The Harmonium Handbook

Book excerpt: The Harmonium Handbook provides detailed instruction in how to play, maintain, and repair this popular devotional instrument. It also reveals the colorful history of free-reed instruments such as the harmonium, which dates back to the time of Marco Polo. The story behind the modern version of the harmonium is a fascinating testimony to the love, skill, innovation, and intermingling of many of the world’s great cultures. The Harmonium Handbook Reveals: The history of the Indian harmonium, from Ancient China to Europe and America. The essentials of owning and caring for Indian harmoniums, helping them give many years of service. How to play the harmonium in a variety of styles, from the simple to the complex, including single-note melody, melody with a drone, chords, and other more advanced methods (a complete appendix of chords and chord inversions is provided). How to explore the “inner realms” of the instrument and perform a variety of adjustments and corrections, including how to tune a harmonium’s individual brass reeds. Satyaki Kraig Brockschmidt is a Microsoft design engineer. He offers precision, inspiration, and an occasional dose of wit in sharing both his musical and technical experience with this special instrument.