Barrel organ facts for kids
A small barrel organ
|
|
| Keyboard instrument | |
|---|---|
| Hornbostel–Sachs classification | 412.132 (Aerophones) |
A barrel organ is a musical instrument that plays tunes when you turn a handle. It works by using a special barrel with pins on it. These pins tell the organ which notes to play. It's a bit like a simple music box, but instead of plucking metal, the pins open valves. These valves let air from a bellows (a device that pushes air) flow into pipes, making sounds.
What is a Barrel Organ?
A barrel organ is sometimes confused with a hurdy gurdy. However, they are different! A hurdy-gurdy is a string instrument, while a barrel organ uses air and pipes. Barrel organs come in many sizes. Some are small enough to carry by hand. Others are very large and need a wagon or trailer to move them.
How They Play Music
Each barrel organ usually has several tunes stored on its barrel. To change the song, you lift a small pin. Then, you can slide the barrel to a new position. Even a small, hand-carried organ can play six or eight different songs.
Larger Barrel Organs
Some barrel organs were built into large houses or churches. These were much bigger, like full-sized pipe organs. They could play longer and more complex music. Some even had different barrels or a way to change barrels automatically. This meant they didn't need a person to play them. Organs in churches helped people sing along to hymns. The famous composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote some of his only organ music for a barrel organ. It was part of a special clock!
Images for kids
-
A small barrel organ.
-
The inside of a small barrel organ.
-
A barrel organ player in Vienna, Austria.
-
A barrel organ player in Warnemünde, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany.
-
A barrel organ player in Katowice, Poland.
-
A close-up view of the inner part of a barrel organ.
-
A barrel organ player, with a pet monkey, in Liverpool, England.
-
A barrel organ player in Mexico City near the main plaza.
-
A barrel organ made by Anders Gulbrandsen Gomnæs in Norway, 1854.
-
Another barrel organ made by Anders Gulbrandsen Gomnæs in Norway, 1877.
-
An organ grinder playing a new barrel organ.
.JPG)
See also
In Spanish: Organillo para niños
