Transcript:

ambience: band organ musicIf that sound makes you want to hop on the nearest merry-go-round, well that's exactly what it's supposed to do. I'm Jim Metzner, and this is the Pulse of the Planet. For over 30 years, Dan Wilke of Buffalo, NY has been interested in band organs, the instrument which is producing this music. He recently organized an antique band organ rally at Midway Park in Jamestown, New York."The instruments that are here are all real musical instruments, They're operated by air. No electronics at all." A band organ plays from paper scrolls the way a player piano does, and produces its sounds through pipes or reeds."It's small, it weighs about 35 pounds, it's heavier than it looks. The main difference with this one is rather than have pipes, this has reeds and sounds more like an accordion. It has an all inlaid wooden cabinet, a small glass panel on the front that tilts open for a little more volume, the top opens up and there's a paper roll in there it's the real thing, it operates entirely on air pressure and the music is punched into a perforated paper roll." The rally attracted over 60 enthusiasts from all over the Northeast. The band organs popularity in this part of the country can be traced to a single Scotsman, Alan Herschel. He came to upstate New York in the 1870s and started making carousel horses."Of course he needed instruments for his carousels, so in 1892 Alan Herschel persuaded Eugene DeKleist from Germany to come over, set up shop in North Tonawanda and start building band organs for Herschels Merry Go rounds the rest is basically history with Wurlitzer in North Tonowanda building band organs." Pulse of the Planet is presented with support provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities. I'm Jim Metzner. music