R.S. Stevens Portable Harmonium

[@mastercylinder1939]

Wish you’d played a snippet of, Play us a song, you’re the harmonium man.

[@teresastevens9749]

Thank you for this demo, R F Stevens was my Grandfather

[@VintageKeysStudio]

Amazing! Your Grandfather was a genius!

[@louisarevolta]

Thanks for being the most superb HarMOANium player

[@VintageKeysStudio]

Thanks be to Goose.

[@keepinini9319]

Super Thanks for the entertaining content Steve and team!

[@VintageKeysStudio]

Thank you very much indeed. Glad you enjoyed it!

[@sonijam]

Love The Goose & the Crow!

[@jameslarge434]

best video of all time

[@eshninerforest]

I listened to your album on bandcamp!! It’s rather good!!

[@VintageKeysStudio]

Thank you so much! :)

[@enidsnarb]

Wonderful!! We have a 1893 small ( thank goodness ) pump organ with two pedals and several reed banks . It is very well in tune with itself but is about 20 cents sharp of 440 !

[@johndavies8946]

Fascinating as always, thank you. In my youth I remember an aged aunt having a harmonium in the front parlour. It was very much non-portable, the thing weighed a ton and took some serious footwork to get a sound. I suspect that the bellows leaked a tad. Very underrated sound is the harmonium IMHO

[@ldtheo01]

Absolutely brilliant! Thank you for the educational and comedic keyboard content!!Yours truly… Pyromaniac Pooh😊

[@VintageKeysStudio]

And Pig-lit

[@pradolover]

That style of compass/numeric London postcode (eg NW6) was introduced in 1917 so hopefully that helps date it.

[@VintageKeysStudio]

Thank you

[@SqueezeboxOfDelights]

I have a lovely old portable harmonium that I got for £25 from a charity shop. It's similar to this, only it folds up into a little (slightly coffin-esque) chest, and the bellows are built into the pedals, so the air runs up through little channels in the legs. It was brutally 'repaired' by someone in the past (I won't go into detail, but suffice to say they used a dozen or so oversize wood screws, lots of sandpaper and what looks to be an old anorak), and it isn't in working order at the moment, so I plan to repair it over the summer and take it out busking. They're fascinating little instruments!

[@VintageKeysStudio]

I always wanted one like that. Message us with a picture if you get a chance. Good luck with the repair.

[@jfeist1968]

Brilliant, thank you!

[@BarryRowlingsonBaz]

There was one of these on Antiques Roadshow tonight. Identified as an "army organ" from First World War, possibly the last music many of the last soldiers ever heard.

[@U014B]

🎵Let me count your bottoms, dear: one, two, three...🎵

[@VintageKeysStudio]

One of my daughters sings that.

[@Clyde_Lewis]

Thank you for this fantastic demo video, and you channel Mr Harmonium-Joel very well! Can't wait to hear more piano playing! Is there a tinderbox amongst the reeds? In days of old, perhaps travelers took along the portable harmonium to start campfires, or indeed, in old illustrations, one may witness groups of travelers huddled around the keys and the flames that followed.

[@VintageKeysStudio]

Harmoniums are a hitherto unknown source of fire. I wonder what insurance Billy Joel has? Does he even have fire or smoke alarms?

[@michaelanderson5560]

Seems similar to the one used on Jake Xerxes fussle tiny desk concert (last song). Great stuff - Thanks!

[@jeffthevideoguy23]

"I'm happy, I'm happy,..and I'll punch the man who says I'm not. Punch"

[@rot_studios]

"..." "from france" I'm dead XD

[@johnsonmonsen]

The harmonica definitely needs compressed air supply - like a portable supercharger. So much energy which gets lost when powering the bellows by own feet. Energy which could be used for even more stunning performance on the keys including playing the pedals :-)! All the best and thanks for that awesome video :-)!

[@mastercylinder1939]

Wasn’t an harmonium used to work out, “stairway to Heaven”?

[@mastercylinder1939]

The Sex Pistols released an acoustic version of “Never Mind the Bollocks” using harmoniums. Very rare, but you can’t consider yourself to be a true Pistols fan, unless you own copy. Got mine off discogs.

[@VintageKeysStudio]

Ahh yes, I have that one. I also have the great hymns ancient and modern swindle from the year after. Johnny Rotten was the driving force behind the harmonium (i.e. he pumped it with his feet) but after a lot of messing about, Steve Jones just played all the harmonium on that, and they stuck it through an eventide harmonizer to sound like 20 harmoniums. Holiday In The Sunday School Hut was a particular highlight.

[@mastercylinder1939]

@@VintageKeysStudio lol.

[@piggycity]

Hahahahah great…you sir are on fire

[@VintageKeysStudio]

But remember, I didn't start it, and neither did Billy Joel.

[@piggycity]

@@VintageKeysStudio So true. It was always burning

[@mickeythompson9537]

Joel and Cuttler be buggered - my harmonium hero is Nico.

[@DoctorAlex1]

Yay the Klingons are attacking again! :D :D

[@VintageKeysStudio]

Someone said I sounded like Patrick Stewart the other day... so I thought it was only right. I'm working on my Shatner for the captain's log.

[@MrEggcake]

That duo are very creepy, I'd lock the doors next time.

[@sariahseare3753]

You should seriously consider breaking this up into KZbin shorts. The jokes would do really well. 😅

[@paulmcdonough9595]

Stone the crows that looks like hard work, I’d have enough trouble concentrating on playing, not enough mental capacity to paddle as well. Btw, The goose and the crow would go down rather well at our local pub/music venue, they have their own brews which align with a similarly eclectic taste!

[@VintageKeysStudio]

Tell us more about your local pub!

[@paulmcdonough9595]

I think I should avoid details, pubs are struggling enough as it is. Suffice to say, they let our ‘no-name’ band play a set there once.

[@VanWinger]

Still Jilly Boel to me

[@VintageKeysStudio]

Haaaaaahaha

[@rattleshakti]

I have no interest whatsoever in ancient keyboard instruments I watch only for the hilarity content. 😮

[@MirlitronOne]

Indeed, "Metallica" used to be called "Harmonica".

[@kentaccordionist]

Just to let you know you are a few hundred years out with a date for the invention of the free reed. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_reed_aerophone I used to own a chapel and Co harmonium in my younger days and was once chastised by my music teacher at school for calling it an organ because he believed if it didn’t have pipes it could not be classified as an organ. And also he believed chapel and Co only made pianos.

[@VintageKeysStudio]

Thank you Stephen!