Some pictures of the construction of Topsy

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My second

crank organ

- 'Topsy'

Click on this picture to hear me

playing my earlier 'Busker' organ

(double-click to stop)

The design for this organ - and the smaller Busker organ I built previously,

came from John Smith

You can find out more about this man's wonderful work here

(It's a whole new world!)

Underside view of lower 4 bass

pipes in position

Top view of lower 4 bass pipes

Higher 4 bass pipes in position on

unfinished main windchest, and

accompaniment pipes on their own

windchest attached to central

divider

Lowest of the counter-melody

pipes being checked for position

Counter melody pipes nearly

completed and being tried for size

Work starting on fitting and wiring

the pallet valves in the completed

main windchest

All valves fitted and wired (Are

there always one or two that

involve repeated lid removal and

replacement to get them to seal

properly?)

Beginning to look like the real

thing! Cutting bits off the open

pipes to tune them is going to

make me feel I'm committing an

irrevocable act!

2 sets of 22 Melody Pipes

Oh! What fun making all these!

Melody pipes (not quite finished) in

position

Rear Melody pipes clamped, and

front row "Velcro'd

So much tidier !

Interface and Palm Vx player

linked up - and it plays!!

Interface finished - using an 18V

battery stolen from a cheap

strimmer for power

(Later changed to standard 12V

battery)

Interface tidied

(Initially tried a 12V battery but it

wouldn't operate accompaniment

valves reliably. Later, when a 12V

battery was used, a voltage

booster was added to give about

16V)

Click on the picture to see a video

of me playing China Boogie by

Peter Griffiths

My case is plain and simple - but

to varnish or paint ?

No more exciting at the back!

Well, Varnish won, plus a little

decoration on the front.

Topsy, stage 1, is now finished,

and sounds wonderful!

John Smith deserves a

Knighthood!

What was that about a

Glockenspiel, drum and triangle -

or turning off Celeste ?

Hmm - they will obviously come a

little later, in Stage 2!

As shown in the adjacent picture, the back view has changed. John S

warned of problems with 18V running, and recommended sticking with

12V if possible. So I removed the springs on the valves for the

accompaniment windchest, hoping that gravity and pressure would give

OK sealing - they do! - and the valves now work OK on 12V. This means

I can use the larger capacity 7Ah Powercube, which should give longer

playing time per charge

(Later changed to standard 12V battery and voltage booster).

Whilst modifying the windchest, I included a perspex cover. This was

partly so I could how the valves performed under pressure, but also so

that an audience can see the valves operating - assisted by a couple of

blue LEDs

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A Trolley to transport Topsy.

Hopefully stable enough - if I'm

careful!

(Redesigned . . . see later pics)

Click on the adjacent picture to see a video of part of 'Duelling Banjos'

transposed for Topsy

The blue-lit section shows some of the valves of the Accompaniment

windchest operating behind their perspex window

All the pipes have been reasonable well tuned now, and the two sets of

melody pipes tuned 'celeste'.

I think it sounds great - and better in real life than through the video

system on my little camera.

I nearly forgot the opening top lid,

but it has now been added, plus

some green interior illumination

A public performance

- at a Rotary Charity BBQ

Click on the picture to see a short

video

In the adjacent frame is the front of

the - unfinished - display, which

adds coloured lights to the organ

sounds.

The video does not do it justice, as

the camera cannot accept as wide

a brightness range as the human

eye, so some of the lighter colours

appear as white

The odd effect in the centre of the

top row is due to reflection from a

fluorescent light

The completed Colour Organ

display on top of Topsy - which

now has decorative tops added to

the Melody pipes (made from the

tops of old-fashioned clothes pegs)

Well, the original trolley was NOT

stable enough! A redesign with

more - but smaller wheels - to

ensure that the support points

were OUTSIDE the organ was

neccessary.

A stroke of luck with the handle - it

was the frame of a seat being

junked, and fitted perfectly.

The new wheels also enabled the

base to be enclosed, providing

some useful storage space.

The rear cover has now been

replaced with a sheet of plastic - a

reflection at the top right shows it

IS there. This should enable

spectators to see more of 'the

works'.

The additional connectors for the

colour organ cables have been

included, which made for a slight

re-arrangement of some of the

other components.

I finally got around to improving

the look of Topsy - the previous

attempt to decorate on a 'brown'

background was pretty poor

Looks a lot nicer now, with some

'canal art' decoration

Also some new handles - that don't

cut into my hands when lifting in

and out of my car!

With some percussion

. . . and smart new cover!

John Smith supplied me with a nice motor and a speed control board to

run Topsy automatically.

The adjacent picture shows the motor unit attached and playing.

(Click on it for a video)

I've not yet connected microswitches to the reservoir so as to fully utilise

the speed control board to relate motor speed to 'puff' needed.

But, as mentioned earlier I later added a voltage booster in the form of a

small DC/DC converter that raises the operating voltage to about 16V, and

makes the solenoids operate much 'snappier'.

Click here to see Video of Topsy

being used for

collecting with Inner Wheel - Avril

in the middle

If you would like to make your own Topsy, or any of the other hand-

cranked organs that John Smith has designed, visit his website for

details of the different organs, and the prices for his plans that

enable practically anyone to make one.

To give a glimpse of the internal construction of a Topsy, click

here for a video about the major components.

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