Accordions, Concertinas, etc. [Free Reed Instruments] 149: Harmonium [Western] (with foot pedals)/Reed Organ (of Eero Grundström)

7th December 2017 at Royal Festival Hall (Clore Ballroom), London SE1 (Juuri & Juuri gig).

 

The Harmonium was first developed in France in the middle of the 19th century. It has a set of free reads, a keyboard and bellows. The bellows can be operated in two ways, either by sunction from below the instrument using foot pedals or by pressure from the back using the left hand.

 

This instrument is of the foor pedal variety, also known as a Reed Organ (or Pump or Parlour Organ). Many of these were made in the 19th century for small churches and some homes.

 

It is a Mannborg travel harmonium built in the 1910s by the company in Leipzig, Germany.

 

Reed Organs/Harmoniums are assigned the number 412.132 in the Hornbostel-Sachs classification of musical instruments ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hornbostel-Sachs ), indicating:

4 = Aerophones. Sound is primarily produced by vibrating air. The instrument itself does not vibrate, and there are no vibrating strings or membranes.

41 = Free Aerophones. The vibrating air is not contained within the instrument.

412 = Interruptive Free Aerophones. The air-stream is interrupted periodically.

412.1 = Idiophonic Interruptive Aerophones or Reeds. The air-stream is directed against a lamella, setting it in periodic vibration to interrupt the stream intermittently.

412.13 = Free Reed Instruments. Instrument features a reed which vibrates within a closely fitting slot.

412.132 = Sets of Free Reads.

 

Done