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HarmoniumRepairandMaintenanceByBrianGodden

IndianHarmoniumRepairandMaintenance
ByBrianGodden
Allphotographs,illustrations,diagrams,andrepairexplanationsarefromworksinprogress,andare
COPYRIGHTPROTECTEDBrianGodden1/1/2005.
Anyreproductioninanymediawithoutpermissionisstrictlyforbidden

HarmoniumBasicsandProblems

Dont's

Do's

1:Donotleavetheinstrumentinthe
trunkofyourcaror
outside.Donoteverleavethe
instrumentinsunlight.

1:Keeptheinstrumentinacool(never
belowfreezing)and
drylocation.Useacoverorboxfor
storage.

2:Don'tallowchildrentohitthekeysor 2.Usetheharmoniumregularly,move
overpumpthebellows
allstopsandplayallkeys.
Thiswillstopthemechanismfrom
3:Don'tallowanyonetotamperwith
jammingandreduce
thesprings,action
reedcorrosion.
regulatingscrews,orreeds.
4:Don'tturnthedamperordrone
knobs,asthiswillcause
airleakage.

3:Beforeyoustarttoplay,pumpthe
externalbellowstofilltheinternal
bellowsuntilsomepressurebuildsup.

Harmoniummodels

ClickforschematicdiagramsofthestickandpalletmodelsBasicModel
andtheScaleChanger/CouplerModel
Thebasicmodelhastwobanksofreeds,withasingleordoublefoldbellows.Theyareasmall3
octaveconsolestyle,orafoldupsuitcaseversion.Theyareusuallymadefromcheapertimbers,and
thefinishisrelativelyrough.TheyusetheSolidKeyMechanism,asseenbelow.
Thenextlevelistheconsoleorfoldupsuitcasemodelswith2banksofreeds,31/4octaves,witha7
foldbellows.Thesearemadefromrosewoodorteak.TheyusetheStickandPalletMechanism,as
seenbelow.
Nextaremodelswith3banksofreedsand33/4octaveketboard,includingsomemodelswiththe
additionofacoupler,,orascalechanger,orboth.Thesecanbeconsoleorfoldup.Theyaremade
fromthefinestqualitywoodsandmaterials.TheyusetheStick,lever,andPalletMechanismasseen
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below.Therearemanyotherstylesofharmoniumswhicharevariationsoftheabove3basicmodels.

CommonProblemsWithHarmoniums
Stickingkeys
Themostcommonproblemwithharmoniumsisstickykeys.Thewaytofixthisdependsonthetype
ofactioninyourharmonium(seethediagramsbelowandidentifythetypeofactionyouhave).

TheSolidKey:Withtheexpansionandcontractionofthewoodensoundboard,theguidepinsand
hingepinscanbemovedoutofverticalposition.Thesepinsneedtoberealignedintovertical
alignment.Thiswillcentertheactionandstopthekeyfrombinding.

TheStickandPallet:Thistypehasnoverticalpinstogiveproblemstheguidepinandpivotrailare
usuallytheculprits.Thekeyhastobecarefullyremovedfromthepivotrail.Thenthefrictionareas
needtobelightlysandedandalittlefinechalkapplied(donotuseblackboardchalkasithasanti
squeakwaxinitsidewalkchalkisok).

TheStick,Lever,andPallet:ThepivotrailfixissimilartotheStickandPallet,howeverthereare
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morepartsinvolved,includingthecouplerstickswhichrundiagonallyunderneaththekeys,andthe
leverpins.Thecouplerstickshaveverticalpinsthatcancausethesticking.Toaccessthecoupler
sticksandtheleverpinsrequiresacompletedisassemblyofthekeyboard,scalechanger,andcoupler.
Thisisajobforprofessionalrepairperson.
Sometimestherecanbeothercausesforsticking,suchas:twistingofthewoodenshaftswhichcan
causethekeytops(theplasticareawhereyourfingerstouch)tobindagainsttheirneighbors,and
swellingofthewoodsindampweather.Tofreeupthesekeyssandthemalongthesides.

BuzzingReedsandTuning
HarmoniumandShrutiBoxReedSets

BuzzingReeds
Buzzingorrattlingreedsareusuallycausedbythesoundboardshrinking,whichclosesthegap
betweenthereedblockandthereedtongue.Thiscanberemediedbyreleasingthemountingscrews,
looseningthereedfromthesoundboard,thenretighteningthescrews.Ifthisdoesn'tfixtheproblem,
anewreedmaybenecessary.
Insomeinstancesbuzzingcanbeassimpleasaloosereed.Ifthisisthecase,itcanberemediedby
tighteningthemountingscrews.Sometimesthesemountingscrewholesarestrippedandneedtobe
filledwithatoothpickdippedinglue.Aftertheglueisdry,thetoothpickmustbecarefullychiseled
offlevelwiththesoundboard,andthena1/16"pilotholedrilled,andthereedremounted.
Sometimesbuzzingorfalsetonescanbecausedbydirtstuckinthebetweenthetongueandthereed
block.Ametalscraping,orawoodscrapisthecommonculprit.Thesecanberemovedbygently
liftingthereedtonguewiththebutterknifeorarazorbladetheoffendingparticlewillcomerightout.
Beverycarefulnottodeformthereed.

HarmoniumTuning
Harmoniumsaretunedtothewesternequaltemperamentscale.(whichmeansthateachnoteis
equallyoutoftunebyaverysmalldegree)Tuningharmoniumreedsisaveryexactingprocedure,and
Idonotrecommendthatitbeattemptedbytheuntrained.Howevertherearemanyfolkswho
understandtheprecisenatureoftemperedtuning,andwanttolearnhowtodotheirowntuningwork,
andforthemIwilldetailtheprocedure.

TheTuningTools.

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Thetoolsaboveareanengravingtrianglepointedchisel,andabutterknifewithacurvedandthinned
blade.Thebutterknifehasbeenthinnedtoarazorbladethicknesssoitslideunderthereedtongue
withoutdistortingthereed.Thebutterknifeisusedtosupportthereedwhilethescrapingprocessis
donewiththeengravingtool.Imakemyowntools,butasimplerazorbladeandanExactoknifecan
workquitewell.Reedscanbe4"longandassmallas1/2".Greatcareisneededwiththesmallreeds.

Tuningthereeds
Whenraisingthepitchofareed,youhavetoscrapeminuteamountsofmaterialfromthetip(thefirst
quarterofthereed).Whenflatteningthepitch,youhavetoscrapethebackareaofthereed(thefourth
quarterofthevibratingsectionofthereed)neartherivets.Thismustbedoneinaveryuniformand
evenmannerorthereedwillloseitsbalanceandproduceanimpuresound.
Thequalityofthetuningprocessdependsonthecorrectairpressurebeingmaintainedthroughoutthe
fullrangeofoctaves.Bypumpinglessonthesmallreedsandmoreonthebassreedsyoucanarriveat
apitchbalance.Ifyoudon'tbalancethepumping,thereedswillnotentrain(synchronizepitch)
properly.Whenareedvibratesunderhigherpressure,itwillplayalowertonethanwithlower
pressures.Thebassreedscanmoveasmuchasaquarternotebetweenhighandlowpressures.Thisis
amatterofsensitivity,experience,andintuition.
ThebasictuningprincipleforEqualTemperament,istomakethefourthswide,andthefifths
narrow(atmiddleC,theyshouldbeatagainsteachotherataroundonebeatasecondatoneoctave
abovemiddleC,2beatsasecondatoneoctavebelowmiddleC,1/2abeatasecond).
Tobeginyouwillneedtoisolateonesetofreeds,byclosingalltheotherstopsexcepttheonerelated
totheselectedbankofreeds.Donotstartwiththebassset,astheydrifttoomuchasthepressurein
thebellowsvaries.YousetthetemperamentbytuningasequenceoffourthsfrommiddleCup:
middleCFBflatEflatAflatDflatGflat.Thenatuneasequenceoffifths:middleCG
DAEBGflat(allwithinthefirstoctavestartingfrommiddle"C").IfyouarriveatthesameG
flat,thenyourtemperingiscorrect.Oncetheselectedsetofreedsaretuned,youcanopentheother
stopsandtunethebassandtreblereedstothetunedset.Onceallbanksofreedsinthecenteroctave
aretuned,youtunealloctavesupanddownfromthecenteroctave.Masteringtemperedtuning
usuallythattakesanapprenticeshiporapianotechnicianscourse,sobepatient.
Insomeharmoniumsthereisairbleedbetweenchambers,duetowarpedtimberorleakyseals.Then
youwillneedtoplacestripsofpaperunderthetipsoftheoffendingreedbanks,inordertogeta
singlereedtosound.Iftheharmoniumhasairescapingfromthebellows,ortheoutersealsaroundthe
airchambers,thenitcan'tbeproperlytuneduntiltheleaksarefixed.
WARNINGOvertuningthereedswillcausethemtoloosetheirclarityandvolume.
ElectronicchromatictunersforguitarsuchasthosemadebyKorgorBosscanbehelpful.Theycost
around$100.00.Theyrequirea2secondsampleofasteadypitchtoreadcorrectly,andaharmonium
reedisnotsteadyenoughtogiveanaccuratereading.Forsettinganacuratetemperament,theyarenot
goodenough.Yourearismoreaccurate.Forgeneraltouchuptunings,theybothworkwell.
TheEqualTemperamentfrequenciesfortheU.S.A.standard12noteoctave~"A"440Hz,
andtheEqualTemperamentfrequenciesfor*IndianStandard12noteoctave~"A"445hz
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(*IndianharmoniumsvarybetweenA435,toA450.mostoftenbetween5to10centssharp.Indiais
sodiversethatnotruestandardreallyexists)

Note

EqualTemperament
USStandard"A"440Hz.
Frequencies.
Including3decimalplaces.

IndiannoteorShruti
names
Note~Sargam.

Equaltemperament
IndianStandard"A"445Hz
Frequencies.
Including3decimalplaces.

440.000

A~DHA

445.000

A#

466.163

A#~ni

471.461

493.883

B~NI

499.495

523.250

C~SA

529.197

C#

554.365

C#~re

560.664

587.329

D~RE

594.003

D#

622.253

D#~ga

629.324

659.254

E~GA

666.746

698.455

F~ma

706.392

F#

739.988

F#~MA

748.397

783.990

G~PA

792.899

G#

830.638

G#~dha

840.047

880.000

A~DHA

890.000

Onceagain,Iadvisethenovicenottotryharmoniumtuning,asitrequiresgreatskill,understanding
ofthetemperedscale,andthehandsofaskilledcraftsman.Itakenoresponsibilityforreedsdestroyed
byusingthisprocess.

AirLeaks
Commoncauses~Followedbytherepairtechniques.
Aircanleakfrommanyareasofaharmomium,herearethemainones:
1:Theexternalbellows.
2:Theintakeventonthebackoftheexternalbellows.
3:Theinternalbellows.
4:Theleathersealbetweenthereedcaseandthemainairchamber.
5:Warpingofthereedcaseorthemainairchamber.
6:Keysanddamperalignmentonthesoundboard.
7:Cracksinthesoundboard.
Thefollowingisanoutlineofrepairproceduresfortheabove7problems.Itwouldbeimpracticaland
confusingtodetaileverypossibility,soIwillbebrief.
Thefirstthingtodoistocloseallthestopsandpumpthebellowsuntiltheinternalbellowsisfull,and
seeifandwheretheairisescaping.Youcanusesmokefromalitstickofincensetocheckthe
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externalbellowsandtheintakevent.Youcanusesmoketotestthedampersandsoundboardarea.

1:Therepairfortheexternalbellowsmayrequiretheseamsandfoldsbereleathered.Weusefine
qualitygloveleatherunder1/16inthickness,andcontactcement.Thepanelsofthebellowsaremade
fromcardboardandcanbewornthroughbyfingernailsofthepumpinghand.Newcardboardpanels
arenotusuallynecessary,andacompleterebuildofthebellowsistootimeconsumingandcostlyto
bepractical.Sopatchingwithleatherisusuallytheanswer.Sometimestheseamswherethebellows
attachestothebackboardneedtoberesealed.Iuseasmallspatulatogetcontactcementbetween
bellowsandthebackboardwhereveritisloose.Sometimeswehavedryandbrittleareasonthehinges
orontheattachmenttothebackboard.Wecanfitanextrastripsofgloveleatherontheoutsideof
theseareaswithoutdismantlingthebellows.Theleatherhastobethinenoughtoallowthebellowsto
closeproperly.

2:Theintakeventhasaflatleatherflapvalvewhichmayneedtobereplaced.Thisisadelicatejob.
Thevalveisbehindametalorwoodenplateheldonwith10orsowoodscrewsonthebackofthe
externalbellows.Carefullyremovethisplatewithoutdamagingtheleathersealaroundtheperimeter.
Thevalveisapieceofgoatskin"split"(roughonbothsides).itisaheaviergaugethantheglove
leather.Itmustbeflat.Itneedstobegluedwithcontactcementontheupperedgeonly,andbe
exactlytherightsizefortheventhole.

3:Theinternalbellowsrepair,meansyouhavetoremoveallthestopsanddampers,removethe4
screwsthatattachthemainairchambertothewallsoftheoutercase,andliftoutthemainair
chamberoutcompletewiththeinnerbellowsandpressuresprings.Thenyoucanexaminethe
bellowsforleaks.Iftheseamsaresplitthenyouwillhavetoreleatherthem,usingthesameglove
leatherasusedontheouterbellows.

4:Theleathergasketwhichcreatesthesealbetweentheupperreedcaseandthelowerairchamber
canbecomehardandcompacted.Itwillthennotmakeaperfectseal.Thiscanbereplacedwithstrips
ofgoatskinleathersplits.(fluffyonbothsides)itshouldbeasthickas3/32"andnothinnerthan
1/16".Eachstripofleathershouldbeglueddownwithasmallsinglebeadofcontactcement,
carefullylaiddownthecenterofeachrailandpartitionoftheairchamber.Donotcoverthewholerail
surfacewithglue,becausetheedgeshavetoremainfluffyandloose,andtoomuchgluewillcausethe
leathertoloseitscompressibility.

5:Whenaninstrumentisbuiltitbeginstheprocessofdryingandshrinking.Asthishappenssome
warpingcanoccur.Thereedcaseandtheairchambercanwarportwist.Ifthisisthecasethenthe
reedcaseandtheairchamberwillhavetoberemovedformtheinstrument.Theywillhavetobe
planedflat,andreleatheredwith3/32"goatskinsplits.Veneershimswillhavetobefittedtothe
supportrailstomakeupforthelossofmaterialduringtheplaningprocedure.realignedand
remounted.Thisisadelicateprocedure,andshouldonlybeattemptedbyskilledcraftsmen.

6:Asthenewharmoniumsdryingprocessproceeds,allthewoodenpartscontinuetoshrink.The
outsidelengthofaharmoniummayshrinkbyasmuchas1/4"beforereachingitsfinalsize.Thebetter
qualityharmoniumsaremadefrombetterwoods,withlessshrinkageandwarpingcharacteristics.The
keys,dampers,andtheirhingerail,mayshrinkatadifferentratetothesoundboard.Thekeyshaft
maytwistorbend,andconsequentlythedampersmaynotlineupcorrectlywiththereedventholes.
Theleatherpadsonthedampersmaybecomecompactedanddryandneedtobereplacedwithnew
fluffyleatherpadswithfeltbacking.Damperpadsneedtobegluedinthecenterofthedamperpallet
withtheedgesunglued.Twistingandbendingofthekeyscanberepairedbycarefulfilingand
sanding,andintheworstcase,byreplacementofthewarpedshafts.Becauseofthemanydifferent
makersofharmoniums,itfallstotherepairertomakehisownreplacementparts.

7:Thesoundboardisusuallyasolidpieceofspruceorrosewood.Therosewoodsoundboardhas
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over100reedventholescutthroughit.This,alongwithshrinage,cancausethesoundboardtocrack
alongthegraindirection,whichisparalleltothefrontoftheinstrument.Thesprucesoundboards
grainrunsfronttoback,paralleltothereeds,andthatisthedirectionofthesprucecrackingpath.If
thesecrackshappen,itmeansthatthekeys,scalechanger,andcouplermechanismmustberemoved.
itrequiresthatthecracksbecleanedoutwithathinjuniorhacksawblade.Thecracksarefilledwith
piecesofhardwoodveneercuttosizeandsmearedwithalittlewoodglue.Aftertheglueisdry,a
woodchiselisusedtoleveltheveneerandremovegluetraces.Avacuumcleanershouldbeusedto
makesurenoscrapshavedroppedintothereedvents.Thenthereassemblycanbedone.Thisisa
tediousprocess,andcaremustbetakennottodribblegluethroughthesoundboardontothereeds
underneath.
Theserepairsarecomplicatedbutnotimpossible.Becarefulandpatient.Itakenoresponsibilityfor
damagecausedbyanyoneusingthesetechniques.
Goodluck,
BrianGodden.
Harmoniumpartsandaccessories
HarmoniumandShrutiBoxReedSets
ContactusviathisEmaillink

PerfectThirdStudios
DrakeN.S.W.Australia2469
(02)67376884
Allphotographs,illustrations,diagrams,andrepairexplanationsarefromworksinprogress,andare
COPYRIGHTPROTECTEDBrianGodden1/1/2005.
Anyreproductioninanymediawithoutpermissionisstrictlyforbidden.

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