Barrel organ

What it means

A barrel organ is a mechanical wind instrument in which a hand crank simultaneously operates a bellows for the necessary wind and advances a pinned barrel or perforated card that controls the stored piece of music. Protruding pins or holes open valves at the right moment to blow the pipes, so the melody sounds automatically without the person turning the crank playing individual notes.

Musical use

Barrel organs emerged in the 18th century and spread mainly as street-music instruments, in smaller, portable forms carried by itinerant musicians, but also in larger, fixed forms such as fairground and dance-hall organs with elaborate pipework and mechanical figures. Their repertoire ranged from simple folk songs to arranged opera and operetta melodies.

The barrel organ should be distinguished from the hurdy-gurdy, which despite the similar-sounding name is a string instrument producing sound through bowed, not blown, strings. It also differs fundamentally from the church organ, which an organist plays live via a keyboard, whereas a barrel organ plays back a mechanically preset program.

Performance practice

Turn a barrel organ's crank at as even a speed as possible, since turning it too fast or too slow changes not only the tempo of the piece but, in some designs, also the pitch, because the wind pressure depends on the cranking speed. When listening, pay attention to the mechanical, slightly rhythmic timbre that sets the barrel organ apart from purely digitally produced music.