Fran and His Balloon Organ

[glennojordan]

Man this is just awsome I absolutely love it! :-)

[bettyd3345]

dude this is freaky on acid

[Zescaflowne]

ok, my mind's blown

[Lucius1958]

Oh, yeah, membrane reeds: I've made a set of bagpipes on that principle.....

[yokurt]

wow.. i cant believe the rich tones im hearing..

[jumbosilverette]

Harry Partch at the circus. Nice.

[vladrox34]

howd u make that?? awesome u did good job fran

[SONGSTICKS]

Hello,

How did you make the pipe you play with the tube in your mouth please?

Cheers

[Flannagoras]

@SONGSTICKS similar to the other horns, mostly a plumbing fitting with the inner lip filed out...the reed is likewise a membrane, a balloon. It works like a truck-horn. I can slide each note because my tube with finger-holes has a fairly large tuning slide...i've written some detailed answers to previous questions here and on my site,

someday I'll write the receipe.

Franholland

[SlovenskyRaj]

Wild

[7777dmith7777]

If you replace the corrugated hose on the foot pump with a smooth hose it won't squeak when you pump it..

[blindbykorn1994]

hell ya i play the bagpipe too

[perez79]

brilliant!

[pacoeras]

fucking awesome!!!

its like a bag pipe

[afkhajiit]

loving the drone.

[truinfini]

that sounds like a a bag pipe, very cool and easy to play and build. sweet stuff. inventive music always gets a good vote from me

[benhimovitz]

drop acid, then watch 2:29 to 3:19

[spartns12341234]

I WANT ONE

[maurixiom]

bravoooo ! ! ! very nice compadr

[PhuckYoui]

LIAR!!! my mind still lacks blowing...

[blakers911]

sounds like a bag pipe kinda

[ConfusedStrawberry]

woooooow

[snickpickle]

I'm in! I'm a new fan! Ingenuity and weird stuff go hand-in-hand, IMHO. Do you have diagrams, or do you sell such things for us mere commonfolk to make our own?

Also, how long do the balloons last as membranes on your instrument?

[tinkerfran]

Thanks for your HO, Eric. I'm working on a cookbook, and will finish it this year. I'll get some video shorts out sooner (this summer) that will feature some of my other instruments like the Stinkhorn, the Kirkhorns, the Curlhorn, the Flubbaphone, the Pickaphone, and the Udder.

The balloons can last many months if you keep them out of the sun, but the copper inevitably degrades the latex. You can use a less elastic membrane, like grocery bag, and it sounds like a clarinet.

-Fran Holland

[RobtheKappelmeister]

This sounds like an instrument I heard on a movie that had Mongolian natives starring in it and the movie was subtitled AND it took place there too! Do you know if this instrument is based on an Asian organ of some sort? Just wondering.

[Flannagoras]

Hey Rob.

Well, I did not base my instrument on any particular organ, but I did have some influences that I was conscious of. Here are some of them, in no particular order:

1) the reed is an elastic membrane, like the truck-horn.

2) the pitch layout is lowest in the center, and increases progressively towards the two ends, alternating left and right, like a kalimba or mbira.

3) the air is provided by a bellows pump, like the Ullian (or Irish) pipes, the pump-organ, and the harmonium.

[Flannagoras]

4) the individual pipes are tuned by sliders that vary the air-column lengths, like many organs as well as other wind-instruments that have cylindrical air-columns.

5) The pipes can be set as drones, like bagpipes from all over the world.

I'd love to see/hear the Mongolian instrument that you are talking about. Let me know if you manage to track it down. Good luck with your organ playing!

[gnumusic]

fantastic! thanks for being so weird!

[Panthersfan2]

...Freaky...Awesome...Trippy..­.Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu­uuddddddddddeeeeee!

Pretty cool.

[migium]

Stationary bagpipes!

[catsruledogsdrool23]

beautiful, almost like a bagpipes

[paralasalud]

lol it sounded like the THX logo sound when he started it up

[Bobuhenwald]

awesome!

[Bandicoot803]

That's what I call "Fun with music!"

[danz409]

OMFG! it looks like hes smoking a bong!

[Sven360x]

nah,yould get green lung

[cynikal1234]

this sounds like a harmonium holy crap

[Anonymarine]

BAGPIPES!

[nesuser2]

definitly epic, such a brilliant selection of words.

[afkhajiit]

beautiful is a bizarre way

[imjkyounoob]

It reminds me of bagpipes o.o

[yeahnahsweetas]

Dude you gotta gimme some of your weed

[iommicult]

wow is all i can say. so many possibilities...

[utubnxxx]

Sorry maybe I was watching this video for the wrong reason. Too much talking before we got to see the instrument and then it sounded like a not to good bagpipe.

[bendandy]

this video is amazing

[ganyadus]

Sounds like bag pipes lol

[Raylj318]

sounds like a bag pipe u need to post a vid on how to make one

[Phacias]

How epic!

[FreddyOgSigrid]

awesome!

[dimmucoltrane890]

he's totally using a vape for the bellows

[serithinall]

oh no! i didnt listen to you and my mind blew out of my head. thanks to you im dead.

[Saoff]

incredible idea! you have got brains buddy!

[bnjones28]

It kinda sounds like music from an old Clint Eastwood western. I like the music a lot and you have quite a good idea.

[LoonRider1]

sounds like bag pipes

[hedsaw]

@ viewers

it sure sounds like bag pipes. but it is an organ by the way its played and setup.

BTW: you didn't warn me to hold my jaw too

Incredible sound has me interested in making my own.

[MQubd]

Actually, this is more like balloon BAGPIPES!! Way cool! :o)

[BandaCaminoAlNorte]

You could make lots of money if you track down people that are about to have "acid flashbacks" and play along with them as they take that trip into the abyss! It would be music to their ears!!!

[Desmo5150]

AWESOME!!!

Thanks man!!!

Stay creative......

and have fun doin it.

[Desmo5150]

DUDE TOTALLY AWESOME...."NO QUARTER" by ZEPPELIN!!!!

can you play "free Bird" next?

AWESOME, THANKS MAN

[Flannagoras]

I promise to put "Freebird" in the coming line-up, somewhere after "Scotland the Brave" and before "Danny Boy". Thanks for the encouragement.

Fran

[Flannagoras]

Fran here. Just thought I'd say hi.

The video Addi made shows one of my favorites of my instruments. I always called it the vestigial organ, but Addi has renamed it the balloon organ, which is better, I think. Anyway, next we'll show you a few of my other instruments, like the pick-axe xylaphone, a paper tuba, and a garbage-bag clarinet even...

In the meantime,

Thanks everybody for all the kind comments

Fran

[Oddikak]

It's like a bagpipe! Nice!

[stefnee11]

Much like a bagpipe... very cool.

[lesliejs]

wow, at 1:41 it sounds like the classical Indian instrument called Taanpura (also spelled Tanpura).

[Desmo5150]

DUDE TOTALLY AWESOME...."NO QUARTER" by ZEPPELIN!!!!

can you play "free Bird" next?

AWESOME, THANKS MAN

[24shanelle]

fran is knda hot

[Magnetohydrodynamics]

Uh Uh *jups up and down* Play the Spirit temple theme from Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of time.

[Zwilliamo]

yah money dat be where it be at mon.

[puggster]

the organ sounds like a bagpipe

i supose it works kinda similar in a way :)

[Robberen]

Indeed! Just got to love bagpipes xD

[CrimsonKingnz]

Intense. Almost sounded like a bagpipe. That's awesome

[fenderu]

obama!

[kryptoniterxn117]

this guys is talented. good job man

[hiei12342]

Oh my...AMAZING!!

[Scottde420]

fran is fucking awesome

[bahoogan]

lol dats awesome!

[bluntsalot]

baraka

[saulthemagnificent]

It'll never fly, Orville!

[simonejp91]

it would be cooler if i was on acid right now

[MissEricaGirl]

OH MY GOD!! THAT'S INCREDIBLE!!

[siniqdrakon]

It sucks

[Asgard]

Bagpipes!

[eddyafritz]

He Has To much time on his hands. cool thing though

[Tanru2000]

Loved it! I want one! :D

[kinga303]

that is really cool

[triggarn]

that was cool!:) wtb that!:P

[LilGunman]

This thing sounded amazing! It was like a cross between the bagpipes, an organ, and then given an indian/middle-eastern sound.

I would encourage you to refine your instrument even further, and make them available for production. It's definitely a unique and wonderful instrument that I would buy if sold in a store with commercial grade parts :)

[w0rrLord]

Agreed, needs to be refined.. Could definitely sell too.

[Matthew6870]

WOW! That was incredible!!!!

[HappyPlappy]

WHOAH! awesome!

[thekillers1293]

this sounds like something from India...its cool

[MikeF1984]

incredible! awesome man

[ClubEXPRESS]

im with pmarceau, sounds like bagpipes. Actually, the concept this guy developed is VERY similar to that of the bagpipes

[Sameer3292]

this is called GENIOUS

[DuMyth]

As some people stated below me, sounds like a bagpipe because the mechanisms are pretty alike. And, both instruments (organs and bagpipes) are air-based, wich is reed and/or pipe. And as long as he's passionate about his work, doesn't matter about what you bad-intended dudes say. The world evolves due to creative and inventive people like him, so pay more respect when you're about to open your mouths!

[ppsaldivar]

a felt in a sec like a hippie on drugs

[Berthaballs16]

bagpipes

[jordanp86]

Very creative and unique! Love it!

[MacRoyk]

xD wow cool

[siniqdrakon]

This sounds like a crappy bagpipe or a bad acordian it just sucks

[Speakerofdeath]

Dude, a little respect would be nice. The guy obviously worked really hard on this.

[siniqdrakon]

hard work on shitty things doesnt earn you respect, achievement earns you RESPECT

[soundsfromnothing]

Um...moron....how do you think instruments get created? Accident & ingenuity! How do you think the glass organ and theremin came about. Homemade instruments (unless everybodys just creating the simple things that ANYBODY can do) are the ultimate instrument cause they are different and change music.

[titiofdeath]

no comment

[pmarceau]

Cool, sounds a bit like bagpipes.

[TwilightShard]

Pretty cool. :)

[biffen89]

That's incredible! Awesome!

[highart2003]

This is so awesome. It reminds me of the intro to that one zeppelin song.

[gilbohadana]

just beautiful and amazing / love to get some more istruction how to build one if posible / thanks

[ktn11355]

more of this man and his instruments please!

[roteus]

SUPREME!!!

illuminated

[Bifftar]

love it! great bikini exp. too - - yay, balloons!!

[Terrrrrry]

PITTY FOR THAT MAN!

[l000kin]

simply genius :-)

[astralrock]

That's pure ACID! :)

[ofacteur]

so the balloon acts as a reed that beats against the inner brass fitting (with brass tube as resonator)??

wicked frickin hot!

[Ivanthegamer]

Sounds more like a bagpipe than an organ.

[thecraftwhore]

craftalicious!

[sfballach]

Please learn and play Scotland the Brave. It begs to be expressed by you Fran Holland. Good posting Addi. Thanks

[boonokian]

that is pretty damn outrageous id love to play around with that thing

[feralferret]

That, really, is awesome.

Absolutely love the intonation when the pitches are bent slowly in tune to correspond with each other. Especially at 1minute 44secs.

Sounds very much like the Uilleann Pipes! Absolutely beautiful.

[Celomalabit]

Your neighbours likes you?

:)

[EtcEtcAndEtc]

top man!!!

[kindreddarkness]

Hey, what was the horn he was playing in the later part?

[Flannagoras]

I call it the "flubbaphone". Like my organ, it is a membraerophone, or membrane-aerophone. Unlike most finger-hole winds, it has a tuning slide that can alter the tuning of any fingering while playing as well as a bell that can be used to further modulate the resulting pitch...

there you have it.

[johnlebl]

It sounded somwhat like a shawm to me. It would be interesting to hear it played without the chanters

[swimmadude66]

its more similar to a bagpipe

[mcortellesi]

Bravo Fran!!!

~ Matthew

[winnerwinner]

awesome. that organ makes beautiful sounds.

[PUnitProduction]

Oh humans....

[dissent666]

Brilliant!

[CuervoBlack06]

so much better than bagpipes and plus you wont have a collapsed lung in the process lol

[gsbdaveg]

Loved it!

[anseldow]

haha, amazing

[cpi23]

That is wonderful!  Lamonte Young would be proud

[syagru1s]

Damn, thats fucking crazy ass shit.

[prentrodgers]

Very nice. Try helium too. The speed of sound in helium is faster, so the pitch is higher. Then use a mix of air and helium for some amazing pitch effects. Do try this at home.

[deviikun]

Amazing inventor & invention ;p

[mugwort23]

Sounds just like the 'Uileann Pipes' of Ireland...

[brownspank]

That's some psychedelic stuff right there.

[sjhallfluffy]

I love it! It's some sort of hookah-bagpipe mashup in sound!

[PsychosisGnome]

He should go on tour!

[HappyCabbie]

That was freakin sweet. It sounds more like bagpipes. That was cool.

[Yugiohloverz]

Holy shatzel

[brettlyda]

This Sh1t is DOPE.