"Trueman"
21 Keyless Pipe Organ

General Information

The organ is a small table top busker organ. It is hand turned and is ideal for both small outdoor events or indoor events and is a good instrument for children to have a go at playing. Although small in size it still gives a reasonable volume of music.

The organ is an ideal accompaniment to the 48 Keyless Reed Organ as it gives the public a chance to understand how the organs work. It is usually found standing under the canopy where children are encouraged to have a go at turning it.

Specification    

18 melody pipes set in a double rank of nine and tuned celeste.
6 accompaniment pipes set under the bottom of the organ.
3 bas pipes set behind the melody pipes.
1 bell.
1 glockenspiel which is operated by a manual register slide.
The organ is approx 18" wide x 14" deep x 24" tall.
The organ is hand-cranked and operates on punched card music.

History

The organ was built by Mr. Peter Trueman of Derby in 1996. It is number 86/HT70.

It was then purchased by Alan Williamson of Doncaster who used it for street entertainment. During this period the organ suffered some damage when it fell of it's cart and the lid had to be repaired. It then past on to a couple in Bexhill on Sea. It remained there for a couple of years being used only in a local club, mainly for children's parties. I purchased the organ in September 2005 in a poor state of repair. The bellows had a hole in them and one of the inlet valves was leaking. The crank shaft had been repaired using timber instead of metal. One of the rollers in the keyframe had been replaced at some point with a metal one instead of the original wooden one. However, the organ has recently been renovated by it’s original builder. It has had new parts fitted to replace the damaged ones and the bellows and reservoir have all been re-leathered. It is now mounted on a small trolley which makes it portable and also acts as a store for the music books.