Pump organ

Pump organ
John Church and Co. pump organ
Keyboard instrument
Other names
  • Reed organ
  • Harmonium
Classification Aerophone
Hornbostel–Sachs classification412.132
(Free reed aerophone)
Inventor(s)Gabriel-Joseph Grenié
Developed19th century
Playing range
Usually 10 octaves
Related instruments

Hand-pumped: Regal, Indian harmonium, accordion

Mouth-blown: Claviola, melodica, harmonica, Asian mouth organs
Musicians
see List of harmonium players
Builders
see Category:Pump organ manufacturers
Sound sample
César Franck: 5th part taken from "L'organiste", played on a Debain pump organ (1878)
A hand-pumped Indian harmonium, of the type used in South Asia, here used at a European jazz festival.

The pump organ or reed organ is a type of organ using free-reeds that generates sound as air flows past the free-reeds, the vibrating pieces of thin metal in a frame. Specific types of pump organs include the harmonium using pressure system, suction reed organ using vacuum system, and the Indian harmonium; the historical types include the Kunstharmonium and the American reed organ; the earliest types include the physharmonica and the seraphine[1] (for details, see Types). The idea for the free reed was derived from the Chinese sheng through Russia after 1750, and the first Western free-reed instrument was made in 1780 in Denmark.[2][3]

More portable than pipe organs, free-reed organs were widely used in smaller churches and in private homes in the 19th century, but their volume and tonal range were limited. They generally had one or sometimes two manuals, with pedal-boards being rare. The finer pump organs had a wider range of tones, and the cabinets of those intended for churches and affluent homes were often excellent pieces of furniture. Several million reed organs and melodeons were made in the US and Canada between the 1850s and the 1920s, some of which were exported.[4] The Cable Company, Estey Organ, and Mason & Hamlin were popular manufacturers.

Alongside the furniture-sized instruments of the west, smaller designs exist. The portable, hand-pumped Indian harmonium, adapted by Indians from Western designs like the guide-chant in the 19th century, soon became a major instrument on the Indian Subcontinent. The Indian harmonium is widely used by Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims for devotional genres like qawwali, ghazal, kirtan and bhajan. They are also commonly used in Indian classical music and in the Western yoga and kirtan sub-cultures.

  1. ^ Brahaspati, S.V. (2023). How to Play Harmonium, p. 4. Abhishek Publications.
  2. ^ Sachs, Kurt (1940). The History of Musical Instruments. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. pp. 184, 406–407.
  3. ^ Missin, P. R. "Western Free Reed Instruments". Retrieved 2010-08-06.
  4. ^ "Carpenter Organ Company (1899)". Vermont Phoenix. 1899-09-01. p. 4. Retrieved 2020-11-29.

Developed by StudentB