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Harmonium

The harmonium is a keyboard instrument similar to an organ that produces sound through vibrating metal reeds when air is pumped through them by a bellows mechanism. It was inspired by Chinese mouth organs and is popular in South Asian classical and devotional music. The harmonium comes in various types including foot-pumped and hand-pumped models, with the hand-pumped version designed to be played while sitting. It typically covers three octaves through pressing keys that allow air to pass through tuned reeds to produce notes.

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Marwin Suhan
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1K views10 pages

Harmonium

The harmonium is a keyboard instrument similar to an organ that produces sound through vibrating metal reeds when air is pumped through them by a bellows mechanism. It was inspired by Chinese mouth organs and is popular in South Asian classical and devotional music. The harmonium comes in various types including foot-pumped and hand-pumped models, with the hand-pumped version designed to be played while sitting. It typically covers three octaves through pressing keys that allow air to pass through tuned reeds to produce notes.

Uploaded by

Marwin Suhan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The Harmonium

-A brief overview
What is a Harmonium?
• A harmonium is a keyboard instrument that is a lot like
an organ.
• It is also known as a Melodeon, Reed Organ, and Pump
Organ.
• Earliest invention is said to be the Physharmonica,
invented by Anton Haeckl in Vienna, in the year 1818.
• His invention was inspired by the Chinese mouth organ,
known as Sheng.
• The popular types of Harmoniums are foot-pumps and
hand-pumps.
• The hand pumped harmonium was created by
Dwakranath Ghose.
• He invented this style of instrument so it could be played
while sitting down on the floor.
• It is popularly used in India, Pakistan, Nepal,
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and in other South Asian
countries.
• It is used as an accompanying instrument in Hindustani
classical music, Sufi music, Bhajans and other
devotional music, Qawwalis, Nitya Sangeets and a
variety of genres including accompaniment to Classical
Kathak Dance.
• A typical Harmonium can cover three octaves (C2 – B4)
Special Types
• First patent comes from Alexandre Debain in 1840 in
France.
• Samvadini, is a special type of Harmonium which is
fused with harp-like strings. This was produced by
Bhishmadev Vedi and his disciple, Manohar Chimote.
– This allowed the strings to be played in one hand, and keys on
the other.
• 22-Shruthi-Harmonium was patented by Vidyadhar Oke,
which has special knobs below each key to regulate the
reeds, allowing 22 Shrutis within 12 keys.
Working of a Harmonium
• In a foot pumped harmonium, the player presses two
pedals with his feet, one at a time. This is joined to a
mechanism which operates a bellows, sending air to the
reeds.

• In a hand pumped harmonium, the player pushes and


pulls a handle back and forth with one hand, which is
joined to the bellows that blows the air.
You thought it was that
easy?
• The harmonium produces sound when wind is sent by
the bellows through a pressure-equalizing air reservoir,
which causes metal reeds screwed over slots in metal
frames to vibrate through the frames with close
tolerance.
• There are no pipes, the pitch is determined by the size of
the reed.
• The quality of the sound is determined by the
characteristic size and shape of the tone chamber
surrounding each reed of a given set.
• The reeds are free, which means they’re fixed at one
end, and the other end is free.
• When the bellow is pressed, air enters through the
bellow and enters the lower chamber.
• There is a spring attached to the bellow, so when you
leave the bellow, the spring pushes it back, creating
more air.
• This air flow can be controlled by the stopper knobs.
• The pressed key makes air pass through a certain reed,
which makes it vibrate, and each reed produces a
different note.
THANK YOU

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