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barrel organ
barrel organ mechanical musical instrument requiring nothing but the regular rotary motion of a handle to keep it going. It probably originated at the beginning of the 18th cent., and was once used extensively in English churches. A revolving cylinder is fitted with pegs that open valves, permitting air to enter a set of organ pipes. Some larger ones have several sets of pipes and various couplers. They can be operated by clockwork, by weights, and by electric motors. A portable type of barrel organ whose cylinder is turned by a hand crank has been mistakenly called hurdy-gurdy , from which it is fundamentally different. |
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"barrel organ." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "barrel organ." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-barrelor.html "barrel organ." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-barrelor.html |
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barrel organ
barrel organ. Popular misusage has conferred this term on the street piano. The real barrel org., formerly used in churches, was a genuine automatic pipe-org. in which projections on a hand-rotated barrel brought the required notes into play. It was restricted to a no. of predetermined tunes, like a musical box.
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Cite this article
MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE. "barrel organ." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE. "barrel organ." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O76-barrelorgan.html MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE. "barrel organ." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 1996. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O76-barrelorgan.html |
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barrel organ
bar·rel or·gan • n. a mechanical musical instrument from which predetermined music is produced by turning a handle, played, esp. in former times, by street musicians. |
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Cite this article
"barrel organ." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "barrel organ." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-barrelorgan.html "barrel organ." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-barrelorgan.html |
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