My organ

Okay. The moment you've all been waiting for: My second organ video on YouTube is available:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvMBq_Q-vow

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ May 16 2007, 06:33 PM) [snapback]443825[/snapback]</div>

Duly noted for the next one. Somehow, I thought I looked rather idiotic grinning at the camera in the first one, so I did it less in the second. I will smile more in the next one.

It is harder, however, to keep an even tempo while looking off towards the camera. The crank operates the bellows and at the same time turns the reel by a direct drive, so the speed of the music is directly governed by the speed of the crank. Uneven cranking produces a very unpleasant sound.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ May 16 2007, 10:44 PM) [snapback]443961[/snapback]</div>

I am indeed enjoying myself immensely when I play my organ. It makes me smile like an idiot. Or at least it makes me smile like a very happy person . All my life I've wanted to be able to play a musical instrument, but I lack the coordination. This, finally, is a real musical instrument I can play. Well, sort of. And, no, I cannot really "feel" the speed. It feels the same no matter what. You have to keep your hand moving at a constant circular velocity. There is a tremendous tendency to move faster through some parts of the circle and slower through others. It's easier to push and pull away from yourself and towards yourself, than straight up and down. A circle is an unnatural movement for your hand to make.

(So I'll say it before someone else does: Cranking an organ is an unnatural act.)

And so, because I am so uncoordinated, I need to concentrate very hard on keeping the speed of the crank steady, and not too fast or too slow. It's great fun. But it's not a relaxed smile-at-the-camera sort of activity. Not for me, anyway. Any musicians out there, or dancers, for that matter, would find it a breeze.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Drifter @ May 17 2007, 05:35 AM) [snapback]444056[/snapback]</div>

Rather than put it in the back of the Prius, I'd probably put it on one of the seats, for added cushioning, wrapped in a very fluffy blanket, and secured with a seat belt. The back of the car would be too bumpy. But Chicago is rather far away from Spokane. I don't think I'd take it farther than Coeur d'Alene, unless some extremely nice lady were to come here personally and ask me very nicely, if you get my drift. I bet you could find a professional organ grinder, complete with monkey, who would provide entertainment for Hybridfest.

Monkeys are vicious, nasty, and spiteful animals. Just remember how close to humans they are. When a monkey gets angry because it wants something you won't let it have, or just because it's in a bad mood, it can wreck your house. It can climb everywhere, break things, throw stuff around. I will have a plush stuffed monkey. I'm still waiting for it to arrive, though.

I don't think I want to say what I paid for it. But it is not a toy. Think fine musical instrument, built by hand by a skilled, expert craftsman. It's also not something you can find at every neighborhood music store, so scarcity of manufacturers keeps the price up. I will say that my research suggests that an antique would have cost more than my brand-new one cost.

I hope to put a new tune up on YouTube today. If my back and hip pain subsides enough that smiling becomes a possibility. I'm optimistic about that.

 

I'll remember that if I ever have to get a service monkey. Until that time, here is the link to my third organ video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XmOhelGiDw

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Ichabod @ May 17 2007, 11:55 AM) [snapback]444331[/snapback]</div>

iMovie should be able to insert the organ music over the Xebra movie, but I'm very unclear on how to make a movie of myself driving a car. I suppose I could get a neighbor to film me driving past, but that movie would last about 5 seconds. As for the monkey driving the Xebra, I've never yet seen a plush stuffed animal toy drive a car.

There is a story, however (apocryphal, or true, I do not know) of a rich eccentric who rigged out a car so he could drive it from the back seat, without the wheel showing from the outside. Then he had a chimpanzee trained to sit in the front seat holding on to the steering wheel. The car was a convertible, and he drove around Hollywood, giving the impression that the chimp was driving and he was merely the passenger.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ May 17 2007, 06:21 PM) [snapback]444562[/snapback]</div>

No need to go that far. The Nickelodeon Museum in Revelstoke, B.C. (a 7-hour drive from here) has all that stuff. From Edison phonographs to Wurlitzer (sp?) jukeboxes to player pianos to a full-size church organ that plays from a keyboard as well as from a paper roll. Including several different kinds of organs, from the 25-note G Perlee organ I loved so much that it started me on the quest to buy mine, to big multiple-instrument player organs.

I'm very reluctant to go to a country where I don't speak the language, so Germany is unlikely for me.

OKAY. FROM NOW ON, WHENEVER I ADD A NEW VIDEO, I WILL POST A NEW POST TO ALERT PEOPLE WHO JUMP TO THE END OF THIS THREAD, AND I WILL EDIT THE FIRST POST OF THIS THREAD SO THAT ONE ALWAYS HAS THE CURRENT LIST.