Definition

Noun: A reed organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by forcing air through free reeds using a set of bellows. It is a type of keyboard instrument where the air pressure is typically generated by foot-operated pedals.

Usage

The term "reed organ" refers specifically to the complete instrument. It is a general category that includes instruments like the harmonium and melodeon. * The small church used a reed organ for its hymns before it could afford a piano. * In the 19th century, the reed organ was a popular parlor instrument in many homes.

Advanced Usage

• Historical Context: The reed organ was a precursor to and contemporary of the early electronic organs. Its sound is characterized by a continuous, breathy tone that sustains as long as air is supplied to the reeds.
• Technical Description: It operates on the principle of free reeds, where a metal reed vibrates within a frame to produce sound when air flows past it, unlike the struck strings of a piano or the pipes of a pipe organ.

Variants and Related Words

• Harmonium (n): A type of reed organ where the bellows are operated by hand, often with a keyboard and stops to change the sound quality.
  • The musician pumped the harmonium with one hand while playing the keyboard with the other.
• Melodeon (n): A type of reed organ, particularly one where the air pressure is created by foot pedals, common in 19th-century America.
  • The antique melodeon in the museum was beautifully preserved.
• Pump organ (n): Another common name for a reed organ, describing the action required to operate the bellows.
  • Her grandmother taught her to play the old pump organ.

Synonyms

• Harmonium
• Pump organ

Related Terms

• Free-reed instrument (n): The broader family of instruments to which the reed organ belongs, including the accordion and harmonica.
  • Both the accordion and the reed organ are free-reed instruments.
• Bellows (n): The apparatus for producing a current of air, essential to the operation of a reed organ.
  • The leather on the old organ's bellows had cracked.

Noun

1. a free-reed instrument in which air is forced through the reeds by bellows