Our Shoppe has never had a HUGE Mortier Orchestrion in our collection or inventory UNTIL NOW. As many of you may know, in the 60s through the 80s, most of the facades for the huge Classic Mortiers (20' to 35' high and 20'- 40' wide) were reduced to a more useable size. One of the most prominent facade rebuilders was Oscar Grymonprez & Son, Organbuilders, Belgium. These European craftsmen "crammed" the hundreds of pipes and percussion into smaller cases that fit more easily into restaurants, museums, lower ceiling dance halls and hotels, etc. As a result, few of the original huge facades remain today. Most have been converted to much smaller units.
We have just acquired an 67-key, book reading Mortier organ with a "ton" of playable book music. But the best news is that a MIDI system will be installed to add hundreds of other original Mortier tunes to this magnificent organ. What a combination ...... original bookreader backed by a midi system.
This beautiful, restored case organ will be wll be done by the "master" himself, Ronald Schmuck of the Great Canadian Nickelodeon Company, LTD. Most major mechanical music references describe the beauty of this instrument and its internal components. When the restoration is finished in 2005, it will be a spectacular performer, ready for any collection or world-class museum.
"Stay tuned" for more progress pictures in the months ahead. This orchestrion, with hundreds and hundreds of original Mortier melodies, should go quickly when restoration is complete.
