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Belem & The Mekanics - Norvégien

Tonight, I offer you a sampling of progressive circus music for steam punks.

Belem & The Mekanics is Didier Laloy (diatonic accordion), Kathy Adam (cello) and the composer Walter Hus. Laloy and Adam play along with Hus' 15-piece orchestra, composed of mechanized instruments (organs, accordions and percussion) that are controlled by a computer. The whole affair builds on the idea of the orchestrion, a machine that autonomously plays music to simulate an orchestra -- think player piano, but on a grand scale. Apparently, these were quite popular in Belgium and France throughout the early 1900s.

I chose this song, Norvégien, for its dynamics and spotlight of the mechanical tick-tocking rhythm, which eventually builds into a drumbeat (played on the instruments by a computer).



If you're interested in seeing behind the scenes and understanding the mechanics of their music, check this out:



Here's a little extra homework assignment. Who else has performed with an orchestrion?

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