CDM’s round-the-clock beer bottle organ coverage continues! Yes, in addition to the Gulbransen Beer Bottle Organ, there’s yet another MIDI-controlled organ. This one comes out of Chicago:
Peterson Tuners Beer Bottle Organ (Thanks, Charles; great find!)
Best of all, there are sound samples of the Peterson, demonstrating that this more or less sounds like a calliope. (I think there might be some unique timbral qualities to the beer bottle organ, and I’m absolutely positive you’ll hear additional timbral differences if you were helping drink the beer bottles for the organ.) Like the Gulbransen, it features MIDI control, but it has the thoughtful addition of a keyboard and wheels. These guys are actually bona fide organ component builders and tuners.
And, if you can’t afford the $23 grand you’d need for the Gulbransen, US$16.95 buys you a CD of bottle organ hits played on the Peterson. (Suggestion: get your buddies blind drunk, line up the bottles, and secretly start the CD. They’ll never know the difference.)
Ah, Gulbransen versus Peterson. It’s like Steinway versus Bosendorfer. Or it more like great taste vs. less filing?