Mechanical Organs of all sizes for hire
Excellence Guaranteed
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Hand-turned Street (Barrel) Organs
We have several traditional hand-cranked street organs, perfect for both indoor and outdoor locations, Operators dressed in period attire as required, such as Victorian markets and street parties, these instruments play happy well-known tunes and create a magical atmosphere. Three of our small organs have trumpet ranks, very rare in the UK, but making their musical performance extra special.
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For example, the organ above is a 31 note instrument, the highest specification organ produced built by the late Joseph Raffin in Germany. Don't let the compactness of the cabinet fool you into thinking this is an ordinary street organ! It has 119 pipes crammed in, playing from 31 notes. With 6 manual registers, the sound combinations are vast, comprising flute, flute Celeste, violin, piccolo, quint, and it's real party piece, 19 trumpets! No wonder it's called a concert organ. Audience members are welcome to have a go hand cranking the organ too! What's more, it operates from either paper roll or an in-built MIDI system, the latter meaning duets with other instruments are possible to create an even bigger spectacle.
Trailer-mounted Street / Fair Organ
'De Toren' originally paraded the streets of the Dutch Town of Zwolle, which has a tower from which the organ takes its name. The organ is motorised, and runs froim mains electricity (we have a generator if no power is available). This means it can play non-stop all day and night, making both a musical and mechanical spectacle. It can also play in duet with other organs, such as can be seen in the video here...
The organ came to England in the 1960s, and entered the Williams collection in 2001 in a poor state. A full rebuild later, the new double side opening display trailer now allowing the public to see exactly how the organ works at the back with traditional perforated folding cardboard music.The organ facade features moving figures, and as well as various types of pipe, the organ has drums, bells, cymbal and a woodblook to add to the sound.
To augment the large library of music new and old, a MIDI player system has also been added, which also allows the organ to play in duet with some of the other organs in our collection.
Large Fairground Organ
One of the world's largest travelling Gavioli fair organs, this 1905 built instrument from the king of mechanical instruments has over 400 pipes playing from 89 keys. It is also one of the most original examples to survive, having spent much of its life in a galloping horse ride travelled by showman James Day in SW England and Wales. The sound it produces is sublime (and loud!); enjoy a tune here...
The organ still operates from perforated card, and has a huge library of music with hundreds of tunes from classical ovatures and marches, right through to modern day hits. A vast variety of pipes from piccolos to brass trombones make some amazing sounds, added to by drums, bells, and even a glockenspiel.
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The Gavioli is now mounted in a dedicated display trailer, weighing in at 7 tonnes, hence has a lorry to tow it around. If you want to know exactly how the organ works, Nick has made an educational video here, but take a seat because his enthusiasm lasts for 22 minutes:
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Ludlow, Shropshire, England
​​​​© Copyright C & N Williams 2023