What Is A Pump Organ?

[@sparky6086]

I think, that you mean those millions of pump organs were made between the 1850's and 1920's.

[@AndrewHelbig]

5:01 Oh shoot, you're right! Very sorry for that mistake and thank you for catching that! It should be "between the 1850's and the 1920's."

[@sparky6086]

​@@AndrewHelbig No problem. When I was little, my great Aunt had a Kimball pump organ, and I loved to play it (or play with it, anyway!). It was from between 1890 & 1910, but I don't know for sure. I think, that my cousin still has it. ...Recently, my brother moved and a melodian, which was passed down in my sister in law's family was in their basement. They weren't sure what to do with it, because my niece and nephew aren't interested in "old stuff", so they let me have it for the time being, just a couple of weeks ago, so I could help them decide what to do with it. At first glance, I thought, "Well, this is just another pump organ, which you can't give away", but a quick Google search ID'ed it as one from 1855 (It had patent dates from the 1840's), so it's possible, that it is at least an instrument of note. Anyway, it's still in my van, and you've inspired me to bring it into the house, so I can see if I can get it working. It has a beautiful rosewood cabinet and is just like this one, a Carhart-Needham antiquepianoshop.com/product/carhart-needham-melodeon/ , only it isn't restored. Of course the price on the one, which the link goes to, is a New York City retail price, and it's restored, so mine's probably just worth a couple of hundred bucks as it is, and that's probably mostly the value of the rosewood, since they don't import rosewood to the US any longer. I'm an old technical guy (electronics and mechanics) and also have some experience tuning pianos as well as playing them, guitars, banjos, and violins at a very primitive level, but I enjoy it. I may not do a full restoration, but I'll get it working well enough to use it a bit or perhaps my sister in law, might be interested, because she also donated her piano to her church, when they moved, and she may get bored; she not having anything to play. I may put in a little vacuum pump, so she won't need to pump the pedal. I'll wait and see. Maybe I'll get fancy and put in some pickups and set it up for MIDI (All without butchering it, of course!).

[@joyfulyes]

I don't know if anyone has mentioned him yet, but there's a Canadian guy here on KZbin named Rodney Jantzi, he rescues, collects, restores, and plays these old organs. He does work for museums and churches but also just as a hobby. I've seen videos where he's taken organs that were so dilapidated they looked completely hopeless, and (with months of exacting work) made them as good as new, with materials authentic to the period. Then he sits down and plays them and you would not *believe* the beautiful sounds he gets from them. When the bellows are in good repair, stops and keys all working, reeds clean and tuned, they honestly sound as good as a pipe organ. People think they are clunky because most of the ones you find in old barns and homes are so neglected and don't play as intended. I'm one of Rodney's biggest fans (can you tell?) Go check out his channel!

[@daveburklund2295]

Very cool. My grandmother had a more "modern" pump organ where the air was provided by an electric blower. Anyway, that is a cool instrument right there.

[@elliothuber1471]

It sounds like the bellows on the organ are torn or leaking, thats why you have to pump so fast to make sound

[@_g7085]

Painfully so. Once it is filled with air and you stop pumping, a single note should hold for multiple seconds before fading. Both of these organs cannot fill the notes WHILE pumping. I recently patched up the exhaust bellows on mine with black bookbinding tape off of Amazon. Flexible and meant to be permanent (I think), it appears to be a good patching tape. (Time will tell though)

[@purplespower9730]

What did time have to tell you?

[@bellthandian]

That would be worth restoring but you could be looking at $700-$1,200 to repair and also replace those bellows. Losing a lot of air if you have to pump it that fast. Pumping reed organs should be slow and with ease when playing. Certainly could use a full refinishing to the exterior wood finish. Would be worth it in the end and probably last another 100+ years

[@AndrewHelbig]

Yeah I certainly want to do that in the future. I love playing the pump organ even when it is a bit rough to play at the moment, I can only imagine if it was in tip top shape.

[@RockStarOscarStern634]

Rodney Jantsi is the guy who restores & plays Pump Organs plus he's popularizing them. Hohner should make Pump Organs too because they're alot of fun to play.

[@juileeavasare6507]

Hey, I'm from India and the pump organs are still manufactured in some of the states here like Maharashtra. They are still played in what we call "Sangeet Natak" meaning "musical plays".

[@AndrewHelbig]

Wow that's interesting. Thanks for sharing!

[@RockStarOscarStern634]

I've always wanted a Reed Organ, I ran into a Piano Cased Reed Organ w/ 88 Keys from A0 to C8 same range as a Piano, which means I can play Piano stuff & get a Reed Organ sound.

[@animelover2546]

I encountered your video when I wanted to research about how a pump organ sounds :) Thank you for the video. I didn't know anything about pump organs before.

[@ripplesofharmony2121]

They are both beautiful!

[@RockStarOscarStern634]

The Reed Organ is a very expressive little Organ by how hard you pump the Foot Pedals. There are Reed Organs w/ Electric Suction Motors & those have a Swell Shoe (like a Hammond Organ) so that you can control your Dynamics.

[@kusumraikar7938]

praise

[@theoliviaarchives4794]

Cool. I only recently learned how these work. I got a chord organ that uses a fan to create pressure in the same way your foot pedals do on the pump organ. Pretty neat!

[@RockStarOscarStern634]

There are Piano Cased Reed Organs (Center Pedal if it moves could be your hidden reed rank or Octave Couplers) which have the same range as a Piano, you play it like a Piano but it has that Classic Reed Organ sound.

[@RobertMHelbig]

Very interesting. Pump Organs are pretty cool. And yeah, l bet it provides a good workout as well.

[@AndrewHelbig]

Haha, yeah it is! maybe it's like half the workout of a spinbike or something :)

[@jrzzrj]

The bellows have massive leaks......and requires super fast pumping to get any air to the reeds....Repair needs to be done by a "restorer"....

[@nicholaspradeepkumar6723]

This is beautiful music instrument from all

[@RockStarOscarStern634]

I wish they made Reed Organs again because they're great for Unplugged Jam Settings like if you're doing Rock Music that has Organ in an Acoustic version & you want an Acoustic Organ.

[@peteacher52]

If bellows not leaking like a sieve, pumping need only be slow and steady. Mice, dust and neglect are the usual cause of deterioration. An external lick of furniture polish and a feather dusting is not maintenance any more than a wash & polish makes an old car run better.

[@AndrewHelbig]

I think my video's comment section might become a great resource for people wanting to make repairs on their pump organs due to all these great comments like yours!

[@fnersch3367]

The rubberized cloth in the bellows need to be replaced, also the reeds extracted and cleaned and the case redone. This organ cost about 25-30 dollars in 1900. I commissioned one built to early 1900s specs for $30,000 in 2019. Throwing these old organs away is a shame as that throws away our history.

[@AndrewHelbig]

I completely agree. It's a shame to just throw these wonderful instruments away! Thanks for your comment!

[@MegalopsykhiaLIN]

And according to Wikipedia: The idea for the free reed was imported from China through Russia after 1750, and the first Western free-reed instrument was made by 1780 in Denmark. Well as a Chinese, I knew the existence of pump organ and found your video after searched an ancient Chinese mouth organ called Sheng. Bach played with Sheng: kzbin.info/www/bejne/sGGwn2xrd79pldU Sheng in a Chinese orchestra： kzbin.info/www/bejne/hXXLpYCPZb2Ehtk

[@rubiksmaster301]

If I lived near you, I could fix almost every issue with it. I would do it for free, but I probably live far :P

[@AndrewHelbig]

That would be incredible. Thanks for the comment :)

[@lerpack455]

If one has all the stops out, one is going to use more air thus - harder pumping on those shot bellows!

[@AndrewHelbig]

Oh, I never thought about that. Good point!

[@FarhanAmin1994]

What piece did you play at 3:20? My gosh, it was glorious! 😃 Reminded me of some Indian melodies (Jog, Gavati) that one has here.

[@FarhanAmin1994]

Really lovely and wholesome video on the whole. Thank you for such heartwarming content.

[@AndrewHelbig]

Thanks so much for your lovely and wholesome comment. I really enjoyed making this video in particular :)

[@AndrewHelbig]

Was just playing around with the keys for a while and that came out haha. I do love me some Indian melodies, so that I wouldn't be surprised if it had a hint of that :)

[@ianthompson9201]

Just over 130 years old, to go by the case style.

[@AndrewHelbig]

Wow, even older than I thought

[@RockStarOscarStern634]

The Keys on this instrument are Ivory & Ebony just like the Original Piano Keys, however today they would now be Ivoroid in both White & Black to save Plants & Elephants.

[@vincentbynumbers]

Hi there! I'm writing an article for an online publication based around local stories and history and I'm writing about the Miller Organ Company of Lebanon -- which is what that is! They were in business between 1873-1924 and what a cool thing for your grandma to have had...! :) They shipped organs all over the world and were very popular for their crazy ornate woodwork.. where are you located? Lebanon is a small town in Pennsylvania and learning the history of these has been fascinating... esp because the old factory is now a parking lot. So sad...

[@AndrewHelbig]

I was just recently located in California, but I've moved (back) to Thailand since then. Yeah, it's too bad that that factory is now a parking lot... I hope to some day see some kind of pump organ museum or place where they used to make them.

[@garysmith394]

I have almost the same model Miller reed organ as the one in the video. Mine came from my church but the top was removed, probably decades ago. The finish is in good shape and I put new stop faces on all the stops. The bellows are in much better shape than in the video, so I don't have to pump that hard to get sound. I hope to find a top from somewhere so that it will look more complete. It doesn't have to be from a Miller organ.

[@ruthgoebel723]

​​@@garysmith394I may be getting a Miller from a friend who is cleaning out her brother's house. It is similar to the Miller in this video. I may need to remove the top to get it to fit in my living room. Not sure yet how it plays. I can't really afford to restore it especially if I can't find a local person who does this. I live very near Lebanon.

[@AndrewHelbig]

The diapason is a stop that is supposed to make a flute like sound.

[@John-pc3cx]

Gotye uses that term in a song about a complex organ

[@jendahelbig4817]

Is that a Frank Zappa tune you're singing?

[@AndrewHelbig]

Haha, no it's not a Frank Zappa tune, but I'll take that as a compliment. I developed the song I wrote a few years ago a bit more for this video and wrote some lyrics for it :)

[@jendahelbig4817]

@@AndrewHelbig keep on creating this unique videos and I would love to hear you sing more often.

[@AndrewHelbig]

@@jendahelbig4817 :) Thank you so much!

[@RockStarOscarStern634]

Mine will be an Estey

[@samuelchristensen322]

You are pumping way too fast I think the bellows are shot

[@AndrewHelbig]

They probably are. The only way to get much sound out of this organ is to pump with a lot of power or speed. I've never played a pump organ in mint condition, so I'm not sure how shot these even are ha

[@ANDREWLEONARDSMITH]

@@AndrewHelbig The difference between a pump organ & a Harmonium is not about portability but is about how the air operates the reeds In a pump organ ( also known correctly as an american reed organ) is VACUMN /SUCTION operated where the bellows create a vacumn & the air enters through the reeds & is exhausted through the bellows.In the Harmonium (correctly known as the French Harmonium which is just as large as the american reed organ but predates the American reed organ) The reeds are BLOWN by PRESSURE & the air is drawn in through the bellows & is blown out under pressure (as in a pipe organ) which is the exact reverse of the american reed organ.

[@jaywalker8309]

pump organ was made 1880 to 1990

[@c.b.m4618]

Use the knee flaps. Under the keyboard.

[@jrzzrj]

Major air leaks in the bellows...otherwise, pumping should be slow and steady.....These broken down reed organs are (sadly) dumped in the trash by those who know nothing about repair and maintenance...I hope you won't do that...

[@AndrewHelbig]

Certainly not. I will be keeping one of these organs, and the other one will be sold.

[@theov5590]

Please beware not to abuse that old Reed organ...... Very likely that the bellows need recovering.

[@arcticwolf4029]

You need new bellows.