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A fairground organ (french: limonaire) is a French pneumatic musical organ covering the wind and percussive sections of an orchestra. Originated in
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, France, it was designed for use in commercial
fairground Fairground most typically refers to a permanent space that hosts fairs. Fairground, Fairgrounds, Fair Ground or Fair Grounds may also refer to: Places Canada * Fairground, Ontario, a community United States * Fairground, St. Louis, a neighbo ...
settings to provide loud music to accompany rides and attractions, mostly
merry-go-round A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round ( international), roundabout (British English), or hurdy-gurdy (an old term in Australian English, in SA) is a type of amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular ...
s. Unlike organs for indoor use, they are designed to produce a large volume of sound to be heard above the noises of crowds and fairground machinery.


History

As fairgrounds became more mechanised at the end of the nineteenth century, their musical needs grew. The period of greatest activity of fairground organ manufacture and development was the late 1830s, particularly with the opening of the Limonaire Frères company of Avenue Daumesnil,
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
in 1839. Virtually all ambient fairground music continued to be produced by fairground organs and similar pneumatically operated instruments until the advent of effective electrical sound amplification in the mid-1920s. The organ chassis was typically covered with an ornate and florid decorative case façade designed to attract attention in the tradition of most fairground equipment. Giacomo Gavioli patented the use of 
book music A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical a ...
 to play organs, which later became the basis of fairground organs. In 1910, Joseph and Antoine Limonaire took over the patents when Gavioli ceased production, leading to ''limonaire'' becoming the generic French name for fairground organs. The ornate case façades frequently had percussion instruments such as a glockenspiel and drums that provided visual entertainment as they played. There were often ornate human figures, such as a conductor whose arm moved in time to the music, or women whose arms struck bells. The organs were designed to mimic the musical capabilities of a typical human band. For this reason they are known as band organs in the United States. The motive force for a fairground organ is typically wind under pressure generated from mechanically powered bellows in the instrument's base. Without the need for a human player, the instruments are keyboard-less (except for relatively rare configurations with one or more accordions, whose keys could be seen to move). Early organs were played by a rotating barrel with the sounds triggered by metal pins, as in a
music box A music box (American English) or musical box (British English) is an automatic musical instrument in a box that produces musical notes by using a set of pins placed on a revolving cylinder or disc to pluck the tuned teeth (or ''lamellae' ...
. Later organs employed strips of cards perforated with the music data and registration (instrument) controls called ''
book music A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical a ...
;'' or interchangeable rolls of perforated paper called ''music rolls,'' similar to those used in player pianos. Since the advent of computer control (from the early 1970s on), some band organs have been built or converted to be played electronically. ''Victory'', pictured above, is a hybrid of these technologies. Its traditional pneumatic instruments can be played either from traditional perforated books, or from its integrated Yamaha MIDI interface. Owner Willem Kelders can also use the interface to link organs (''Rhapsody'' and ''Locomotion'', driven by ''Victory'') to play the same music together. Fairground organs have been used in many entertainment settings, including fairground rides static
sideshow In North America, a sideshow is an extra, secondary production associated with a circus, carnival, fair, or other such attraction. Types There are four main types of classic sideshow attractions: *The Ten-in-One offers a program of ten se ...
s (such as bioscope shows), amusements parks, and skating rinks. Many can be seen exhibitied at steam fairs. Manufacturers of fairground organs also typically made instruments for indoor use in
dance hall Dance hall in its general meaning is a hall for Dance, dancing. From the earliest years of the twentieth century until the early 1960s, the dance hall was the popular forerunner of the discothèque or nightclub. The majority of towns and citi ...
s, called
dance organ A dance organ (french: Orgue de danse) is a mechanical organ designed to be used in a dance hall or ballroom. Originated and popularized in Paris, it is intended for use indoors as dance organs tend to be quieter than the similar fairground organ. ...
s; and smaller versions for travelling street use, called
street organ A street organ (french: orgue de rue or ''orgue de barbarie''; german: Straßenorgel) played by an organ grinder is a French- German automatic mechanical pneumatic organ designed to be mobile enough to play its music in the street. The two most co ...
s. Like all mechanical instruments, fairground organs have been made by a myriad of manufacturers, in various sizes and to various technical specifications, with various trademark characteristics. Active preservation initiatives and collectors' communities are associated with vintage instruments, and new instruments and music continue to be produced.


Operation

Early organs were designed to be compact and operated by an unskilled person or mechanically. These were played via an integral pinned barrel requiring no human input apart from changing the number of the tune being played. These had a fixed repertoire and, if it was desired to change the tunes, a complete new pinned barrel was required. To offer a more flexible choice of repertoire, a system of robust interchangeable perforated cardboard book music was patented first by Parisian manufacturers
Gavioli Gavioli & Cie were a Franco– Italian organ builder company that manufactured fairground organs in both Italy and later France. History Gavioli was founded in 1806 in Cavezzo, Italy, by Giacomo Gavioli (1786–1875). Giacamo's hobby was the de ...
. Their system became widely regarded as commercially advantageous and other manufacturers followed suit. Book music offered a cheaper and more readily updated alternative to barrel music. Also used by many manufacturers including Gavioli was operation via paper
music roll A music roll is a storage medium used to operate a mechanical musical instrument. They are used for the player piano, mechanical organ, electronic carillon and various types of orchestrion. The vast majority of music rolls are made of paper. Other ...
. These rolls were more compact and cheaper to manufacture than book music. Technically, they were more susceptible to poor handling but all systems experienced their own types of characteristic wear and tear during repeated playing. Both "book" and "roll" systems were manufactured with different operating actions which read the music via air pressure, under suction, or mechanically. To extend longevity, mechanically read cardboard book music was typically strengthened with an application of
shellac Shellac () is a resin secreted by the female lac bug on trees in the forests of India and Thailand. It is processed and sold as dry flakes and dissolved in alcohol to make liquid shellac, which is used as a brush-on colorant, food glaze and w ...
. Music rolls were typically fortified via the use of robust moisture-resisting paper stocks. All the functions of the organ are (apart from the smallest organs) operated automatically from the music media. Larger instruments contain automatic organ stop register control and additional control tracks for operating percussion instruments, lighting effect and automaton figures.


Builders

:''NOTE: non-exhaustive list of builders, past and present''


See also

* Barrel organ *
Dance organ A dance organ (french: Orgue de danse) is a mechanical organ designed to be used in a dance hall or ballroom. Originated and popularized in Paris, it is intended for use indoors as dance organs tend to be quieter than the similar fairground organ. ...
* Calliope *
Mechanical organ A mechanical organ is an organ that is self-playing, rather than played by a musician. For example, the barrel organ is activated either by a person turning a crank, or by clockwork driven by weights or springs. Usually, mechanical organs are p ...
*
Orchestrion Orchestrion is a generic name for a machine that plays music and is designed to sound like an orchestra or band. Orchestrions may be operated by means of a large pinned cylinder or by a music roll and less commonly book music. The sound is us ...
*
Organ grinder A street organ (french: orgue de rue or ''orgue de barbarie''; german: Straßenorgel) played by an organ grinder is a French- German automatic mechanical pneumatic organ designed to be mobile enough to play its music in the street. The two most c ...


References

*Bopp, Ron: ''The American Carousel Organ: An Illustrated Encyclopedia.'' Grove, OK: Ron Bopp, 1998. *Bowers, Q. David: ''The Encyclopedia of Automatic Musical Instruments.'' Vestal, NY: Vestal Press, 1972. *Jüttemann, Herbert: ''Waldkircher Dreh- und Jahrmarkt-Orgeln.'' Waldkirch: Waldkircher Verlag, 1993. *Jüttemann, Herbert: ''Waldkirch Street and Fairground Organs.'' Rufforth, York: A.C. Pilmer, 2002. (Revised translation of above) *Reblitz, Arthur A.: ''The Golden Age of Automatic Musical Instruments.'' Woodsville, NH: Mechanical Music Press, 2001. *Reblitz, Arthur A. and Bowers, Q. David: ''Treasures of Mechanical Music.'' Vestal, NY: Vestal Press, 1981. *Cockayne, Eric V. ''The Fair Organ — How It Works.'' UK, published by The Fair Organ Preservation Society


External links


Fair Organ Preservation SocietyThe Carousel Organ Association of AmericaKring Van DraaiorgelvriendenMechanical Organ Owners SocietyAustralian Mechanical Organ SocietyAutomatic Musical Instrument Collector's AssociationFairground Organ Collector Paul Eakins on 1970 Program "Perception" Hosted by Dick Bertel on WTIC-TV in Hartford, Connecticut
{{Authority control Pipe organ Mechanical musical instruments Amusement park attractions French inventions French musical instruments Music in Paris