What is a barrel organ?

1. 0

   WhoWhatWhereWhenposted 13 years ago

   What is a barrel organ?

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2. 61

   Boskposted 13 years ago

   Isn't that an instrument of some sorts. Think I've seen one in a movie once.

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3. 0

   RenePogelposted 13 years ago

   It's a small mechanical organ with a wooden cylinder, the barrel, in which pins are set. The barrel is turned by a handle and the pins open the pallets to admit the air to the pipes. The barrel organ was used widely in churches in the 18th and 19th centuries when an organist was not avail­able. Surviving barrels are important documentary evi­dence of the extent to which music was ornamented in performance, since the ornaments, which must be set on the barrels, were not included in written music. Small barrel organs were also used by itinerant street musicians and, by inaccurate transference, the name was also applied to the later street piano which was also played by a barrel.

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