Mechanical Organ Plays Atlantic Express - Just watch this Robot Organist!
Strictly for the rail-fan organ-lovers! No, actually, anybody can enjoy this. The organ plays a tune imitating a steam train pulling out of a station etc . .
The technical details are below for those interested in mechanical music.
105 Key MIDI Dance Organ plays 'Atlantic Express' - a lively train tune.
Here this 105 Key MIDI-operated Leach Dance Organ plays an relatively unknown 'train tune' called Atlantic Express. The tune is known to exist only on a couple of other book playing dance organs, and so was transcribed by ear into MIDI, as well as several extra bars of music added to this arrangement to bring it more into line with the original version. It took several full days of work to achieve the result heard here.
This compact sized dance organ now named 'Jazzolian' was built as 1 of just 4 similar spec models by David Leach in the UK for its first owner Ian Goodwin a few years ago, using a unique organ key scale based roughly on the 105 Decap scale, and playing via a Roland SonicCell MIDI synthesiser - which as built originally produced virtually all the sounds electronically.
However, more recently the organ has undergone radical changes which included:
- Fitting a real accordion (original had no reeds and was simply animated);
- Supplying magnets, midi board and air pressure via a 2nd blower to work the accordion and keys;
- Replacing toy drum set (again beaters were only for effect) with proper percussion instruments and modifying and moving the pneumatics to actually play the instruments;
- Adding extra valves and ventils to operate the bass drum and accordion open close, as well as the newly installed hi-hat cymbal;
- Painting entire organ front in a style similar to some Decap organs;
- Fitting custom designed name and builder details;
- Design of bass drum custom front skin;
- Heavy editing of MIDI files to play on this unique set up, and creation of a new Performance Setting on the Sonic Cell to play something more closely resembling the 105 Decap scale, as music is easier to obtain.
The instrument therefore now features working accordion, bass drum, crash cymbal, hi-hat cymbal, tambourine, two wood blocks, two triangles, snare drum, a rank of bourdon & celeste tuned pipes (2 x 25) and a unison tuned set of 2 x 25 violin pipes.
The saxophones are for show only: the saxophone sound countermelody (and tuba and clarinet) are produced by MIDI, along with melody xylophone and jazz flute, and all accompaniment and bass sounds.
Wales, UK.