Wheezebox...
From the original Analog Industries archive. Some links and images from that era no longer resolve.
Witness the awe-inspiring musical powerhouse that is the Magnus Electric Chord Organ. It has two sounds: “wheeze” and “slightly louder wheeze.” They’re fantastic. Can’t get ’em anywhere else. Hard to record, though, you know? You pick up the sound of the motor.
16 comments
holy god. the magnus.
my parents had one that was 'full sized' when i was a kid. it took up the same amount of space a decent home organ would have, but without sounding like a musical instrument. it sounded running the vacuum cleaner on full blast while someone is playing a broken accordion in the next room. playing around with the chord buttons did teach me the difference between a major and a minor chord at an early age though, so there is that.
wow. i haven't heard one in 20 years at least. come to think of it i can't imagine what they'd sound like recorded. the blower noise on mine was DEAFENING. if only they'd included an air-blower powered rhythm box as well...
ugh, i used to have a cool-looking, but useless hohner wheezer, and I remember the Magnuses from ages ago, they were like a plague. i just find the sound, even if noise weren't a problem, to be flat, inexpressive. with balky attack (whole notes or drones only, please), no dynamic control, it's like a harmonica with a pump noisily sucking on it. Actually, it's not like that, it is that.
Cool. My first keyboard. Even then I remember it had a cool distortion sound when you played a bunch of keys.
http://www.jefflaity.com/studio/studios_large/80_jl_playing_organ.jpg
Oh, yeah. It's awful. My first keyboard was a 1894 Kranich & Bach upright grand, courtesy of my grandmother (via her grandmother) which is still in the family. However, my second keyboard was a Bontemi wheezer bearing a striking similarity to this Magnus. (Which is a '66, if you're curious.)
In any case, for my current musical leanings, it's actually quite useful. What are those little reed organs with the hand pump? Sort of like a spinet accordion? I need to score one of those bitches.
-CR
do you mean like the Indian harmoniums? they are prettyy small and have a bellows on the back that you operate with one hand. these guys have a few models:
http://www.larkinam.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_ACC101_A_Harmonium_E_
it's very much like a compact sized version of an old pump organ.
Yeah, that's it. Thanks.
-CR
You're not hinting at a future Audio Damage plugin are you? ;)
No. We don't make instruments. And we sure as fuck would come up with something more interesting (and less sucky) than a reed organ if we did.
Believe it or not, I'm a songwriter and producer who occasionally finds things interesting aside from their software-cloneable properties.
-CR
How about a virtual Hammond S-6 then, i don't think theres anything cooler than that?
http://www.hammondonmymind.dk/Orgelinfo/hammond_s6.htm
there's sounds here:
http://www.keyboardmuseum.org/soundsheet/ham_s6.html
Im wondering if one of those Monome 40h would work for the chording interface, hmm im starting to get the idea for a new nord g2 project..
The Hammond S6 is great, if only for the solovox voice on board. Unlike the solovox, these actually come up in good condition, cheaply.
The ultimate hammond synth, short of a Novachord (see Phil's brilliant restoration at CMS), is the Extravoice F100.
I don't see any point in cloning these as software, DM, the whole vibe is the tube oscillators. you can switch up to very high octaves and still the sound is butter. Probably a better sample set than a VI.
I second the Novachord... some of the samples on the page of the restauration project must be the most heavenly beautiful synthesized
sounds i've ever heard!!
http://www.discretesynthesizers.com/nova/intro.htm
It's sooooooo smooth, all across the frequency spectrum!
Just listening again, I need one :)
My old band hand 2 or 3 of these Magnuses that people kept giving us because we were "into keyboards", but i remember them all being way out of tune. Are they even "tunable"?
The sound they make is "fleh"
i want a harmonium too!
someone just posted a Hammond solovox to the ny craigslist, check this wild shit out.
http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/msg/190513010.html
thi si pretty tempting, I'd love to connect this to the fromt of my M3!
An early David Bowie showstopper "Memories Of A Free Festival" was
played on one of these--well worth a listen.
i just ended up w/ one of these. can you confirm what your chord buttons are? i believe mine starts top left at Bb.
as is probably obvious, mine is missing the sticker detailing what chords are what.
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