Organ Grinder Street Organs

Handmade Pipe Organs

Terry has three street organs made by Orgelbau Raffin in Überlingen, Germany. His newest and largest organ is not yet pictured here. His mid-sized Raffin street organ was handcrafted for him in 1990.

Its 84 wooden pipes are arranged in four 16 pipe ranks of melody pipes, each with a different sound quality,
plus 10 tenor pipes for accompaniment, and 5 octave pairs of bass pipes. Raffin organ pipes produce a distinctly smooth flute sound.

Air is produced by turning the crank to pump a double bellows underneath the pipes. Here a craftsman is working on bellows for new organs.

Raffin organ machine shop.

The organ plays music using punched paper rolls with tunes arranged especially for this type of street organ. This photo shows Raffin rolls being punched.

When the punched paper roll is pulled across the 31 hole tracker bar, the holes in the paper release valves that allow the air into the appropriate pipes. When the organ grinder turns the crank, he pumps the bellows, pulls the paper across the tracker bar, controls the tempo of the music, and voices the music through the use of four stops that select the ranks of melody pipes.

This organ is referred to as a "31-note" because there are 31 holes across the tracker bar. This organ has no electrical parts or electronic components. It weighs about 100 pounds and is on a special cart.

Although the notes are determined by the holes in the paper, the final sound, including tempo, smoothness of sound, and tonal variety (through selection and change of melody ranks with stops as shown in the photo), is up to the human organ grinder.

Terry's smallest Raffin street organ is called a “20-note” organ. It has 20 wooden pipes and 11 metal "whistle" pipes that are controlled by a stop. This organ also plays with punched paper rolls, but because it has only 20 notes, arranging music for this organ is a real challenge. Skilled arrangers in England and Germany are still arranging music for both sizes of street organs.

For a type of volume control, this organ also has a Lexan sliding window that can be inserted in the front and the top can be closed. The organ weighs about 25 pounds and can be carried on its leather strap or played from a special small cart. The crank can be positioned on the back, which is traditional, or on the side if the organ is being played while strolling.

Terry and Herr Joseph Raffin

Terry Talks With
Joseph Raffin

Terry visited the Raffin organ shop in 2005. Here Mr. Raffin talks about the history of his family and his years of making organs. He founded his company in 1960.

What is a Hurdy Gurdy?

A hurdy gurdy is a sort of semi-mechanized violin. The player positions it flat on his lap or on a table. He turns a crank at one end to cause a wheel to turn which in turn causes the strings to vibrate (instead of using a bow). The player then depresses keys that “stop” the strings (in place of the violinist's fingers) to play a melody. This instrument has been known for hundreds of years. The only similarity between it and the street organ is the act of cranking. Very few people can play one today.

French hurdy gurdy player