Fairground Organ - Operation

Operation

Early organs were designed to be compact and operated by an unskilled person or mechanically. These were hence played via an integral pinned barrel requiring no human input apart from to change the number of the tune being played. These had a fixed repertoire and, if it was desired to change the tunes, a complete new pinned barrel was required. To offer a more flexible choice of repertoire a system of robust interchangeable perforated carboard book music was adopted first by Parisian manufacturers Gavioli. Their system became widely regarded as commercially advantageous and other manufacturers followed suit. Book music offered a cheaper, more readily updated alternative to barrel music. Also used by many manufacturers including Gavioli was operation via paper music roll. These rolls were more compact and cheap to manufacture than book music. Technically they were more susceptible to poor handling but all systems experience their own types of characteristic wear and tear during repeated playing. Both "book" and "roll" systems were manufactured with different operating actions which read the music either (a) via air pressure, (b) under suction, or (c) mechanically. To extend longevity, mechanically-read cardboard book music is typically strengthened with an application of shellac. Music rolls are typically fortified via the use of robust moisture-resisting paper stocks.

All the functions of the organ are (apart from the smallest instruments) operated automatically from the music media. Larger instruments contain automatic organ stop register control and additional control tracks for operating percussion instruments, lighting effect and automaton figures.