Parker writes –
This video is great, and not just for the overwhelming kitschiness of it. This man’s set-up is incredible, and he obviously invested a ton of time and energy into his “beast in the basement.”
Yaknow, I’d always wondered what the best way to simulate a Chinese gong was – never thought of using an real-life gong (that bird didn’t seem too life-like tho). Seriously, an incredible setup – this would’ve been a great feature @ Maker Faire ~1960! [via]
12 thoughts on “Organ maker’s basement “beast””
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They all thought I was crazy! But I showed them! I SHOWED THEM!
Damn, I wanna know :)
good, question.
Could you imagine buying a house and finding that in the basement?
(I’d probably be stuck playing with it for weeks!)
http://www.orbitskate.net/Hub/leonberry.htm
Interesting that he didn’t actually “make” the organ himself. He salvaged it – and installed it in his basement.
The man’s name is Leon Berry. He did not “make” the organ, he acquired it from a theater that was closing and installed it in his basement. A google search shows that he died in 1996 and was well known for playing in various venues around Chicago.
I can’t imagine any new owner of Berry’s home leaving a mess like that in the basement. The home would be a tear down or major gutting for sure. Pipe organs may appeal to the really old folks, but to a younger generation pipe organs are merely dinosaurs. There’s more high tech in a tiny circuit board made today that can make a plethora of sounds, rather than some four ton pipe organ that’s about as high tech as a lava rock.