A Mechanical organ is an organ that is self playing, rather than played by a musician. A musician is a person who plays or composes music. ...

Usually, mechanical organs are pipe organs although some instruments were built using reeds similar to those found in a harmonium. Since the 1950's, some instruments have been built using electronics to generate the sound, though still operated by mechanical or pneumatic means. From the 1990's pipe organs have been built that are operated by midi rather than the earlier mechanical means. This article or section should be merged with Organ (music) The Casavant pipe organ at Notre-Dame de Montréal Basilica, Montreal. ... This article is on the musical instrument; for information on other kinds of harmonia, see harmonium (disambiguation). ... The field of electronics comprises the study and use of systems that operate by controlling the flow of electrons (or other charge carriers) in devices such as thermionic valves (vacuum tubes) and semiconductors. ... Pneumatics, from the Greek πνευματικός (pneumatikos, coming from the wind) is the use of pressurized air in science and technology. ...

Originally, the music for mechanical organs was stored by pins on a large barrel. Such instruments were called Barrel organs. Such organs only have a very limited repertoire, both in the number of musical selections that could be stored, and the the length of tune that could be accommodated. A barrel organ player in Vienna, Austria. ...

In he 1890's, book music was invented. This meant that the length of music was no longer constrained. Being physically much smaller than a barrel for a similar instrument, it is much easier to manipulate the music, and so a greater variety of music could be played. Book Music is the European version of making mechanical music medium for organs in Europe and it is actually similar to piano rolls, but book music is produced by thick cardboard, with perforated holes, and it is presented and played in a folded zig-zag style. ...

Rather than the book music, some instruments are operated by a Music roll. A Music Roll is used to operate a Mechanical organ or Orchestrion and contains the music to be played. ...

See Also

Barrel organ A barrel organ player in Vienna, Austria. ...

Fairground organ To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Street organ A Street organ is a mechanical organ designed to play in the street. ...

Dance organ A Dance organ is a mechanical organ designed to be used in a dance hall or ballroom. ...