Twenty three years at Keukenhof

The picture that you saw last time was a Street Organ being played in that canopy.

This is the 26th year the organ is playing at Keukenhof. As soon as you enter the main entrance, the music from the organ greets you. I was intrigued about the whole setup and how it is played. Spent some time observing the mechanical aspect of it.  Built in 1978 from old organ parts, this was named after an old windmill from Harlem.

The Adriaen plays on the perforated book system invented in 1897. Something similar to the perforated cards used in the early computers.

There was a time when these holes were punched by hand, a tedious and laborious task.

The first step was to make a paper template with all the markings on it by placing the paper on a table with a ruler system on it.

After marking, this paper was glued on a carton (card board). Then the holes were cut out as per the markings with chisels of different sizes.

Percussion notes of 6 mm holes, the bass drum of 8 mm holes and so on. The longest holes sometimes require several punches to get the desired note length. It was really laborious as this video will tell you.  

Later Mr Francois created a machine. The idea was to create a machine to cut the boards.

In their own words “we are not carpenters building instruments, but we are musicians making wooden constructions to make music”

Coming back to the Adriaen, looking at these clappers, one can imagine how perfect the timing has to be to get the perfect beat on the bars or the drums. 

They have a collection of old as well as new songs in those perforated books.

I purchased one of the CDs that they sell, but I feel that the visual (and the audio) effect is much greater when you stand close to that organ.

You can watch and listen to the organ here:

Imagine these four ladies standing here and ringing the bell year after when new flowers bloomed in the garden.

 Tulipa Mascara

 Tulipa Madonna Geel

Tulipa Cartouche