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MECHANICAL MUSIC - DIY BUSKER ORGAN
 
 
 
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LINKS TO THE CRANK ORGAN WORLD
 

In this section I listed a number of links which i consider interesting for our hobby. I will be glad to add any additional entry you may recommend. 

 The photos are taken by me at the 2003 Longiano Festival in Italy. The event is held any other year. Next one will be in September 2005.

 

 

AMMI (Associazione Musica meccanica Italiana) - www.ammi-mm.it

Designed as the meeting place of the italian association, this site gives general information on activities in the mechanical music field, restorations, historic instruments, museums and events of the sector.

MMD Forum -  http://mmd.foxtail.com

I beleve that this site can be considered the living room of the worldwide mechanical music.The Forum contains the contributions of the major players of the sector, hobbists, manufacturers, collectors with  live thematic discussions covering every aspects. The subject and author indexes give access to a real encyclopedia.

Moreover, a gallery with technical articles, photos and sounds is available. It is a true mine of information.

Melvyn Wright - www.buskerorgan.com

This is the site of a professional arranger who proposes a rich range of titles for various instruments. Moreover you can find a guide to the world of crank organs and, in particular the site represents the reference place of the John Smith Busker organ amateurs, who keep sending articles on their experiences and photos of their creatures. A very broad catalogue of ready punched music rolls for J.S. 20 and 26 notes organs is available as well.

Ed Gaida - http://www.edgaida.com

American site very interesting for the variety of sections describing subjects like Player Piano, Reed Organ , Music Box, Band Organs and the always present J.S. Busker for which a rich building photo sequence is provided, as well as suggestions for design optimization and an example of MIDIzation. Punched music rolls for J.S. organs are available here.

Pete Osborne - http://www.barrelorgan.btinternet.co.uk/index.html

British site of a self builder of the Busker of  J. Smith, offering a nice set of photos of his construction.

Gordon Symonds - http://www.arlington.plus.com

In this British site you can see photos of the beautiful details of construction of the J. Smith Busker. The construction level is really accurate. There is also a section dedicated to the paper rolls puncher construction, very interesting.

John Pettifer - http://www.petbusker.co.uk

British site dealing with constructional experiences of two J.S. organs (20 and 26 notes) and the underway construction of a beautiful MIDI driven Band Organ installed on a trailer for gathering exhibitions.

Yahoo!GROUPS:Wurlitzer 105 Builders
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wurlitzer105

This group, organized by Yahoo and established recently, is dedicated both to whom builds the famous Wurly 105 utilizing Bob Stanoszek plans and to band organs lovers in general.Besides the Forum, they invite to send photos, suggestions, technical advise from your experience to assist the beginners.

Gisli Olsen - http://web.telia.com/~u43000075/Orgelb.html

Here the hobbyst behind the site is from Sweden and tells you about his experiences in buiding crank organs. He also has built the J.S. Busker, in which he has integrated the italian Pinocchio puppet, and the 26 note of J.S.. There are interesting details for the constructors.

The Crank Organ Ring - http://www.rollerorgans.com/The_Crank_Organ_Ring.htm

This Ring aggregates about fifty sites dealing on crank organs subject. You can find topics on every aspect of this world, as DIY, producers, users publishing their stories and photos, paper rolls and cartons arrangers and producers, associations etc. I invite you to see them all.

Nick Williams  www.fairgroundorgan.com

Nick is a young british expert who, besides building organs for which he gives the details, offers a good graphic tutorial also on the rhythmic section with percussions of band organs. Very interesting. 

Jannie and Willem Tiezema  www.draaiorgel-demerel.nl/en/index.htm

This is the site of a nice couple that presents in detail their Beautiful Raffin organ through an attractive multimedia animation that explains its operation principles. It is also possible to listen the different pipes ranks sound by clicking on the stops in the photo. It is really well done,  worth a visit. 

French DIY  www.orgue-de-barbarie.com.fr/site_gb/welcome.htm

French Site dedicated to crank organ self builders. There is also the description of a project construction of a puncher for cartons or rolls.
I suggest to enter the french language section, then click “realisations” and you have access to a list of links , not visible on the english section,  to sites of the members which display their projects, some of them also in good english.
It is a real mine of ideas!

Jean Pierre Cossard (Jipè)http://perso.wanadoo.fr/jean-pierre.cossard

My fellow constructor Pierre is the the most prolific french turned organ constructor and in its site you can follow all the steps (day after day) of construction of 5 beautiful instruments perfectly documented with drawings, pictures, photos and sounds. Interesting its experience of an original MIDIfication of a 29 note organ.
The site has also the english version

Castlewood Pipe organs  - www.castlewoodorgans.com

This australian company manufactures a laser cut kit of a busker organ for the home constructor, which plays the John Smith scale of music.
The construction is made easy as the the parts have edges like a castle, hence the name “Castlewood”, which provide strong lightweight joints and is good from an assembly point of view atan affordable price. The punched music is available from Melvyn wright and Ed Gaida.

MIDster PUNCH -  http://members.aol.com/midpunch

If you intend to build a puncher for paper rolls or cartons,the MIDster Punch system is proving to be a popular project with many mechanical organ and player-piano enthusiasts around the world.  On the Bob Essex site you find some information and pictures.

ALAN PELL www.alanpell.com

This is a UK company of organ builders, with a very interesting and broad catalogue and can also supply parts and materials for organ builders.

FOPS (Fair Organ Preservation Society)www.fops.org

Hystorical British society dedicated to the appreciation and preservation of the fairground organ, and other related mechanical instruments, and their music. Their  members are all interested in this fascinatong aspect of  their national heritage, some being organ owners themselves. The objects of the Society is the promotion and encouragement of all forms of interest in, and the preservation of, Fair Organs and Mechanical Musical Instruments.

AAIMM (Association for friends of mechanical music and its related instruments) www.musicamecanica.org

Site of the French association, very rich of information on many aspects of the mechanical music.A journal is issued every three months for members, which includes various studies on mechanical music and its instruments, interviews, a calendar of events, reports about past festivals and other events, classified ads and advertisements, etc. The site is available in French, English and Deutsch 

AMICA www.amica.org

AMICA,  Automatic Musical Instrument Collectors' Association is an american educational non-profit organization with worldwide membership, dedicated to the preservation, restoration and appreciation of historic automatic musical instruments.

IttyMIDI www.ittymidi.com

This american company offers a MIDI on palm package solution to process, store and play MIDIfiles  with an handy Palm computer. Very interesting for buskers on the road with midified instruments.

John Smith - http://freespace.virgin.net/chris.doe/jsmith/jsmith.htm

This is the site of the designer of my Busker organ and other interesting mechanical musical machines.

La Salvia - http://www.organito.com.ar/index_en.htm

This is the site of the Argentinian Barrel Organ Museum La Salvia, which describes
La Salvia family company, famous construction of barrel organs since over one century in Buenos Aires. Very interesting site, available in many different languages.

Christian Casse - http://www.miositoweb.info/christian.casse

Italian artisan constructor of a range of beautiful Barberia Organs.
The site is available also in english language

GIRALANOTA www.giralanota.it

The Giannotto family is well known for organ and barrel instruments restorations as well as music rolls and carton book arrangements. You may consult their huge repertoire. Beginners are invited not to miss the Clin Clan page.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Crank Organ Ring