Howard Jensen said:

> In 070403 MMDigest [Church Organ Pipes in a Band Organ], Art Reblitz
> puts forth quite a few questions, and I would assume they were meant
> to point out that there is a distinct difference in sounds and
> a reason for those differences.

There are many different sounds to fairground and carousel organs,
not to mention dance organs, ...

> And, since most of us read MMD to see what we can learn, perhaps
> he could have spent the time explaining the difference, rather than
> making some of us wonder.

... but they are almost impossible to put into words.

Robbie adds:

>[ Could somebody please create a list of readily available audio
>[ recordings (CDs) of representative small and medium size fair
>[ and dance organs? "

On almost any day some recordings of the Paul Eakins collection
will be offered on eBay at reasonable prices, along with a variety
of other instruments.  Many days you will find a good package of 4 CDs
of Ron Bopp's Bruder for sale at less than $20 plus postage.  Often
someone is offering one or more of the Seabreeze Park Wurlitzer CDs.
Just search eBay for "band organ" and "fairground organ".

Alas, recordings can tell you only so much.  An organ built for
outdoor use may have become a museum exhibit, and the recording made
indoors.  An organ recorded outdoors may be miked to mask environmental
sounds like traffic, etc.  I suspect that for many recordings the sounds
are "distorted" by microphone placement, often to the benefit of the
performance.  Mike placement can easily boost or cut the sound of a
voice, drum, etc., and I think Art is referring to balancing these
effects as much as to types and numbers of ranks.

It would be better to ask that experts such as Art suggest particular
recordings than to post a list of popular favorites or cheap disks.
It would be even better to have a few examples on the MMD web site
_accompanied by_ an outline of the features each recording helps us
to understand.

For amateur builders, however, the bottom line is that you want to
find a sound that you personally like, and then try to learn how it is
created.  This may best be achieved by going to rallies where you can
compare sounds, sizes, constructions, etc.  If you are going to put
half a year of your waking hours into a project, the cost of a couple
of weekend trips is a modest investment.

Wallace Venable