Mike Knudsen's Monkey Business -- 31-Note Organ Tunes

Last Updated 2008 May 8.
Now features 45 Tunes, 23 available as MIDI.

The files can be played directly on a MIDI-controlled organ, or used to punch a roll. See my Copyright Notice.

While this page describes all my arrangements, MIDI files are provided only for my own compositions, public-domain tunes, and pieces for which I have the composer's permission to post. Otherwise a royalty fee would be due on each and every download!

Email any comments or requests to KnudsenMJ@AOL.com -- thanks.

All these tunes were created using my own freeware UltiMusE© composing program, which runs only under Linux (a Windows version is slowly being developed). You may download it from my home page .

Copyright Notice

You may make One copy of each of my arrangements to play on your own organ, by punching one roll or writing to one memory chip or MIDI sequencer. To make more than one roll or chip, please ask my permission first. Selling my arrangements is prohibited unless we've made a deal!

I'm currently working on plans to sell roll copies of tunes that you organ grinders might want, so please let me know what you do and don't like.

History

Around 2003 I built a MIDI interface into my Raffin organ so I could test and audition my arrangements on the organ, before putting many hours into cutting a roll. This is described in Carousel Organ volumes #18 and #19.

Finally I acquired a specially modified Palm Pilot PDA from Itty MIDI Enterprises (link?), into which I can load my MIDI files and play on the streets from the Palm without punching a roll at all. Some would say I made a Hoffbauer out of a Raffin :-)
But this lets me add tunes quickly to my repertoire, make long-term improvements to the arrangement before committing to a roll, and save my organ cart's roll drawer space for factory rolls. (No, I'm not equipped to convert rolls to MIDI).
To convert my Raffin back to roll playing, I simply pull off the strip of Magic tape across the tracker bar holes!

About the Tunes

All are guaranteed to fit into the 31-note scale. In all cases, compromises have been made with the bass line (only 5 notes permitted!) and harmony, and the melody may have been re-composed in places to fit the range.

All tunes are "registered" for General MIDI to emulate the sound of a small organ's Bourdon pipes. Some have more varied registrations to simulate violins, trumpets, and clarinets. You'll hear Bourdon Celeste if your sound card supports the Chorus Effect. My apologies for those that don't (yet) have any variety -- use your imagination, since these small organs are hand-registered anyway (actually, George, my monkey, pulls the stops on mine :-)

Christmas and Holiday Tunes

Marches

Ragtime

Popular

Traditional Dance, Folk

Colleges

Good Cranking Tunes

Coming soon to this page ...

Hint: Some Web browsers download MIDI files directly into their Player plug-in and start playing, but will not save a permanent copy on your hard disk. To get a keeper, click your Right mouse button on the file link text (Control-click in Mac), and follow the pop-up menu.

Tune Descriptions (most recent first)

I was commissioned (paid real money!) to arrange this Tin Pan Alley classic, When You Wore A Tulip, for a 20-note crank organ. The music may sound a bit thin in places with its diatonic harmonies, but it's truly amazing what 20 notes can do. Note the ritard or rubato at the end of the sentimental verse.

During a visit to the island of Maui, I was struck by the contrast between the lush foliage and warmth of the people on one hand, and the rugged volcanic outcrops on the other. This tune, Lava and Leis, popped into my head as I was climbing on a mound of volcanic ash next to the beach, while sea turtles played in the surf.

I first heard Feliz Navidad during a vacation in Mexico, but later learned it had been a holiday hit in the USA. Minor-seventh chords lend a bittersweet sincerity to Jose's Christmas wishes.

A favorite from my own boyhood, Santa Claus is Coming to Town fits well on the 31er organ. After some odd background effects during "he sees you while you're sleeping," we modulate the key for the final chorus, ending in a "Ho ho ho!"

Another of my childhood favorites, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer tells how a social outcast's weird quirk (a glowing nose) saves Santa from getting lost in a dark and foggy Christmas Eve. Listen for the "nya-nya nya-nya nya nya" in the background after the words "...used to laugh and call him names." A final Hollywood fanfare salutes Rudolph as he "goes down in history." I had fun arrranging this one!

Mary's Boy Child, popularized by Harry Belafonte, starts with a hymn-style classic organ chorale statement, but switches to a Calypso rhythmic guitar accompaniment for the verse. I kept this one short, back when I had to punch a real paper roll by hand for every tune.

When I was dating my first really serious girlfriend, Walking in a Winter Wonderland was "our" song. Just how serious were we? Listen carefully to the transition from the middle verse ("...you can do the job when we're in town") to the final chorus. One of the few Winter songs that makes no mention of the holidays, just love and beautiful (really??) snow.

I begin God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen with a medieval style fife and drum effect. Next comes a romping 6/8 verse, ending in a third verse in chunky straight chords. The harmonies are different each time.

Playing With Matches is yet another waltz by the prolific traditional dance writer Susan Conger. Yes, she's seen "Fiddler on the Roof" and knows about the double entendre dual meanings of matches (". . . a girl could get burned!"). In fact, this tune will remind you of that musical, with its Eastern European flavor in a minor key. We organ grinders brag about "The Happiest Music on Earth", but this tune is not mournful, just introspective.

Tishomingo Blues Rag is one of the theme songs that introduces "The Prairie Home Companion" radio show. It's been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon, which means they're way overdue to host an Organ Rally, where trailer-mounted carousel organs and monkey grinders like me take over the downtown for a weekend. This arrangement was given to me as a MIDI file, allegedly already in 31-note format, but it took a lot more work to get it playable. A happy "hello" tune to start off a grinding gig with.

Emily's Waltz was written by Susan Conger for her niece in my home state of Pennsylvania. I play this sweet waltz three times, each a little bit different. It has a nice merry-go-round lilt to it, with nothing "sophisticated" except for a fermata (hold) on a funny dominant 9th chord.

Goin' Metric is a silly children's ditty that I wrote way back when it appeared the USA was really going to switch to the Metric System. Remember those highway signs with "Km" numbers? The opening lines went:
How many millipedes Make up a centipede?
Do you think it will impede the inch-worm's style?
If a thermometer Miss by a kilometer,
Is one Ms. much better than a mile?
CHORUS: Metric System -- Old-World's wisdom
dum did-dy dum-did-dy dum-dum-dah (forgot words to this line)
Sure gettin' hectic, Goin' Metric!
So now you know why I write tunes, not songs! Still you can imagine this tune on Sesame Street or Barney. Listen to how the articulation in the bass and accompaniment moves the tune along, and do stick around for the final countermelody reprise.

Tobin in the Morning was written on request from a lady whose dog served as her alarm clock -- each morning running madly around the house before jumping into her bed. This was the first "commissioned work" by G. Campbell Kaynor, of Massachusetts. This delightful jig changes key going into the B strain, just like a rag or march; I've preserved this in the 31-note organ arrangement.

The Susan Birds of Wendell is a sweet but lively jig, written by Bill Tomczak in honor of his dancing partner Susan. As in "Tobin", the style alternates between heavy-stomping downbeats and light-skipping triplets. I'm beginning to like the triplets a lot better ... Later, I hope to splice this tune to "Tobin" to make a two-jig medley.

Lark's Song (Lerchengesang) is a delightful children's folk-style song set as a round for 2 female and 2 male voice parts by Felix Mendelssohn. Harmonically simple, this tune transferred almost directly to the 31-note organ. Since the Tenor part is split across the Accompaniment and Melody ranges, I've kept the registers limited to Bourdon and Celeste, except at the Coda. But the 2nd time the "women" have the melody, you can add the Piccolo; in fact, you could open the tune with Trumpets. This is genuine German classical music, but don't tell the kids -- they'll love it as they "climb thru the clouds to the sunshine!"

Lullaby of Birdland is a jazz standard that any fool should know better than to try to fit to the 31-note organ's five bass notes and limited range. But after learning it on the Duet Concertina (did we mention fools?), I felt the chords just might be made to fit. And they did! After all, a Diminished chord gives you four shots at a matching bass note! The melody lies neatly in the organ's range.

Chilton Rag is a steady, straightforward rag with strong chords and some exotic harmonic progressions. Enjoy the Latin interludes between sections. Best to stick with Bourdons and Celestes during the high-pitched block chords, adding Violin in between for emphasis. I preserved the original piano expression dynamics for your listening pleasure, and in case anyone has swell shades on their organ ...

Sand Trap Rag is a good organ rag, staring out as a bouncy cakewalk, adding tension, then getting sweet and sentimental, finally ending in a rousing stride section. It's the most recent of my ragtime compositions, but the most traditional in form.

Friends Are Where You Find Them is an old tune of mine from college days, in a freewheeling folk-song style, which I never wrote down until now. Don't be fooled by the opening sedate church-organ statement of the theme; it quickly leads to calliope-style happy times, alternating with a Klezmer-ish verse in the minor key. Second chorus uses "Country" style harmony above the melody, and the third time makes a good Piccolo improv. A genuinely organ-style crowd pleaser.

Trail Bike Rag captures the various moods of a ride thru the country on two wheels (pedal or power, your choice). The second strain is a 12-bar Blues, and repeats with two simultaneous countermelodies, all in the organ's 31-note range. Third strain reminds me of a Country-Western ballad.

Frances Rag was a real challenge to adapt for the monkey organ. She begins soft and lyrical, gradually warms up to honky-tonk, then bursts out in a big concert-organ cascade of chords in the Trio, with a "dogfight" of arpeggios that really sparkle on the Bourdon pipes. You won't hear music like this on anyone else's organ for a while!

Nadia Rag is the first of my piano rags to get arranged for the Raffin 31er organ. I learned how to move left-hand bass riffs up into the Melody range, or at least the Accompaniment range of the pipes.

Penn State Medley shows three tunes from my Alma Mater: "Hail to the Lion", "Fight On, State", and the "Alma Mater". Catch the piccolo swirls in "Fight On, State" and the sweet Bourdon Celestes in the middle "Alma Mater" verse. I haven't been out of college all that long -- there's still the same football coach as when I graduated! Someday I'd like to go to a Nittany Valley pre-game tailgate party, open up my van and drag out not a BBQ grill and a keg, but my organ, and crank these tunes for a sing-a-long -- probably get all the BBQ and brew I could handle.

The Lonely CoEd is another of my college-days compositions, one of the first tunes I transcribed for the 31er organ. A rock-style bass keeps this mix of Spaghetti Western and Reggae moving along. The middle section is just made for a Calliope sound of Bourdon Celestes. Some organ grinders are unsure about such "modern" non-traditional music on the crank organ, but if it sounds good, and audiences like it, go for it!

Fighters of the Flames is the march I wrote in honor of the world's firefighters, and have had arranged for concert band. I punched this as a roll back in 2004, but this MIDI file is an improvement, with a countermelody in the second A strain. In fitting this march to the organ, I learned that each "strain" or tune of a rag or march must be pitched to its own key independently of the other strains, to match its own harmony chords and melody range.

Pinball Rag has a whopping 5 strains, one for each ball in a pinball game. Most strains have 5-note bass riffs, originally for piano left-hand bass, but moved up higher in the organ's range to be audible, and to dodge the missing bass notes in the 31er scale. These emulate the sound of an old pinball machine racking up 50 points.

St. George's March or Pound For Pound was originally conceived as if for a big English carousel/fairground organ, and is probably the first piece I ever arranged and roll-punched for my Raffin. The Irish pennywhistle variation in the A2 strain is a hoot! Be aware that the piccolo notes in that section are an octave higher in the MIDI file than the true organ scale, to simulate the 4' Piccolo stop. More repeats could be added at both ends. "St. George" can also be heard on David Wasson's "Trudy" band organ.

Tenth Regiment March is one of the finest by Robert Browne (R.B.) Hall, Maine's own answer to Hall's contemporary, John Philip Sousa. Hall composed over two dozen melodic marches, which we often play in the Bath, Maine Municipal Band. This one is my favorite, and was heard in the British movie Brassed Off under the new title of "Death Or Glory." I punched it into a roll around 2003.

Bei Dem Bruckern ("With the Bridge-Town Folks") was composed by Christoph Schmetterer, a young Viennese composer and music teacher who carries on that city's greatest tradition (and composes piano ragtime too!). He sent me a MIDI file of his full band arrangement of this 4-strain march, and I managed to squeeze its countermelodies into the organ's 31 notes and punch a roll a few years ago. I passed it on to David Wasson, who didn't have to squeeze quite as hard to arrange it for his magnificent "Trudy" concert band organ.

Sunday River Waltz is from a book of fiddle tunes from the New England traditional contradance scene. I first learned this bittersweet waltz on the concertina, but here it makes good use of the organ's solo Violin stop. Named for a scenic river valley in my adopted state of Maine, it's by Vermonter Pete Sutherland.

Tequila was a hit tune of the late '50s, a modal jazz tenor sax solo over guitar and bass, whose players yelled "Te-qui-la!" between verses. This MIDI file shows some stop changes, and Violin plus Piccolo makes for a good raunchy wailing sax sound in the middle section. A toe-tapping attention getter.

Chattanooga Choo-Choo is of course not mine, but I've added an intro with a steam loco getting up to speed and spinning its wheels, followed by joyous blasts on the whistle. A constant boogie-woogie bass line gets the train to its destination of "satin and lace," noted by a burst of Bourdon Celeste.

Coffee is a modern Irish-style jig tune that I play along with in a local Celtic band, on Concertina. You'll hear piccolo, violin, and recorder solos, but Raffin has not yet fitted a free-reed accompaniment section in my organ -- I left that Accordion sound in there to honor my concertina.

Back in the USSR is the Beatles' answer to "California Girls" and other songs that extol the virtues of girls from all around. I did this one to show how rock music might (might!) work on the organ. It works pretty well until the dense final chorus. The final fade-out requires some tricky hands on the stop knobs!

Keep The Dream Alive is my two-part march, but think of it as a song with versus and chorus. The German-flavored countermelodies are better heard in the original version, but they do keep the Accompaniment Bourdons busy here.

You Can't Be True, Dear (Du Kanst Nicht Treu Sein) is a German waltz that found a home in the US Country/Western scene. This is my first "commissioned" arrangement, made at the request of a fellow organ grinder. He wanted me to follow the Hammond organ version he had on a tape cassette, and I did -- it's not so elaborate, but does change keys a couple times. "No steel-wheeled skates on the rink floor, please!"

Maine Stein Song was popularized by Rudy Vallee and his Connecticut (sic) Yankees (booed in Boston) band, but has become the official U. of Maine pep rally tune. Their concert band plays it faster than my organ valves can travel! Note the double bass notes in the final section -- are these a good idea?

Barberry Reel is my first Traditional Dance tune, a result of my learning the concertina and associating with "trad dance" musicians and their styles. It's really a fiddle-rag and hornpipe, not exactly a reel, but the stop-time stomps in the B section are authentic. Lots of repeats for the dancers, and to try various organ registers. Our local Celtic band is working on it.

Notre Dame Victory March is a funny thing for a Penn State alumnus to be playing, but it's what my high school band played after every home touchdown. Thanks to our great team, I got to know the baritone part really well. This 31er version could use a couple of repeats, but it was made in my early hand-punching days -- 8 hours of punching for each minute of music.

Seasick Willie is by Jody Kruskal, a traditional dance tune writer and concertina virtuoso from Brooklyn. Jody visualizes Popeye and other maritime characters at a contradance, staggering around the floor in a reel. A cute tune, with lots of repeats to show a variety of registrations. Note the ritards in the B sections.

Why Do Fools Fall in Love is a doo-wop standard from the early '50s that really moves along. I arranged it as a chorus-line number for our local Arts Center fundraising variety show, and tossed off an organ version afterwards. "Why do fools punch their own rolls ..."

Boy Scouts of America March was commissioned by the BSA from the march king, Sousa. It is also my 2nd "commission", since I was asked to arrange it for 20-note busker organ. That was a quite a trick, but this simple, cheerful march sits well on a small organ. You can just hear the little scouts tramping thru the woods, whistling and kidding around. What you get here is a 31er version, with some missing notes put back in.

Palladio Suite is by Welsh neo-classical composer Karl Jenkins. Starting softly, it builds tension to a climax. Originally written for a TV diamond commercial, this tune is good to have whenever someone asks if your organ can play anything "classical."

Three Susans is by Susan Conger, a highly prolific writer of traditional contradance fiddle tunes from the heart of New England -- the Connecticut River Valley in western Massachusetts -- where I discovered the Concertina. I've emphasized the rhythmic contours of this piece, maybe more than Susan expected.

Marble Halls of Learning is a simple but hypnotic traditional reel. The bagpipe licks may have been inspired by David Contieni's playing of the oboe in contradance bands -- an unusual instrument in such groups, for sure! Like Susan, David hails from western Masssachusetts.

(more descriptions to come)