Mechanical organ music

1. How do mechanical organs work?
2. What type of music is the organ used for?
3. What is fairground music called?
4. Do organs have dynamics?

How do mechanical organs work?

A mechanical organ is an organ that is self-playing, rather than played by a musician. For example, the barrel organ is activated either by a person turning a crank, or by clockwork driven by weights or springs.

What type of music is the organ used for?

The organ has had an important place in classical music, particularly since the 16th century.

What is fairground music called?

A fairground organ is a pneumatic musical organ covering the wind and percussive sections of an orchestra. Designed for use in a commercial public fairground setting to provide loud music to accompany fairground rides and attractions, mostly used on merry-go-rounds.

Do organs have dynamics?

But: an organ doesn't have dynamics (or rather, the dynamic level isn't controlled by key velocity but by registration, volume pedal etc.), so it's moot. However, pipe organs do have their own kind of “weight” on the keys, namely the pressure needed to overcome the valve resistance.