Piano

Shortly after my most recent blog post, my Roland FP-30X Piano arrived. I had plenty of fun putting the stand together and measuring the hight that the keys should sit off the ground compared to a traditional piano. My piano bench arrived the next day, giving me a proper place to sit at an appropriate height to play. The folding piano has pretty much set on the side in a folded state ever since.

I’ve gotten past Essentials 1, 2, and 3 in the Simply Piano app, and I’m working on Chords. In addition to Chords, I also working on playing the Essential version of One Summer’s Day over the past four days. I’m ever so slowly getting better at it.

I often visit the library to find new books to check out. The latest book was for a Charlie Brown Christmas Songs that included Linus & Lucy. I already had a copy of the music from 100 Popular Piano Songs, but this set of music was much more complex as I believe it was the original music. I made a copy and started writing out notes to work out finger placements and letters. Its going to be a tough piece to work out, but people would definitely love to hear it if I can learn how to do it.

While I was at the library, I got a reference to someone who may know someone else that can teach piano lessons in town.

Library

Not much is going on. Someone reached out to me about a research project about the library, so I may dedicate some of my time to dig up a few details about the libraries history. During my visit to the library, I had recommended creating a Mini Golf course as an event since the library began with a woman’s Tee off event donating books for the new library to play golf. We could probably create obstacles like ramps and such out of old books that are about to be discarded.

Magic

I dropped by Play Favorites and picked up a levitating UFO kit. More than anything, I was after the magicians string within the package. The UFO is just a gimmick to get peoples attention with its flashing lights, but the trick can be used with other stuff as well. I got word the next day that they had put in an order for more magic tricks with Marvins Magic, so I’ll be interested to see what else they have.

Balloon Animals

I’ve been playing around a bit. So far, I can make the dog fairly easy without looking at anything. Unfortunately, I’m not good at judging proportions to keep ears or legs at the same size. It’s close, but definitely noticeable. At least they aren’t popping.

iPhone Battery

I replaced the battery last week on my six year old iPhone XS Max. The battery appears to continue to drain fast. It also shut off the phone during a 45 minute drive to Manassas in the middle of winter due to overheating. I’m making plans to update the phone itself soonish.

Crank Organ

I often spend time on YouTube looking at various songs and things related to piano. I stumbled upon Crank Organs from 17th century to the early 20th, also known as a Street Organ, Grinder Organ, Barrel Organ, Hand Organ, John Smith Organ, and sometimes called a Monkey Organ in which a trained monkey with a tin cup would often collect coins from the crowds. Sometimes people call it a hurdy-gurdy, but that specific instrument is more of a violin rather than an organ. These organs had a hand crank that pumped air into an air reservoir that was used to blow air into wooden or metal flutes at a consistent pressure. A tune was on a reel of punched out paper that moved (with the assistance of the crank) across holes that controlled which flutes received air, providing a festive atmosphere. Popular models consist of 20 notes.

These organs remind me of programmable music boxes, but at a larger scale. The paper rolls last between 2 to 5 minutes and the paper moves at abut five to six feet per minute, so a five minute song could have 30 feet of paper rolled up. A faster tempo song would require more feet per minute.

This little organ would go great with little magic shows and clowning around, and a volunteer could operate it by simply turning a crank.

From what I’ve gathered on the internet from unverified resources, it seems that in New York, they were seen as an alternate form of noisy panhandling associated with poverty, so the public performances were outlawed. Many crank organs were handcrafted and required skilled workers to build and repair with special knowledge. Since they were mostly produced in New York, the shops closed and the appearance of the organs became rare across the country as modern technologies started to take off like phonographs, gramophones, movies, professional orchestras, and eventually radio. Today, they are a niche of historic relics, sometimes seen in festivals and historical reenactments. An accordion seems a bit similar with its bellows, piano keys, layered harmonies with multiple keys, street performances, and portability for smaller crank organs.

Purchasing a crank organ would be around $3,000 US or more today. Ebay and Etsy are a bit of a luck of the draw if you can find something. I have access to many tools at home and at the library such as a 3D Printer, Sewing Machine, Drill Press, Embroidery Machine, Cricut Cutter, and Laser Cutter. I was debating on making one of these organs on my own. Most of the plans people use are for people with a woodworking workshop. I haven’t found anything specific for the tools I have available, but I found a few resources where I may be able to combine some of them to make what I need.

The crank organs are mainly built with a few components

• 20-30 Flutes for each note, can be more but requires advanced techniques.
• Bellows / Blower
• Air Reservoir – fills up with air, but has a relief valve allowing air to escape if pressure is too high
• Tracker bar – allows air to flow for a specific note if paper has hole punched out
• Reel – contains a “book” of music/instructions that tell valves to open
• Pressure Box – contains the reel and leads to the track bar.
• Crank
• Valves – some tracker bars control valves on the flutes, where others push air directly into the flutes themselves

• How to built a crank organ March 2024 (French translation to English)
  • Extensive steps, measurements, illustrations, and concepts explained
• John Smith Organs inventor of many popular organs. Passed away.
  • A little difficult to navigate
  • Plans are still available for purchase for
    • Busker – simple construction, limited machinery needed.
    • Senior 20 – bigger bellows, fast rewind, a little larger.
    • Universal – Large, 20 or 26 notes with pneumatic valves necessary for larger pipes, and rows of pipes can be turned on/off. Has fast-rewind and option for Xylophone fitted to the front.
    • Topsy 1 (First full scale via MIDI)
    • Topsy 3
  • YouTube @gemmadan
• Raffin – Overseas Vendor that sells organs and music rolls
• Building the John Smith Organ info by someone who built one
• Laser Cut Music Box – Demonstration of a laser cut music box, but no plans available.
• The Paper Organ Kit – Everything needed to make a working organ out of paper.
• Train Whistle From Corrugated Card – Simple instructions to make a train whistle out of cardboard, similar to the flutes used in crank organs.
• Organ Pipe Maker – Generates STL files for air intake via 3D Printer, and SVG files for pipes (resonator + tuning slide) on Laser Cutter based on the 1905 treatise The Art of Organ Building by George Ashdown Audsley.
• Build a MIDI Interface for the Raffin Crank Organ
• Making a roll for a John Smith Busker organ
  • Laser Cut. The smallest ten pipes are made of 2mm Ceiba ply the rest are 3mm Birch ply. Modified plans based on John Smith Organ.

I haven’t set my heart on it, but it’s definitely something interesting that would be sure to please crowds. There are some features I’d like to see:

• Compact enough to fit within a suitcase that serves as a stand, and light weight/durable
• Ability to add a MIDI interface so that I can use my piano
• Ability to add an interface that can read MIDI files from microSD cards to play music
• Ability to add a piano keyboard to the crank organ to play ad-hoc music
• Use other instruments such as bells, drum, high-hat, triangle, or xylophone
• Display the song reels to the public via plexiglass so they can see the holes moving, and pictures printed on the paper to help tell a story
• Ability to add an external blower without the need to crank manually
• Ability to replace the crank with an electric motor

The fact that there is a paper-kit version, and someone who has also made a laser cut version gives me the confidence that something small and portable can be done with lightweight materials such as balsa wood, or simply using cardboard. I may try to go ahead and make a single flute out of cardboard to see how feasible it is. Although the material may impact the sound, I think the most important part is the volume of air, and open or closed end, and the width of the flutes.

The most tedious part may be finding a way to create the music rolls. Hopefully I can start with a roll of paper long enough and at the proper width to use for a song. Potential candidates are a roll of easel paper, kraft paper, wax paper, butcher paper, wrapping paper, watercolor paper or packing/shipping paper. I would need to be able to roll both ends while cutting the next section with the laser cutter at the library, or find a way to use the cricut cutter to do it as one long continuous roll. Making those SVG files for the laser cutter are going to be difficult, unless I can program something to read the MIDI files and create a SVG file for a small section, while also setting up the ability to align with the prior cut.

Out of everything, I want to see if this can be done in a way that’s simple. I don’t want this to end up being an abandoned project if I start cutting out parts. I’d like to have all materials, and be certain that the cuts will be accurate enough to work, rather than tons of testing.