That, and you get that inimitable scent of 1970s dust with nicotine... ...to give you disco dreams and 5-star, (mangled) 8-track quality musical performance memories...
LOL - That was my first keyboard (50 years and 7 keyboards ago). Thanks for the blast from the past. It sounded about like what I remembered it sounding like - a vacuum cleaner playing a bike horn. Originally, the sticky line across the top of the keys had the notes marked "1, 1+, 2, 2+, 3 (the "plus" notes were the black keys). Also, it came with a little plastic stand to hold a music book. IIRC it had a long piece of plastic or rubber that you could place over the top of the air holes to make it play quieter. I still have my old Magnus song books down in my basement. Magnus had 6-chord and 12-chord lines of books, where they would give you a list of "substitute chords" for minor chords you might not have on your particular keyboard (Don't have A minor? Play F... it's practically the same thing). The actual notes of the melody were in the books, but across the top of each line were the numbers that corresponded to the organ sticker numbers (i.e. "Pop Goes the Weasel" would be 1,1,2,2,3,5,3,1). I think it was called "The EZ Play System" or something like that.
Makes me think of how Howard Goodall had to replicate this sort of sound in 1991 on red dwarf when he had to make a bad Hammond organ sound, and a Hammond wouldn't sound bad enough.
It's funny how memories can come flooding back. To me, a chord organ is something your parents buy you when you keep begging them to get a piano. If it turns out I need therapy to work through this, I can at least direct the therapist to this video and they will understand.
I used to have a full size Magnus chord organ when I was a kid. My dad got it a neighbor's yard sale for $5. Think they used to sell them at Woolworth's back in the day.
So, the 600 second miracle must be making something sound like music when it comes from a device that's only capable of sounding like an accordion farting into a harmonica.
Honestly you did the best you could from the very limited organ. My brother had a chord organ when we were kids in the 80s. That thing towards the end didn't play half its notes because of how cheaply it was made.
We had one as yound kids too (Early 70's), It was better to let us kids beat out (sometimes recognizable!) tunes than on that for a couple of years before being allowed to touch the Kimball Celestar, LOL "Magnus" chord organs are basically a big self powered harmonica with keys. But it DID let a kid learn the basics. Ours was a bigger model than what Benny Boy has.
In before OddityArchive hits 40k, that zone where one of your fave channels goes from being the best-kept secret that only the cool kids know about to the "too popular now" zone of the normies. (OK, I exaggerate, but I've had my fun, anyway).
I think it's a Model 360 with the "chrome" long gone. I had a Model 300 I bought for $3 at a salvation army(I just left it somewhere). They are worth a lot more now!
Back in the late 70s, I used to have the slightly larger version Magnus. It was still two octave. but it had 12 chord keys, for major and minor chords. The way I played the thing, it was more pandemonium than harmonium.
I have seen it for a decent price on fleabay before. Guess I thought of it more as a piano book--even though it says on the cover otherwise. But, then again, who really wants to hear me fail at trying to read music?
My great aunt one that looked exactly like this only it was black with the fake woodgrain on the sides. She had a songbook that I don't remember the name of but I still remember her playing and singing old favorites like "Down By The Riverside", "Morning Has Broken" and "Jean". Singing wasn't among her gifts. Thanks for the memories!
I actually remember having an organ similar to this one when I was a kid, although it wasn't anywhere NEAR as old...brand-new during the 90s...😅 Mine was covered in the fake wood-grain veneer and the switch was a rotary knob on the side. Also, mine DID have a volume control...of a sort...😅. See, being that it's air that makes these organs play, obviously you're not going to have an electric volume control. Instead, volume was raised up and down via airway restriction through a lever that came out of the bottom. Ben, take note...not sure if they had this in '71 but you should check to see if there's any place where a lever may belong underneath of the organ. This would connect to a valve which that lever opens and closes. The wider open it is, the more air gets pulled in and thus the louder the organ sounds. Close it up, that restricts the airflow and so with less air coming in the organ plays more quietly...volume control on a reed organ, imagine that! 😅😁 Had all of the decals been intact, you likely would've also noted that each key has an assigned number (or, at least it did with mine) which corresponded with the appropriate note within the sheet music, making playing the songs easier for novices as these organs were mainly produced and sold as a way to help get children into learning to play instruments...in this case, a simple organ through which a child whose never really played a proper organ before can learn to play some "somewhat reasonable" facsimiles of popular songs. No, they never really sounded all that great but the point was more in learning how to find notes and getting a "somewhat basic" grasp of how chords work within a melody. I can't really vouch for the effectiveness myself as I still never quite got anything close to a hang of playing even THAT simplistic of an organ but there you go... something to look for and perhaps even update the video with. Anywho, that's all I have for now...until my next visit to the Oddity Archive, that is...😅☺️😁
@@russellhltn1396 That's entirely possible, remember that I did state that the reed organ I had as a child was significantly newer than the one featured in this episode. That's why I urged Ben to check, in case the volume control lever had simply broken off since his is such a similar model to the one I had. This does not mean that I'm 100% certain that it's there, just a possible suggestion. It's just as highly likely that Ben's right and his model simply lacks the feature as his organ IS significantly older.
@@djhrecordhound4391 Plug that drum machine into the reel to reel, get some tape echo going, switch those rhythms for a good three minutes, and it will come together nicely! 😉
@@Fluteboy Maybe I'm too much into production, but I'd also suggest "OMO"--"Oldschool Macgyvered Overdubbing". On the reel-to-reel, I'd want do a second drum recording (exactly how you suggested), but with tape bypassing the erase head. Ok, now I'm officially ill LMAO!
Hooooly moly! Those things go for forty bucks now.? I remember buying this exact same thing at a garage sale as a 13 year old back in 1987 for a whole two quarters! ($1.25 in 2022 money with inflation) And it worked 100% I only kept it for about a month before getting tired of it, I took it apart to see how it worked and then threw it in the trash. And hey! About that book, maybe after playing the Chrord organ it'll get people in the mood to play the meat organ! 😉 Sorry, I couldn't resist 😁.
you *can* tune organ reeds by scraping off material at specific spots of the tongue. It‘s very difficult to do properly though and I’ve never had the courage to attempt it myself.
Hi Ben thank you I love that organ. My friend Steve bacame a professional organ and keyboard player. I always wanted a Magnus chord organ. I think you are a good playry. Try to play it for 20 minutes a gday or 3 times a week. You. can learn all the songs in the book. Then you can play for your friends when they come over. I would like to have an organ like that one day. Vheers Robert
My family had a Magnus chord organ. My mom loved it, and would play it whenever she had a chance. But the thing always sounded awful. I'm not sure what happened to it.
But to be fair, this was back when electronics was still a bit expensive. Real organs would have required some kind of oscillator for each key. (unless it was only a single note type) That gets pricy, quick. The "Casio" movement didn't start until custom ICs started to become a thing for mass consumer electronics. That example is really incomplete without the numbers along the keys to go with it's books. (1, 1+, 2, 2+ 3, 4, ....)
Replacement power cords are cheap. Just get a brown extension cord, cut off the female end, and wire it in. Best to replace them when dealing with old electronics.
I may very well wind up replacing it. For what it’s worth, I ran it through a cheap, household extension cord when using it just in case it got stuck or snapped off.
right as i buy a magnus, i find out you did a video on 'em. picked up a 1967(?) model 300 at a thrift store/indoor flea market type place for $40 on saturday. these sound terrible so i am sure to use these a lot on something
Now that it's made it's appearance here, all the retro tech fans are gonna scoop up every one on Fleabay. Maybe Korg will have to add a "Magnus" voice to it's keyboards, LOL.
I think I might get one and attach it inline to my CPAP machine. I can lull myself to sleep with the dulcet tones
That, and you get that inimitable scent of 1970s dust with nicotine...
...to give you disco dreams and 5-star, (mangled) 8-track quality musical performance memories...
The real 600 second miracle was you cleaning out all that gunk, and putting it back together. Good job.
I can't think of chord organs without thinking of Daniel Johnston.
LOL - That was my first keyboard (50 years and 7 keyboards ago). Thanks for the blast from the past. It sounded about like what I remembered it sounding like - a vacuum cleaner playing a bike horn.
Originally, the sticky line across the top of the keys had the notes marked "1, 1+, 2, 2+, 3 (the "plus" notes were the black keys). Also, it came with a little plastic stand to hold a music book. IIRC it had a long piece of plastic or rubber that you could place over the top of the air holes to make it play quieter.
I still have my old Magnus song books down in my basement. Magnus had 6-chord and 12-chord lines of books, where they would give you a list of "substitute chords" for minor chords you might not have on your particular keyboard (Don't have A minor? Play F... it's practically the same thing). The actual notes of the melody were in the books, but across the top of each line were the numbers that corresponded to the organ sticker numbers (i.e. "Pop Goes the Weasel" would be 1,1,2,2,3,5,3,1). I think it was called "The EZ Play System" or something like that.
Nice description!
Makes me think of how Howard Goodall had to replicate this sort of sound in 1991 on red dwarf when he had to make a bad Hammond organ sound, and a Hammond wouldn't sound bad enough.
HAHA! Love me some RD!
@@ChrisKewl th-cam.com/video/8Lr1co5r-vE/w-d-xo.html
It’s cold outside, no kind of atmosphere…
It's funny how memories can come flooding back. To me, a chord organ is something your parents buy you when you keep begging them to get a piano. If it turns out I need therapy to work through this, I can at least direct the therapist to this video and they will understand.
Ben is the true janitor of lunacy.
Love that phrase!
I used to have a full size Magnus chord organ when I was a kid. My dad got it a neighbor's yard sale for $5. Think they used to sell them at Woolworth's back in the day.
The sound of this thing reminds me of the Monty Python sketch about the man playing mice, except with geese instead.
You crazy...😅
So, the 600 second miracle must be making something sound like music when it comes from a device that's only capable of sounding like an accordion farting into a harmonica.
Honestly you did the best you could from the very limited organ.
My brother had a chord organ when we were kids in the 80s. That thing towards the end didn't play half its notes because of how cheaply it was made.
We had one as yound kids too (Early 70's), It was better to let us kids beat out (sometimes recognizable!) tunes than on that for a couple of years before being allowed to touch the Kimball Celestar, LOL "Magnus" chord organs are basically a big self powered harmonica with keys. But it DID let a kid learn the basics. Ours was a bigger model than what Benny Boy has.
In before OddityArchive hits 40k, that zone where one of your fave channels goes from being the best-kept secret that only the cool kids know about to the "too popular now" zone of the normies. (OK, I exaggerate, but I've had my fun, anyway).
Yup. 8% of the way to relevance! :D
I think it's a Model 360 with the "chrome" long gone. I had a Model 300 I bought for $3 at a salvation army(I just left it somewhere). They are worth a lot more now!
Sounds like Lori Anderson was using this piano organ to make o Superman.
Back in the late 70s, I used to have the slightly larger version Magnus. It was still two octave. but it had 12 chord keys, for major and minor chords.
The way I played the thing, it was more pandemonium than harmonium.
Shame you could find the copy of Liberace’s Big Note Song Book from the “As Seen On TV” episode. I’m sure that would be expensive too tho!
I have seen it for a decent price on fleabay before. Guess I thought of it more as a piano book--even though it says on the cover otherwise. But, then again, who really wants to hear me fail at trying to read music?
My great aunt one that looked exactly like this only it was black with the fake woodgrain on the sides. She had a songbook that I don't remember the name of but I still remember her playing and singing old favorites like "Down By The Riverside", "Morning Has Broken" and "Jean". Singing wasn't among her gifts. Thanks for the memories!
I actually remember having an organ similar to this one when I was a kid, although it wasn't anywhere NEAR as old...brand-new during the 90s...😅
Mine was covered in the fake wood-grain veneer and the switch was a rotary knob on the side. Also, mine DID have a volume control...of a sort...😅. See, being that it's air that makes these organs play, obviously you're not going to have an electric volume control. Instead, volume was raised up and down via airway restriction through a lever that came out of the bottom. Ben, take note...not sure if they had this in '71 but you should check to see if there's any place where a lever may belong underneath of the organ. This would connect to a valve which that lever opens and closes. The wider open it is, the more air gets pulled in and thus the louder the organ sounds. Close it up, that restricts the airflow and so with less air coming in the organ plays more quietly...volume control on a reed organ, imagine that! 😅😁
Had all of the decals been intact, you likely would've also noted that each key has an assigned number (or, at least it did with mine) which corresponded with the appropriate note within the sheet music, making playing the songs easier for novices as these organs were mainly produced and sold as a way to help get children into learning to play instruments...in this case, a simple organ through which a child whose never really played a proper organ before can learn to play some "somewhat reasonable" facsimiles of popular songs. No, they never really sounded all that great but the point was more in learning how to find notes and getting a "somewhat basic" grasp of how chords work within a melody. I can't really vouch for the effectiveness myself as I still never quite got anything close to a hang of playing even THAT simplistic of an organ but there you go... something to look for and perhaps even update the video with.
Anywho, that's all I have for now...until my next visit to the Oddity Archive, that is...😅☺️😁
Later units had that volume control. The two I had as a kid didn't.
@@russellhltn1396 That's entirely possible, remember that I did state that the reed organ I had as a child was significantly newer than the one featured in this episode. That's why I urged Ben to check, in case the volume control lever had simply broken off since his is such a similar model to the one I had. This does not mean that I'm 100% certain that it's there, just a possible suggestion. It's just as highly likely that Ben's right and his model simply lacks the feature as his organ IS significantly older.
You've got to give us _In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida!_
Lord help me. Can you imagine how much I'd have to slow it down for the air to keep up?
The drum solo might be difficult 😆😂😂
@@djhrecordhound4391 Plug that drum machine into the reel to reel, get some tape echo going, switch those rhythms for a good three minutes, and it will come together nicely! 😉
@@Fluteboy Maybe I'm too much into production, but I'd also suggest "OMO"--"Oldschool Macgyvered Overdubbing". On the reel-to-reel, I'd want do a second drum recording (exactly how you suggested), but with tape bypassing the erase head.
Ok, now I'm officially ill LMAO!
@@djhrecordhound4391 Be proud of it! There’s no beige or vanilla to be found here!
Now you play My Baloney. I can just imagine how loud it is in person. Playing was good given the limitations of the thing. Good choice on the SM-57s.
It's the only thing I had a pair of.
@@OddityArchive same here.
This video made my day! I love weird musical stuff.
I had one of those organs that had buttons for major and minor chords and bass notes. I used it for years.
That actually wasn't half bad, for what it's worth.
Also, my friend had one of these things when he was younger. I liked playing around with it.
I have the exact same model (360) and mine is perfectly in tune. So they at least aren't all like that.
Hooooly moly! Those things go for forty bucks now.? I remember buying this exact same thing at a garage sale as a 13 year old back in 1987 for a whole two quarters! ($1.25 in 2022 money with inflation) And it worked 100% I only kept it for about a month before getting tired of it, I took it apart to see how it worked and then threw it in the trash. And hey! About that book, maybe after playing the Chrord organ it'll get people in the mood to play the meat organ! 😉 Sorry, I couldn't resist 😁.
Magnus and Eminee were the two 'organ for dummies' competitors.
When I was growing up, we had a big organ with cords. I used to play around with it.
you *can* tune organ reeds by scraping off material at specific spots of the tongue. It‘s very difficult to do properly though and I’ve never had the courage to attempt it myself.
"Love Means Playing the Chord Organ"
... is that what they're calling it now?
Hi Ben thank you I love that organ. My friend Steve bacame a professional organ and keyboard player. I always wanted a Magnus chord organ. I think you are a good playry. Try to play it for 20 minutes a gday or 3 times a week. You. can learn all the songs in the book. Then you
can play for your friends when they come over. I would like to have an organ like that one day. Vheers Robert
reeds hold their tune for around 20 years, if taken care of. After that point you have to replace them.
My family had a Magnus chord organ. My mom loved it, and would play it whenever she had a chance. But the thing always sounded awful. I'm not sure what happened to it.
But to be fair, this was back when electronics was still a bit expensive. Real organs would have required some kind of oscillator for each key. (unless it was only a single note type) That gets pricy, quick. The "Casio" movement didn't start until custom ICs started to become a thing for mass consumer electronics. That example is really incomplete without the numbers along the keys to go with it's books. (1, 1+, 2, 2+ 3, 4, ....)
I'll have to break out my Magnus organ and see if it's as off tune as yours. I do pick up the books when I'm out picking, they sell well on ebay.
I got one as a Christmas present long, long ago. I think my parents wanted me to be a pianist …
blueoctopede had a faulty wall plug on hers too. she just replaced the entire plug with one from a hardware store. whatever works though!
The detuning's kinda' cool actually.
Replacement power cords are cheap. Just get a brown extension cord, cut off the female end, and wire it in. Best to replace them when dealing with old electronics.
I may very well wind up replacing it. For what it’s worth, I ran it through a cheap, household extension cord when using it just in case it got stuck or snapped off.
right as i buy a magnus, i find out you did a video on 'em. picked up a 1967(?) model 300 at a thrift store/indoor flea market type place for $40 on saturday. these sound terrible so i am sure to use these a lot on something
Now that it's made it's appearance here, all the retro tech fans are gonna scoop up every one on Fleabay. Maybe Korg will have to add a "Magnus" voice to it's keyboards, LOL.
Your playing really didn't sound that bad. It didn't sound like Carole King, but she had real instruments to work with.
Speaking of instruments, it seems rather appropriate that this week's Ben's Junk is an organ.
Maybe getting one with the number decals still over the keys would have helped....
i,m the guy in back yelling FREEBIRD.
Need to do one on Virtual Boy
If I can ever find one that isn't some insane price.
I used to have one of these with more chord buttons. Didn't matter, I didn't know how to play it 🎶🤪
My grandma had one of these, it's basically a glorified accordion. Kind of a neat gimmick, but not a great instrument
It could also be called a self powered harmonica....with keys.
Nice one, Ben! Maybe you should do a rendition of Telstar?
Needs more cowbell
You may have better results with Krud Kutter, instead of Goo Gone.
Just plain old mineral spirits works best.
"Love Means Playing the Chord Organ" - book title or 70s porn film title?
If a porn title, that's a LOT of plucking 😆
Microtonal❤❤❤
We used to have one like this but sounded a lot more awful
So, does this qualify you to be an "organ demonstrator", Benny? 😅
Use white spirit instead of goo gone. Trust me, it works.
If that's the same as mineral spirits, yes, it works the best on most any surface!
@@FromSagansStardust Yep, I believe that's what it's called in the US.