btoth76 Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 Hello! The world's oldest keyboard instrument, - a hydraulic organ - has been found in North-Budapest, in 1931. All the metal parts have been found, leather and wooden components had decomposed, though. It is locked away in a vault of Budapest History Museum. Thanks to such contemporary roman illustrations (mosaic in this case)... ...a realistic, and functional copy has been crafted in 1935 by company Angster: It is on display at Museum of Aquincum1 along with another copy, and some reproduced parts: 1Aquincum was an ancient city, situated on the northeastern borders of the Pannonia province within the Roman Empire. The ruins of the city can be found today in Budapest, the capital city of Hungary. It is believed that Marcus Aurelius may have written at least part of his book Meditations at Aquincum. (Wikipedia) Cheers... Bence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReGuitar Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 Hello Bence, This is awesome, very interesting. Any idea about how it worked? I think it's got 1 octave (13 keys), right? Thanks for sharing. Best regards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btoth76 Posted June 18, 2015 Author Share Posted June 18, 2015 Hello! In use: Another - probably, a better - video: Cheers... Bence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 We've come a long way. Here's what I play (demo not by me!): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGS_O0LRnCA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 Fascinating, Bence! I'd like to have a good look at that in person......not that I suspect I'd understand much more than I do now! I think it's got 1 octave (13 keys), right?... Very possibly, ReGuitar, but I'm curious about what appear to be a set of four draw-stops(?) at the right hand side of the instrument's wooden housing. There also appear to be five courses of pipes in the rack. Those, along with the 'exploded diagram' pipes in the display cabinets, suggest there might have been a considerable number of 'options' available. Sharps? Flats? An octave lower/higher? Were some pipes always 'Drones' (as found, say, in a set of bagpipes)? Any ideas, Bence?.................... Pip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btoth76 Posted June 19, 2015 Author Share Posted June 19, 2015 Hello! I have no clue about it's tuning. But I doubt it is spot on with contemporary western musical system. Bach's "Well-tempered clavier" is dated at year 1722. One and a half millenium after the hydraulis was made. But, - still - as Wikipedia informs us: "The pipes (of hydraulis) were sized so as to produce many of the modes (scales) known from the Greeks". The western musical system is based on Greek modes too. What I've found out about it's operation is the following: it has a water-filled canister with an overflow tank. Air is introduced into this canister by the pedal-operated pumps. The water canister with it's overflow tank, acts like a communicating vessel maintaining constant air pressure to feed the pipes with uninterrupted airflow. As result of this, the organ has better sustain. Notes do not decay as quickly as on a purely air-feed harmonium. Cheers... Bence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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