Fran and His Balloon Organ

I WANT ONE

bravoooo ! ! ! very nice compadr

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

sounds like a bag pipe kinda

woooooow

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?

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

Not too long. I would use perhaps condoms or gloves. (for the reeds, heaven forbid) if you want to use latex. if you use grocery bags you will get a rounder sound in general, but it isnt as loud or powerful as latex.

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!

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.