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MMD > Archives > September 2005 > 2005.09.27 > 06Prev  Next


MIDI System Plays Bamboo Pipe Crank-organ
By Dale Gunnar

We were in Puebla, Puebla, in July 1999 and on a main downtown street
we saw a thin young fellow grinding an organ, the case of which
looked like the typical organ seen in Mexico City.  It sounded very
different.

My Spanish is very poor so I could not question him for details.  He
had replaced the original wood pipes with 20 flute pipes of bamboo,
and had removed the heavy barrel and keyframe, etc., and installed a
MIDI diskette playing system.  It was in tune, voiced sweet, but the
scale was chromatic, playing only the melody, not arranged in parts
as normal for an organ.

I expect the fellow was not strong enough to carry the original organ
with the barrel, etc., installed.  I do not have his name or address.
I do have a photo which I could mail Mr. Faulkner if advised of the
mailing address, but the photo shows no details of the modification
other than a front view of the bamboo pipes and the grinder.

Dale Gunnar
Corpus Christi, Texas

 [ The name is as confusing as is New York, New York!  I found that
 [ the official name (largely ignored) is Heroica Puebla de Zaragoza.
 [ This modern city, the capital of Puebla state, lies east-southeast
 [ of Mexico City.  -- Robbie


(Message sent Tue 27 Sep 2005, 22:46:00 GMT, from time zone GMT-0700.)

Key Words in Subject:  Bamboo, Crank-organ, MIDI, Pipe, Plays, System

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