Reed organs
  • Palestrina
    Posts: 577
    I’d be interested in views here about the highest quality reed organs out there - and in particular, those with a tone that is well suited to chant accompaniment. I note such a range of colour across the brands, with some tending towards a piano accordion and others happily towards a polite Dulciana or Flute rank on an organ.
  • Jeffrey Quick
    Posts: 2,261
    It's a pretty niche question. I suspect that most people here who have used one in the actual liturgy have only used one instrument, and that few would go out shopping for a restored instrument. And I say this as somebody well-disposed toward them, who does a fair bit of music where "armonio" is one of the named options.

    You might get better information here: https://organforum.com/forums/forum/reed-organs-and-accordions/pump-reed-organs/796596-purchasing-reeds
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • Palestrina
    Posts: 577
    Thanks, Jeffrey - that’s very helpful.

    The Holt on that page sounds lovely in the building - I wish we had more recordings of reed organs made in this way (ie. showing how the building’ acoustic tempers the sound).

    This has also prompted me to think about whether reed organs being classified as the ‘parlour’ variety means anything or is yet another marketing gimmick.

    I have no desire to reignite the pipe organ debate here, but it has occurred to me where the main role of an instrument is to accompany a Gregorian schola, a reed organ purring away inoffensively in the background may be a better option than some kind of simulacrum-keyboard. I am told this is what happened in some Parisian churches where there was no organ in the quire.
  • GambaGamba
    Posts: 667
    Depends on the acoustic. The same organ can call people to prayer in a very live room, or to polka in a dry one.
    Thanked by 2MatthewRoth ServiamScores
  • matthewjmatthewj
    Posts: 2,682
    You might contact Matt Williams at Gregory the Great Academy in Scranton PA. I believe he restores Reed organs for liturgical use.
    Thanked by 2irishtenor CHGiffen
  • Jeffrey Quick
    Posts: 2,261
    This has also prompted me to think about whether reed organs being classified as the ‘parlour’ variety means anything or is yet another marketing gimmick.

    Yes, it was, but...
    I was following Rodney Jantzi's stuff for awhile, and there were a wide range of organ types in his videos, from portables for military use, to 2 manual behemoths with pedalboard. A church could go all-out, and it would still be cheaper than a pipe organ. They were really the "toasters" of the 19th century, but with a little more respect.
  • ian_udell
    Posts: 15
    I have recently bought a reed organ and I will say that after a while of some use (aka playing it for 15min or more), it sounds more "organ-y". Although, every time I start playing on it initially I cant shake the fact that it sounds like a big foot-powered accordion.

    For Chant, I would find it hard to see if there exists such reed organs that can sound suitable. I would love to see/hear if one such does exist. But even if it does, I can't imagine that it sounds better than a real pipe organ.
  • Palestrina
    Posts: 577
    I accept that such an instrument will never sound better than a pipe organ, Ian - the best I can hope for is that a fair-minded listener has to do a ‘double take’. A nice warm acoustic should take the worst of the edge off the sound.

    I am after little more than an 8’ stop that is soft and clean, and a 16’ bass to purr away underneath. Even Wicks resorted to harmonium reeds for some of their small unit organs, so they can’t be that bad!
  • OMagnumMysterium
    Posts: 360
    I'd say a good deal of it depends on technique too. With reed organs, you have "dynamic pedaling" where you can get dynamics ranging anywhere from silent to full volume, determined by how you work the pedals which are connected to the bellows. The dynamic pedaling could be very desirable for certain types of repertoire (like French Romantic), but for many pieces, and accompaniment, you'd want to be solicitous to keep full volume throughout, that way it more closely imitates a pipe organ. I think that the dynamic ebb and flow is very characteristic of accordions, and very uncharacteristic of pipe organs, so the more that you can avoid it the better (apart from repertoire where you're trying to serve the function of a swell box).

    Admittedly, it still will likely have a slight "reedy" quality to the tone, and that may be hard to avoid. I've had a couple of reed organs, one very high quality, and at the end of the day they still sound like reed organs. But they're great fun for messing around with at home.

    And this is one of my absolute favorites:
    https://youtu.be/U1U-qwiv5yw?si=8ONZYUJt8UHHntS_

    This is epic too:
    https://youtu.be/Bh0zigNPoec?si=uHUYofjvyN9gr1fy
    Thanked by 2GregoryWeber ian_udell
Add a Comment