump” poster. I regret not paying to get it signed by him when I had the chance for an extra dose of his magic. Learning about him and listening to and loving his music gave me the push I needed to get started myself and to not get hung up too much in the growing process.

[@gabrielraines655]

Oh shit, so that’s what he used. It has such an interesting sound, and the slowness certainly must have impacted his playing style

[@oscidfilms2903]

@@gabrielraines655 I have one like what he used and thankfully some chord organs don’t have such dramatic attack and latency like the one in the video

[@snoballuk]

This is the musical instrument equivelent of an Easy Bake oven.

[@arick15372]

Come on it’s great for walking the cows with Daniel Johnston

[@jjaa2002]

I had one of those. Orange as well. The good thing about it is it came with a music book which used a bontempi graphic notation to help newbies learn music by playing classic masterpieces. You should not consider this as an instrument itself, but as a resource to help children learn. As such, it probably was the best instrument around.

[@jeffreybarton8095]

The word 'Bontempi' used to be used by me and mates to denote something shoddy and crappy, back in the 80s. You have managed to produce good music from these monstrous devices, and changed my opinion of them.

[@nickflionis6341]

S/O Daniel Johnston

[@McDoinky]

Daniel Johnston + possibly Neutral Milk Hotel’s debut album (specifically “Naomi”) I think it sounds unique and it belongs in the hands of talented weirdos

[@Snandra66]

Sounds like something Neutral Milk Hotel would use.

[@camjsimms]

it is

[@stefslon]

my exact thought!

[@bobamu]

I want to hear a whole orchestra of these playing at once. Playing the "Symphony of 2020" Surely someone out there is drunk enough to create this masterpiece of tootling insanity.

[@ericwinter4513]

Five minutes in, and you’re not unselling me on this.

[@EleniEliades_]

I had one of these Chord Organs way back in the mid 1970's ! The fan was EXTREMELY loud too. It was a Brownish colour ,same size as your orange one. Also had those terrible sounding chords section which were always out of tune. It came with a plastic seat as well as a songbook which taught you how to play old songs from the 1930's -1940's ! They were all Cowboy songs, " Get Along Little Doggies ", "On Top of Old Smokey", etc. But I was a kid and too young for a Synthesizer and this was the closest thing the parents would buy me. So I learned how to play the keys on this thing and ended up loving it. Except for the chord key section as it sounded horrific no matter what key your finger pressed down ! 💥🎹👀💦

[@johnd7564]

Same here. In fact I made a patch in a modern synth to emulate it. :)

[@vintagepearlguitars]

You just smashed my belief that they certainly were in tune when they were new.

[@Scodiddly]

Pretty sure Tom Waits has a shed full of these organs.

[@stinkymart3173]

Fan organs land around a B rating on the tier list of sheds full of organs

[@dasMobius]

I used to jam on one of these with a friend who had one at his house. We made up crazy songs like “King Airplane,” “Super French Bread Man,” and “This Fish Has an Eye.” Sometimes I would intentionally bend notes flat by pressing the key only partially (like at 11:09 in the video). Good times!

[@bonnibloop_]

I very much want to hear super French bread man

[@CULTOFMIDNIGHTSTORM]

Reminds me of the song names me and my twin brother would write as 10 year olds. our first song was "banana suicide"

[@doomslayerplushie6662]

@@CULTOFMIDNIGHTSTORM holy fish in soy sauce what the heck man

[@CULTOFMIDNIGHTSTORM]

@@doomslayerplushie6662 The song is about getting home from the store and putting banana's on the counter and leaving the room. you come back and find your banana's on the floor. banana suicide

[@RaijinSozin]

I live for "I'm the Magpie!" ❤

[@blarnglaibly9482]

the delivery is always so funny

[@praticle]

"This is awful because of the loud spinny thing inside... On an unrelated note; check out this sweet Motorsynth!"

[@paulbennell3313]

I had a battery Bontempi just like that one when I was a kid. They truly are awful things. The one good feature of them is that they build a resolve to obtain something better.

[@ernestgrouns8710]

It doubles as a sleep machine when you don't press the keys. Continuous noise oscillator.

[@Andrewatnanz]

Considering back in those days all electric keyboards were monophonic these were polyphonic and you could play more things besides twinkle twinkle little star. We had one, it was all tan and very plasticy. When it was replaced with a real piano I got to take it apart and it was really disappointing inside. I was hoping for more mechanisms and things to tinker with.

[@reggiep75]

I remember various Bontempi organs from when I was a whipper snapper, there were some okay ones and then some ba...... fucking terrible ones! My bro had one (the battery powered) and it sounded like it had asthma when you pressed more than 4 keys down and struggled to get those notes out. It was shit on the lower notes with a shit attack that was more like a non-attack so there was no chunk organ bass and more of a wheezing old fart box. I still sampled it and layered it and then vocoded them to make a fucking wicked organy drum beat. To make one work properly just help the fan along, with an air line/compressor, and that helps a little!

[@rolandmdill]

So it is basically a harmonium but with a fan instead of having to pump air with your feet. I like it, it's kinda cute :)

[@Doodskreet]

I always figured that my bontempi battery organ was completely worn out, but yours sounds identical XD

[@Muzikman127]

I mean... he said he found it on a sidewalk and it smelled of piss so I'm gonna say his is more than a little worn out too lol

[@synthesizedchill8258]

The battery version was my first keyboard when I was a little kid. My parents were pretty poor, so that's all they could get me. They had to be dirt cheap back then. I wish I still had it. I've lost so many things due to moving over the years. I get angry every time I think of it. I wish I could go back and stop myself from getting rid of things. I've strait up thrown some things in the trash, and gave away a bunch of other things. Keyboards, midi controllers, turntables, mixers, guitars, amps, a Commodore 64 in mint condition. I've learned my lesson. I'll never be so foolish again.

[@kassemir]

I always thought these were like for grand mas who couldn't afford one of those brown Yamaha organs

[@infindebula]

I always wanted to try to adapt one of these to use compressed air.

[@rayceeya8659]

I'm picturing this thing in a small church in a small rural town of about 50 people in the late 70s.

[@alexkuhn5078]

4:38 hahaha, the sound the released key makes do-ti-la-so-fa-mi-re-do-DONK

[@RageSondrayy]

It sounds like what I imagine living in Finland is like

[@ConacherOrgan]

The two major issues with these things are that they use inferior steel reeds, rather than the traditional and trusted brass reeds of earlier reed organs, they also don't have any form of reservoir to maintain pressure from the fan, the problem of slow attack was dealt with early on with french harmoniums, however the "percussion" feature in those I should imagine would have been very costly to reproduce in something like this.

[@reytunezbz]

Sounds like a trumpet and accordion making very sad love.

[@paolodallavalle6068]

In Italy it is a must, it is a rather appreciated vintage organ that is found in the markets. They received so many children between the '70s and' 90s to get closer to music. As a child I had a similar one with support feet.

[@neilmcdonough5348]

you can tune these by shaving the reed board. just make sure you temper for different airflows

[@dtebarrett]

I managed to pick up a 1960s rosedale electric chord organ for £2.50 its quite an interesting piece of kit. Quite a few people I know, their grandparents had one or they played one in their church. It’s not the nicest sound but I thing its super quirky.

[@danthreepwood2760]

Sounds like something is dying, and the fan sounds like a cow at 4:37

[@juanguillen51]

Sounds like a UFO abducting him 4:33

[@crazymcfisch]

My buddy and I used to mess with one of the gray ones. We called it the Fooot Fooot (rhymes with toot toot).

[@zamplify]

Wow I suddenly remember having one of these as a kid in the 70s.

[@BubbaSnipe]

2:35 Italian engineering at its pinnacle, you can't beat stupid.

[@troysheets7846]

I think I had the battery one as a kid. The batteries corroded into a big mess. Thats my memory of it.

[@inphanta]

I had one of these as a kid (not that particular model). I also had a toy radio and I figured out that when static was on the radio and I played the organ at the same time, the sound came through the radio. :)

[@migati]

if 2020 was an instrument

[@SHINdanny]

11:53 is that a Batman or WuTang Clan reference? Great Nelly look btw :D

[@jameshamaker9321]

The smaller one sounds like a leaf blower and the bigger one, sound oddly like an accordion.

[@cathoderaytube7497]

I think I used to have an organ very like this one. I had to plug it in to play, and I remember it did have a fan.

[@Ucceah]

the basic plastic ones are pretty bad. they're like the cheapo keyboards, from a time where electronics were still pretty expensive. but there are some older, and much higher end blower reed organs, that were build to be serious musical instruments, and those sound really lovely. i restored a hohner organa 30 from the 50s a few years ago. it's got 3 voices, base note, vibrato and octave, in 5 registers, that give it a destinctly thick and cozy accordion sound. if you can get your hands on one of thseo, dont hesitate for a second!

[@newtronix]

You could do a good sea shanty on that! Surely a stylophone is much worse.

[@thygod]

The growl on that small fan organ is great. Honestly I don't mind it, aside from the whole out-of-tuneness of it. (Which I suppose you can work around if you want to get microtonal.)

[@draugormr8957]

I bought one just like it for cheap at Erikshjälpen. I've been thinking about making a virtual instrument from it. It would make fan noise optional (provided I can get good samples), attack times shorter and no problems with struggling fans at high polyphony.

[@cooloutcoexist]

For absolute silence: do a water cooling mod. :-P

[@TheNaughtyMessiah]

the fan isn't to cool it down, its to push air through reeds :)

[@cooloutcoexist]

@@TheNaughtyMessiah Oh sorry, forgot to mark the joke as such. ;-)

[@KarstenJohansson]

I found a Bontempi organ a few years back. It has cigarette burns on one corner, which makes it all the more more legit. The fan is a LOT quieter than on the ones in this vid, but you can still hear it. And it does have that barely-in-tune attack on each note. I wonder if you can mod it with a modern brushless fan, for silence and more power. But that would simultaneously wreck the character, imo.

[@faerie1963]

I had this instrument as a child. Played German Christmas songs on it

[@andrewfaraday8918]

This did give me a good idea for an experiment, tho. Playing a melodica with a vacuum cleaner? hand held fan? Air compressor?

[@benjaminmarks8765]

A balloon

[@andrewfaraday8918]

@@benjaminmarks8765 If only someone would make a toy that powers an organ with a balloon... That would be sweet!

[@orlock20]

@@andrewfaraday8918 Maybe ask the Scots. They keep trying to experiment with such an instrument.

[@lin31932]

the fan organ kinda sounds ok

[@qqg]

there was a time in the '70s when italian companies would export instruments that left a mark in pop and rock music. This... didn't.

[@jean-louispech4921]

@KromidenX when i was young , bontempi was associated with toy/plastic sound, cheap organs .

[@patcairbre463]

The out of tuneness reminds me of the aesthetic of out of tune pianos, which is cool so i like it

[@allinmarathi.7867]

It is electric version of Indian instrument 'Harmonium'.

[@Slash0mega]

i think i had one of these as a kid 0_0 i really miss it but i remember it sounding more like a organ than a melodica

[@thedude8046]

Had one, found in the trash and it still worked.

[@PhillipRaymondGoodman]

I have one. A kinda fancy lorenzo one, comes in its own carry case, and has legs that screw into it. I don't like the idea of it being the worst instrument, but it may well be of perhaps only because it's development was basically stopped by the advent of the synthesizer. I also have a melodic a kinda medium sized toy accordion, and a large toy harmonica, all quite similar types of sound, really have to put them all on one track.

[@henjona]

you're going to love the magnus 300...

[@alexandrosroussos]

You don't get it Simon ! The fan is basically an analog noise generator type OSC :)

[@livekaos]

I use to play one of this when I was a kid back in the 70’

[@Reliquancy]

It seems like a motor working a bellows could be a lot quieter.

[@AceFurley]

It's the lazy mans accordian (you don't need the shoulder/back strength to play- trust me, you need to pump iron to play an accordian for more than 5 minutes!!!). It's very easy to play, But, it has no control over volume, tremolo, or swell control, which an accordian has with it bellows. Never thought i'd be defending the honor of accordians, but in this case, i am!

[@oed84]

a friend of mine found one in the basement at our school and that one also smelled like piss... could this be coincidence?

[@hanneskeeps5021]

What is the merch of your beautiful petterned shirt? 😍 So cool!

[@AntFactoryMusic]

I guess it's like an automatic harmonium? Now I'm curious to try and use mine in production! Less convenient with having to pump properly and then only one hand to play but the results could be pretty cool. Interesting video!

[@VintageGearFreak]

Sounds fantastic. Could score a cute indie movie with this and a glockenspiel

[@outspokeninsider752]

I have rocked soem serious funk on an old chord organ, you need to try harder and bust out of your usual groove. It has a slower attack and sweet slightly detuned sound for, you guessed it, fat, warm, chords.

[@sly_roccoon]

The small battery version actually exists battery-less and with a cord and chord buttons and i have that one.

[@justinwilliams7324]

I found a type of organ like this wooden body made by a company called ROXY for 10 bucks. I don't know if thats a music store brand or was it a known company it's been puzzling me.

[@kingju1ius]

Oof im not sure guys. I think the worst organ is the appendix... i mean its a really useless one.

[@VigilanteSystems]

UPGRADE that fan with smth bigger fester quieter.... we have 2020.. we have Internet now...😁

[@acidhousetherapy]

I used to play on this organ in Woolworths

[@idj20]

My sister had the B9 Bontempi Organ in the late 1970s and it truly sucked even at that time. Press more than three keys at the same time and it was just air blowing through.

[@dashcamandy2242]

2:22 - I had the exact same Bontempi as a child. The US version is exactly the same - even the box. I might still have the thing... And yes, that fan sound is accurate.

[@saintjupi]

i’ve had one for a few years now and i love it’s weird shitty sounds, gut it dirt cheap at a thrift store

[@Steelwind666]

I literally just found one of these in goodwill last week for 5 bucks. Doesn’t work tho... I still have to fuck with it.

[@joaoantoniovione484]

Hering did some of these in Brazil in that same time period. Never played on one but heard many a complaint

[@ExcessDenied0]

I have something like this in my apartment, a big wooden one the size of one of those little church lady home organs. I bought it at an antique store for $30 when I was a kid, and I've just dragged it with me since then. It's so extremely loud, it's like a small airplane when you turn it on, and it sounds like you would expect. It plays about the same as these plastic ones because it's pretty much made the same way, just... out of wood and wax with less plastic. It's horrible, but I still kind of love it. It has little chord buttons, tremolo, a foot pedal that doesn't do a whole lot, and a mute "switch" that just raises or drops a big wooden panel on the back, usually hitting the wall. It has a nice red pilot light on it, and turns on with a metal toggle switch. Excellent aesthetic value.

[@synthmalicious7541]

The best use one could have this for in this modern era is random background noises Example: every other song on This Heat’s Deceit

[@clochard4074]

Oh no I have one and it is terrible! So loud, and no way to control the fan speed. I guess It would go out of tune but at least it would't pierce my ears.

[@localterrorist3155]

Its like that one uncle everyone tries to ignore but somehow invites himself to every family event

[@darwinsaye]

I love these things (I learned to play keyboards on one, and I'm also a huge Tom Waits fan). They weren't all super cheaply made. Mine is a German or Italian model called Roxy, which is enclosed in a tweed suitcase body and has five octaves and no chord buttons.

[@codyjude]

Reed organ, I have one made by Toshiba, found it for cheap and in near perfect 440mhz.

[@eliotguerin192]

This was the instrument at my grandma’s house! I tried to practice on it sometimes and it frustrated me to no end

[@BigEpinstriping]

I had one of these as a kid, as did my friend. some had less latency than others, it depended on the construction and how powerful the fan was. back in the day, if you had one of these and a tape recorder, much fun was had. we have much more efficient fans now, so a retrofit would definitely improve one.

[@Adefesio94]

Play some Daniel Johnston songs on it !!!

[@RANDOMLOOPGENERATOR]

Oh man, my first ever keyboard was the brown Bontempi organ complete with plastic legs attached by wing nuts, it also had the chord buttons. Imagine being 8 years old, seeing Herbie Hancock on Top Of The Pops (Rock It) and wanting to do what he does. Then your parents get you one of these! Haha, still, I taught myself every song in the book and the following year I was rewarded with the first of many Yamaha keyboards. Still have a soft spot for the clunky plastic humming brown turd though 🙂👌

[@FrootyRecords]

HI Simon, Joy Division used this on "Atmosphere" (mainly the chord buttons) and "In a lonely place" . It had its uses I guess!

[@MrSkeletongelatin]

We boutta get that orange song after all, aren't we

[@WardenForge]

YEEESSSSS

[@jsonkody]

You can find these .. very, very sheep ..

[@binface9]

Fancy and polyphonic! The one I played was monophonic

[@zebanon5]

These videos are like Andrew Huang's "Weird Gear" segments, but for thrift shop finds.

[@SatanSupimpa]

I come for the music, but keep getting distracted by the fashion choices.