Cantor interested in purchasing a harmonium

topic posted Tue, July 29, 2008 - 9:26 AM by  Diane
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Hello. I am a new member. I am a Cantor at a Reform synagogue in the northwest Chicago suburbs. I'm thinking of purchasing a harmonium for healing services as well as yoga classes that we do at my synagogue. I don't want to get anything too pricey and wonder what you all might recommend for someone who is going to teach herself how to play! There is someone on e-bay selling a harmonium that was donated to a thrift shop but the keys need to be repaired and some of the knobs are sticking. Do any of you know of places that repair harmonium in the Chicago area? There is also someone on e-bay selling something that might be a vintage harmonium or dulcinum, but they are not sure! I have no idea what I should be looking for...I just love the sound of the harmonium...

Anyway, I look forward to hearing back from you!

Diane
posted by:
Diane
Chicago
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  • tom
    tom
    offline 2

    Re: Cantor interested in purchasing a harmonium

    Mon, August 25, 2008 - 12:13 PM
    Get a copy of The Harmonium Handbook by Satyaki Kraig Brockschmidt.

    It's a good overall owner's manual. Alot of harmoniums are in bad
    shape and out of tune. I once got a portable model *on special*
    from Mid-East (also got a great dulcimer on special) but it sat for
    about 3 years until I discovered this book. I fixed the stuck keys,
    the leaks in the reed-board, and tuned it to A=440, using a combination
    of the masking tape and scraping method. One thing I read on the net,
    and not in the book was that *over-scraping* a reed can cause it to lose
    volume or go out of tune permanently. So I scraped first, to get it close,
    then masking tape method. You just need a Chromatic tuner and time
    and patience. Wish I had a strobo tuner. Used 2 penknives, one to hold
    the reed and the other to scrape side to side.

    Anyways, I've since sold it on Craigslist. The only problem I had was
    adjusting the bellow's spring tension because they also helped pop-up
    the keyboard/main part as part of it's fold-down for traveling.
    But it was a decent harmonium.

    Got another regular, basic harmonium on Craigslist last year
    for $40, but it reminds me of my first one. Maybe I'll do a
    youtube vid of inspecting and fixing it, if I ever get around to
    actually working on it.

    I also labeled the knobs (you'll know which is which after opening it up).
    There's some pics of it here in the PHOTOS-Instruments section:

    groups.yahoo.com/group/bhajanlearning/

    Also a review of a learning DVD I got from krishnaculture
    on that Yahoo list. Good for basic scales (start them
    index, middle, then thumb) and exercises.

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