organette

Organette cardboard disc (late 1870s – 1920s)

The organette was a family of mechanical reed instruments, first introduced in the late 1870s. They were hand-cranked, and designed for tabletop use in the home.

There were a variety of manufacturers, and the instruments used a variety of means of storing the musical sequences, including perforated paper rolls, cardboard sheets or discs, or perforated metal discs. Roller organs using organ cobs were another form of organette.

Organettes using cardboard discs were produced under names such as Helikon, Ariston and Reform-Orgel. Ariston machines came in three different sizes, offering 16, 24 or 36 notes. Cardboard discs came in a variety of diameters, from 17 cm up to 42.5 cm and were centre driven, with the larger discs offering more notes.

The perforations allowed a lever to lift off the relevant valve and the length of the perforation dictated how long a note sounded for.

The Herophon was a form of Organette that use a cardboard square, albeit with a circular pattern, and the card remained stationery while the mechanism moved around underneath. The Herophon, despite its unusual operation, was felt to be too similar in some respects to the Ariston organette produced by Paul Ehrlich & Co. and there was a patent infringement case lasting from 1885 to 1888. Ehrlich won the case, and the Herophon went on to be produced by Ehrlich into the 1890s.

Organettes were popular and had a large selection of music produced for them, but as the phonograph became more affordable they were replaced.

Sources / Resources

Book music (1892 – )

Book music is a means of storing music for mechanical organs. Patented by organ maker Anselmo Gavioli in 1892, it consists of thick cardboard sheets with holes that can either be read by keys in the organ, or that allow air to pass through (keyless music). The sheets are joined in a zig-zag fashion, and as they pass through the organ mechanism, they fold into a neat pile that unlike paper rolls, is ready to play again almost immediately.

Barrel organs mostly use a pinned wooden cylinder (rather like a larger organ cob) but this limits the amount of music, and they are heavy and expensive to produce. Book music does not have such restrictions on the length of the music, though it is heavier and more expensive to produce than paper rolls.

While book music is usually used in larger organs such as fairground and street organs, it has also been used in smaller instruments such as organettes.

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Organette spool (late 1870s – 1920s)

Roll 102. 24 feet. Mechanical Orguinette Co. New York.
Roll 102. 24 feet. Mechanical Orguinette Co. New York.
Roll 102. 24 feet. Mechanical Orguinette Co. New York.

The organette was a family of mechanical reed instruments, first introduced in the late 1870s. They were hand-cranked, and designed for tabletop use in the home.

There were a variety of manufacturers, and the instruments used a variety of means of storing the musical sequences, including perforated paper rolls, cardboard discs or sheets, or perforated metal discs. Roller organs using organ cobs were another form of organette.

Organettes using paper rolls on spools were made by a variety of manufacturers and rolls came in various widths and with different numbers of holes, ranging from 11 for the Trumpetto to 116 for the Aeolian. The most common format was a width of 7.8-inches with 14 holes. Rolls supplied on spools could be friction-fed, or wound onto a take-up spool in the organette as they played. The paper on friction-fed rolls was usually thicker.

The perforations allowed a lever to lift off the relevant valve and the length of the perforation dictates how long a note is sounded for.

Organettes were popular and had a large selection of music produced for them, but as the phonograph became more affordable they were replaced.

Sources / Resources

Herophon (early 1880s – 1890s)

The Herophon was a hand-cranked table-top organette instrument introduced in the 1880s by the German company Ch. F. Pietschmann & Söhne, who applied for a German patent in 1883.

Unlike other organette instruments of the time, the ‘disc’ on a Herophon remains stationary while the 24 note reed organ movement revolves under it and a pressure arm revolves over it. As the mechanism passes underneath, the holes allow keys to rise and open valves.

The discs were square in shape, although the holes are cut in a circular pattern, and were made of card with metal reinforcing strips around the edges (apparently some metal discs were also made). Discs for the Herophon were 33 cm square – a smaller model called the Herophonette used 26 cm discs.

The Herophon, despite its unusual operation, was felt to be too similar in some respects to the Ariston organette produced by Paul Ehrlich & Co. that used cardboard discs, and there was a patent infringement case lasting from 1885 to 1888. Ehrlich won the case, and the Herophon went on to be produced by Ehrlich into the 1890s.

Sources / Resources

Organette roll (late 1870s – 1920s)

The organette was a family of mechanical reed instruments, first introduced in the late 1870s. They were hand-cranked, and designed for tabletop use in the home.

There were a variety of manufacturers, and the instruments used a variety of means of storing the musical sequences, including perforated paper rolls, cardboard discs or sheets, or perforated metal discs. Roller organs using organ cobs were another form of organette.

Organettes using paper rolls were made by a variety of manufacturers and rolls came in various widths and with different numbers of holes, ranging from 14 up to 23. The most common format of paper roll was a width of 7.8-inches with 14 holes. Paper rolls were friction-fed and made of thick paper. Organette spools containing paper rolls were also available, to make handling easier.

The perforation allows a lever to lift off the relevant valve and the length of the perforation dictates how long a note is sounded for .

Organettes were popular and had a large selection of music produced for them, but as the phonograph became more affordable they were replaced.

Sources / Resources

Organette metal disc (late 1870s – 1920s)

The organette was a family of mechanical reed instruments, first introduced in the late 1870s. They were hand-cranked, and designed for tabletop use in the home.

There were a variety of manufacturers, and the instruments used a variety of means of storing the musical sequences, including perforated paper rolls, cardboard sheets or discs, or perforated metal discs. Roller organs using organ cobs were another form of organette.

Organettes using metal discs were made under names such as Lucia, Diane, Amorette, Mezon, Sonatina, Intona, Ariosa and Phoenix . Discs came in a variety of diameters, from 12 cm up to 43 cm. Some were in the form of rings with large centre holes, which were driven by two lines of square perforations, others were in the form of centre-driven discs (with some additionally driven by perforations towards the outer edge). The larger discs or rings could work more notes, and the range of notes on organettes using discs ranged from 14 to 36.

Unlike music box discs, the metal cut away from the perforations is removed and is not bent back to form pins. The perforation allows a lever to lift off the relevant valve and the length of the perforation dictates how long a note is sounded for .

Organettes were popular and had a large selection of music produced for them, but as the phonograph became more affordable they were replaced.

Sources / Resources

Organ cobs (late 1880s – late 1920s)

Organ cobs or rollers were used in roller organs, and consisted of a cylinder of wood with pins in them that pressed on the keys in the organ to actuate them. Roller organs were a type of reed organ introduced in the late 1880s by the Autophone company of New York, and were an inexpensive and popular means of entertainment for the US market.

The smaller organ cobs could play 20-note roller organs (such as the cheapest Gem Roller Organ), but larger roller organ models (such as the Grand Roller Organ) were also available that could take larger cobs that could actuate 32 notes. Over 1,200 titles were produced on organ cobs.

Cobs were inserted into the roller organ and pinned in position. As the hand crank is turned, the bellows are operated and the cob is turned. As the cob turns, it shifts to the right, and goes through 3 revolutions, providing about a minute of music.

Roller organs were produced until the late 1920s.

Sources / Resources