The cautionary tale of the shiny new device that's smarter than its users and ends up taking over is pretty much cliché... but it took Australian pop musicker Gotye (prounced like Gaultier, if that helps) to apply it to a Lowrey Organ (the Cotillion D575, a vintage model he acquired for $100 and uses both in his recordings and concerts). Add retro-style animation, and you have something scary yet whimsical and truly "State of the Art". [more inside]
posted by oneswellfoop on Dec 11, 2011 - 19 comments

"Oldest surviving organ built in the colonies." Built by David Tannenberg. Its restoration was just completed a few weeks ago. [more inside]
posted by skbw on Oct 10, 2011 - 14 comments

If you're in the mood for some of that juicy, satisfying, blues-inflected and soulful-as-hell organ jazz served up Jimmy Smith-style, check out these 1964 BBC TV appearances from Smith and his trio: The Sermon, Wagon Wheels, Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf, Uptempo Blues and Theme from Mondo Cane. [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Apr 29, 2009 - 16 comments

Keyboard wizzard and Jerry Garcia Band collaborator Merl Saunders dead. More in the Wiki entry.
posted by fixedgear on Oct 24, 2008 - 25 comments

A recently divulged casualty of the Iowa floods (previously covered on Mefi here) is the Mighty Wurlitzer organ at the Paramount Theater. The pictures are pretty awful, and the video is even worse. If you grew up in Cedar Rapids any time in the last 80 years, you'll have heard the Wurlitzer on at least one occasion. Cedar Rapidians are vowing to "Return and Rebuild". [more inside]
posted by thanotopsis on Jun 20, 2008 - 5 comments

Once again, David Byrne plays the building. [more inside]
posted by Fuzzy Skinner on Jun 13, 2008 - 37 comments

If you were around between the 1870s and the early 1900s, you were rocking out to the sweet tunes of the organette. Some were ornate wooden boxes played by turning a crank. Cool kids had tiny organette/harmonica hybrids called Rolmonicas that were played by mouth. Other variations included the Celestina, the Musical Casket, the Playasax, the PlaRola, and the Triola mechanical zither among others. Happen to have one? Pull it out of that yard sale! You can still find music for it.
posted by katillathehun on Mar 18, 2008 - 6 comments

Surely this must be a double, right? I mean, you've got this great and strange program, Addi's Inflatable Minute, and this incredibly strange but somewhat haunting instrument and its all in one You Tube Link? People don't actually make this sort of content in real life, do they?
posted by Ogre Lawless on Jan 11, 2008 - 30 comments

The world's largest operating musical instrument? Hear it here. New York Times article here. (Log-in may be necessary)
posted by flapjax at midnite on Jul 2, 2007 - 23 comments

Roses on a piano, tulips on an organ (as mentioned here), but who knew that there are so many people who make their own pipe organs or illustrate how to make pipes (simple or complex).
posted by plinth on Oct 15, 2006 - 3 comments

E and E-sharp will end tomorrow. Only 631 and a half years to go.
posted by arse_hat on May 4, 2006 - 58 comments

The Great Stalacpipe Organ. This unique, one-of-a-kind instrument was invented in 1954 by Mr. Leland W. Sprinkle of Springfield, Virginia, a mathematician and electronic scientist at the Pentagon. He began his monumental 3 year project by searching the vast chambers of the caverns selecting stalactites to precisely match a musical scale. Electronic mallets were wired throughout the caverns and connected to a large four-manual console. When a key is depressed, a tone occurs as the rubber-tipped plunger strikes the stalactite tuned to concert pitch. (scroll down for mp3).
posted by Astro Zombie on Mar 22, 2006 - 24 comments

Jimmy Smith (wikipedia) passed away last night. [ mi ]
posted by bluedaniel on Feb 9, 2005 - 47 comments

Banned by the Vatican and created by a tone deaf engineer... presenting the Hammond.
posted by drezdn on Aug 30, 2004 - 20 comments