So, about this time last year, I picked up the harmonium. I got it second-hand at a very reasonable price from a guy in Frome. Initially, I had it on the kitchen table in the living room – and I quickly figured out I could stick down the keys with sellotape to create rich and complex drone sound. The next step was realising I could put the harmonium on the floor and pump it with my leg whilst I played the guitar – thus creating my own drone accompaniment much like folks do with shruti box and foot-pedal. I have a shurti box with the pedal, but I’ve always come home to the harmonium.
This kind of works – but it is a bit ugly looking, and sometimes keys stick when I don’t want them to – and sticky tape eventually loses its stickiness.
Later in the year I the need for Gm chord (that’s G, B♭, and D) so that B♭ is one of the black keys – where you find all sharps and flats (the black keys also play louder than the white keys – Pete & Doug fans will know the joke).
So the only way to do that would be to release the key by moving a spring.
I think that came in September – and I began to realise that this would be a much better method and neater and cleaner too. The added advantage is I can turn the harmonium round and play it the more conventional manner too
