The Aeolian Orchestrelle Player Reed Organ
History & Development
The Aeolian Company introduced their "Aeolian" player organ in 1891 playing a 46-note roll. There were other player organs on the market at that time, Wilcox & White's "Pneumatic Symphony" 44-note organ being the main competitor. Within a few years Aeolian introduced the Aeolian Grand playing a 58-note roll and Wilcox & White introduced their 58-note "Symphony" organ. The Aeolian Grand was unusual in that not all stops could be played from the keyboard - some could only be operated in automatic mode. This was an advance from earlier instruments which incorporated two completely seperate organs, one for hand-playing and the other only operable via the roll mechanism.
Around 1898 Aeolian introduced the Orchestrelle. The "improvement" was the entirely new organ system. This was built by the Vocalion Organ Company and was based on Vocalion's own "Wright system" reed organ. This was patented in 1893 and used individual resonators over each reed. These resonators modified the tones with slightly different shapes for each rank. There were larger reeds and these were operated by pressure as opposed to the usual suction method. The organ operated by a pneumatic pouch and valve system. The combined width of the reeds, resonators and pneumatic system were wider than the the 58-note keyboard and this is why the instruments were substantially larger than normal suction American organs. Whilst Orchestrelles get mostly played via a music roll only they are excellent organs to play manually due the qulity and characteristics of the Wright system.
There were a few different Orchestrelle size configurations i.e. the V, W and the Y. A new range of exquisite case styles such as "Grecian", "Colonial", "Francis 1st", "Mazarin" were available in different types of mahogany, walnut or oak. Additionally, custom made cases were available.
Around 1906 the pneumatic system was further enhanced. The mechanical stop rail and connecting mechanism were replaced with pneumatically operated alternatives. The tracker bar was changed from wooden to brass and the pneumatic system was made into a double valve system instead of the earlier single valve system.
The Solo Orchestrelle was introduced in 1907 which could play 2 manual music from a single roll of 116-note scope. The Solo system was fitted into Orchestrelles and also into Aeolian player pipe organs. Aeolian Pipe Organs had been introduced around 1896 and played initially from the standard Aeolian Grand 58-note music roll. In 1906 production of Orchestrelles was also commenced in the UK at Aeolian's Hayes factory. With the exception of very early models, Solo Orchestrelles had their own range of case styles.
Later developments included the introduction of the 176-note roll playing Duo-Art pipe organ in around 1915. This was essentially the earlier 116-note roll with 60 extra channels controlling stops and dynamics so as to reproduce a live performance. The 176-note format was almost exclusively for pipe organs although a couple of one-off Orchestrelles are known to have been fitted with it.
Aeolian Grands & Orchestrelles play the same music rolls and scale. Unlike piano rolls, the organ 58-note rolls are arranged. The bottom 13 channels are generally reserved for single bass notes to simulate an organ pedal manual and the remaining two sections are divided into bass and treble divisions split at G#/A below middle C. There were several thousand titles produced. The majority were made in the US though there were several hundred produced by the UK branch of Aeolian. US production of new titles tailed off around 1913 and in the UK around 1918 although 58-note rolls were manufactured until the late 1920's.
A lot of rubbish has been written about player organs by player piano folk who probably don't even own one. To understand the instrument and its music you should have some small appreciation of the fact that the piano and the organ are two entirely different instruments whose only common characteristic is the keyboard. Their performance capabilities, historical repertoire and development are entirely different.
A GENERAL AEOLIAN PLAYER ORGAN CHRONOLOGY
INSTRUMENT AEOLIAN ROLL TYPE INTRODUCED Aeolian 46 1890 Aeolian Grand 58 1891 Aeolian Pipe Organ 58 1895 Aeolian Pipe Orchestra 58 1895 Aeolian Orchestrelle 58 1898 Aeolian Orchestrelle (revised pneumatic system) 58 1906 Aeolian Solo Orchestrelle 116 1906 Aeolian Solo Pipe Organ 116 1906 Aeolian Duo-Art Pipe Organ 176 1915 Aeolian Duo-Art Orchestrelle 176 1915
Background to Player Reed Organs
In the 19th century the organ almost as popular a domestic instrument as the piano. Reed organ mechanism are simpler than piano actions and switch notes on and off. They are not touch sensitive like a piano. It is no surprise that effective player organs appeared before player pianos. As organs have varied stops a small scale roll sufficed. The various stop pitches extend the scale beyond its technical 58-note capacity. Organs can't sustain notes unlike pianos and a different playing technique has evelved leading to a different repertoire. A roll-operated system has no such constraint and simply extending note perforations solves the problem.
Good orchestral music requires a good orchestrator. Good organ music similarly requires good stop registration. There is as much an art in effective orchestration as there is in registration. With the player organ the hands are free to registrate the instrument much more effectively than if the same instrument were played manually.
Player organs are infrequently encountered these days. They never achieved the popularity of player pianos. This was due to cost and size. Because of their general size they are sadly less collectable. Scarcity does not enhance the price - the market is much smaller and demand is very reduced. If instruments requires repairs these are potentially much more than those for player pianos. Thousands of musical roll titles were originally available with these instruments. Sadly, these days most of the rolls encountered with instruments or for sale generally comprise serious heavy classics and the like as this was the taste of the majority of the high-brow owners of these players. Because of the relatively small number of playing instruments left there have only ever been a few very limited re-cut programs to make new rolls.
Rolls were manufactured primarily by the manufacturer, Aeolian, who offered several thousand titles. The London branch of the company also offered a seperate listing of rolls many of which were titles not offered in the US or elsewhere. The London rolls all have serial numbers preceeded with the letter "L". A quantity of compatible organ rolls were also manufactured by the London based Perforated Paper Music Company under their Imperial brand.
Playing the Aeolian Orchestrelle (1898-1906 models)If you can play a keyboard I recommend you spend some while playing the instrument manually. This way you will get the feel for how the keyboard, swell and tremulant responds, how the stops are laid out and general capabilities and limitations. Pull the "Pneumatic to Manual" stop out at the end of the stop rail to play the keyboard. To start automatic play you must push in the stop marked "Pneumatic to Manual". This disengages the keyboard and exposes the tracker board to the music roll. Rolls are inserted and removed just as with a regular player piano. You must close the glass door over the music spool box. The box pressurizes in order to read the music roll. Tempo and reroll functions are are controlled from two central organ stop knobs. The "Vox Humana" stop is connected to a paddle-like wind turbine which induces a wavering effect into the sound the reeds produce by interupting the air supply. On rewind always turn off this stop as it simply will otherwise simply draw air better used for the roll motor.
Orchestrelles are "semi-automatic"; the notes play automatically but you select the stops yourself. Through practice you will discover which combinations produce the most pleasing performances. You are completely free to make as many changes of stops, tempo or volume as you like. Through practice you will soon be able to produce thoroughly masterful results.
Some rolls are better on the organ than others. The original advertising a century ago pointed this out and I echo its words in encouraging you to find out by playing through a range of music. Orchestral music which would make drab piano rolls is often exceptionally good on the Orchestrelle - this was what the instrument was primarily designed for afterall. Consequently, if you have a player piano you may well find you acquire an organ roll collection with a quite different focus to your piano roll collection. Organ rolls often play at much lower speeds than piano rolls. The roll drive mechanism is capable of doing this very evenly. Post 1906 Orchestrelles have a sliding tempo lever instead of stop-control tempo, however it is fair to say that tempo control does not feature in such a big way with Orchestrelles as it does with pianolas.
IT IS INTENDED TO ADD FURTHER PICTURES TO THIS PAGE AT SOME TIME IN THE NEAR FUTURE SO CHECK BACK!
