Album Notes

The stately Emperor, also known as the Wonderful Belgian Band Organ, was made in Belgium by Mortier before the turn of the century. At that time it played from a pinned cylinder called a "cob." The cardboard books of music it now plays from are made of a special material from Sweden with flax in it to keep the perforations sharp and clear. Instruments played by this machine include 418 pipes, bass drum, cymbal, snare drum, double castanets and 22 xylophone bars. Its effect is similar to that of a 60 piece orchestra. This machine was a favorite of many as it appeared at state fairs and expositions around the country. It also appeared on numerous TV appearances and was also owned by Disney World in the 1980' and 1990s'.
This is one of the best well known organs in the USA.

The following is a list of instruments as they are controlled by the "brain" or keyframe as shown on the original gamut book; madolinne, piston, xiliphon, trommel snare and cast, tremelo, gross caisse, klein fluit, groote fluit, harmonium, violincelle, saxifoon, trombon, voisc humaine fixe, voisc celeste, violon. Every piece of this organ was hand made-even the brass vox humana pipes were swedged and flared by hand.

The ingenious tremelos will produce, with the vox humana, violin, diapason, and melphone, a marvelous sound not unlike the human singing voice.