Barrel Organ

It’s Here! It’s Here!

Arts and Crafts, Musical Instruments, Musician

Took a drive down to Whitestone this morning, and picked up my very own barrel organ (piano). There is great news, and not-as-great news.

The great news is that it is in near-mint condition, and everything mechanical is completely operational without so much as a squeak. You couldn’t ask for a better from an instrument that’s sixty years old. The condition is absolutely uncanny — no paint fading, no rust on the strings or gears. Even the hammers are in pristine condition.

The seller didn’t know why it didn’t play. (Something inside.”) The reason is a simple one — It doesn’t have its cylinder. The cylinder looks exactly like a music box cylinder, only big. They came with six songs each, and were interchangeable so you could switch to different tunes.

However. The good news far outweighs the bad. Cylinders can be bought. From what I’ve seen, they come up now and then. I’ll just have to look on the auction sites I frequent.

These were manufactured in the nineteen-fifties and sixties for tourists visiting Italy and Spain. They’re about half size — full size would be about six feet tall.

It must’ve sat lovingly in some Nona’s front room. I plunked some notes; and while (of course) they were out of tune, they weren’t unrecognizable out of tune. In highly professional technical terms, I’d say “it sounds like a beat up classroom piano.” A video —

A great purchase! Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose. This one was a winner. =)

It Doesn’t Come With a Monkey

Musician

To absolutely no one’s surprise, I’ve bought a barrel organ.

It’s one of those things that you imagine an Italian man with a monkey rolling down the street and cranking. Don’t be too concerned — The one I bought is a half-size version.

They weren’t produced for quite a while until a Spanish company started making them again in the 1950s. They were made in both organ and piano versions — something I did not know. Mine is a piano version. It has something wrong with the cogs inside, but that’s hopefully an easy fix. They’re pretty simple machines.

Here are some photos of what I bought and a few I found (same model) on the internet.

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The barrel part of “barrel organ” is a metal cylinder that sits inside the instrument that plays six different songs. In a few minutes I’ll be off to research where I can buy different barrels so I can add songs.

I imagine buying a stuffed animal monkey in a fancy costume and taking the instrument and my new plushy friend to events at church or in the park across the street. =)

“O sole mioooooooo …”