Information AboutHarmonium |
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A Harmonium is a free-standing musical keyboard instrument similar to a Reed Organ or Pipe Organ. It consists of free reeds and sound is produced by air being blown through reeds resulting in a sound similar to that of an Accordion . The air is supplied by foot-operated (or, as with the type of harmonium used in Indian music, hand-operated) bellows alternately depressed by the player. HARMONIUM OR REED ORGAN? In North America, the most common pedal-pumped free reed keyboard instrument is known as the ''American Reed Organ'', (or ''parlor organ'', ''pump organ'', ''cabinet organ'', ''cottage organ'', etc.) and along with the earlier '' Melodeon '', is operated by a suction bellows where air is sucked through the reeds to produce the sound. A '' Reed Organ '' with a pressure bellows, that pushes the air through the reeds, is referred to as a ''harmonium''. In much of Europe, the term "harmonium" is used to describe all pedal pumped keyboard free reed instruments, making no distinction whether it has a pressure or suction Bellows . HISTORY The harmonium was invented in Paris in 1842 by Alexandre Debain , though there was concurrent development of similar instruments. Christian Gottlieb Kratzenstein(1723-1795), Professor of Physiology at Copenhagen, was credited with the first free reed to be made in the western world after winning the annual prize in 1780 from the Imperial Academy of St.Petersburg. {Link without Title} Harmoniums reached the height of their popularity in the West in the late 19th- and early-20th centuries. They were especially popular in small Church es and Chapel s where a Pipe Organ would be too large or too expensive. Harmoniums generally weigh less than similarly-sized Piano s and are not as easily damaged in transport, thus they were also popular throughout the colonies of the European powers in this period- not only because it was easier to ship the instrument out to where it was needed, but it was also easier to transport overland in areas where good-quality roads and railways may have been non-existent. An added attraction of the harmonium in tropical regions was that the instrument held its tune regardless of heat and humidity, unlike the Piano . This 'export' market was sufficiently lucrative for manufacturers to produce harmoniums with cases impregnated with chemicals to prevent Woodworm and other damaging organisms found in the tropics. At the peak of the instruments' popularity around 1900, a wide variety of styles of harmoniums were being produced. These ranged from simple models with plain cases and only 4 or 5 Stops (if any at all), up to large instruments with ornate cases, up to a dozen stops and other mechanisms such as couplers. Expensive harmoniums were often built to resemble Pipe Organ s, with ranks of fake pipes attached to the top of the instrument. Small numbers of harmoniums were built with two manuals (keyboards). The invention of the Electronic Organ in the mid-1930s spelt the end of the harmonium's success (although it's popularity as a household instrument declined in the 1920s as musical tastes changed). The Hammond Organ could imitate the tonal quality and range of a pipe organ whilst retaining the compact dimensions and cost-effectiveness of the harmonium whilst reducing maintenance needs and allowing a greater number of Stops and other features. By this time harmoniums had reached high levels of mechanical complexity- not only through the need to provide instruments with a greater tonal range, but (especially in North America) due to patent laws. It was common for manufacturers to patent the action mechanism used on their instruments, thus requiring any new manufacturer to develop their own version- as the number of manufacturers grew this led to some instruments having hugely complex arrays of levers, cranks, rods and shafts which made replacement with an electronic instrument even more attractive. The last mass-producer of harmoniums in the West was the Estey company, which ceased manufacture in the mid-1950s. As the existing stock of instruments aged and spare parts became hard to find, more and more were either scrapped or sold. It was not uncommon for harmoniums to be 'modernised' by having electric blowers fitted, often very unsympathetically. The majority of harmoniums today are in the hands of enthusiasts. CONSTRUCTION Harmoniums consist of banks of brass reeds (metal tongues which vibrate when air flows over them), a pumping apparatus, stops for drones (some models feature a stop which causes a form of vibrato), and a keyboard. The harmonium's Timbre , despite its similarity to the accordion's, is actually produced in a critically different way. Instead of the bellows causing a direct flow of air over the reeds, an external feeder bellows inflates an internal reservoir bellows inside the harmonium from which air escapes to vibrate the reeds. This design is similar to bagpipes as it allows the harmonium to create a continuously sustained sound. (Some better-class harmoniums of the 19th and early 20th centuries incorporated an “expression stop” which bypassed the reservoir, allowing a skilled player to regulate the strength of the air-flow directly from the pedal-operated bellows and so to achieve a certain amount of direct control over dynamics.) If a harmonium has two sets of reeds, it's possible that the second set of reeds (either tuned unison or an octave lower) can be activated by a stop, which means each key pressed will play two reeds. Professional harmoniums feature a third set of reeds, either tuned an octave higher or in unison to the middle reed. This overall makes the sound fuller. In addition, many harmoniums feature an octave coupler, a mechanical linkage that opens a valve for a note an octave above or below the note being played, and a scale changing mechanism, which allows one to play in various keys while fingering the keys of one scale. Harmoniums are made with 1, 2, 3 and occasionally 4 sets of reeds. Classical instrumentalists usually use 1-reed harmoniums, while a musician who plays for a Qawaali (Islamic devotional singing) usually uses a 3-reed harmonium. THE HARMONIUM IN INDIA |
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