Harmoniflute

[Peter Smith]

I have restored a Harmoniflute and wondered whether anyone knew of any players in the UK?
This seems a rare instrument - 'half an accordion' - so I wondered whether anyone on this forum might know anything about them. A search on here & on Google showed a few threads, some of which were useful.
(The one currently on Ebay is a spare one I am selling!)
Peter

 

[Ffingers]

Interesting instrument, Peter.
I had never come across one before -
The Youtube video:

 

[Dingo40]

Here's something similar: the Indian harmonium
Similar principle .

Another:

 

[Peter Smith]

Many thanks for your replies.
The Shruti Box looks like a later development of the harmoniflute or harmonium & appears to be a lot easier to play!
I have seen a stand for the Harmoniflute, so you can play it a bit like a harmonium - using a pedal to inflate the bellows - but the only one I saw for auction went for over 300 Euros.
Any more information on the harmoniflute would be welcome - though I guess, as I noted earlier, its only 'half an accordion'!
Thanks
Peter

 

[Squeezebox Of Delights]

Speaking not from experience but from little bits of information gathered from the internet over time, I suspect the Harmoniflute was a sort of experimental marriage between the harmonium (European not Indian) and the flutina. They seem to have been made exclusively in France in the mid-1800s, and were a very early stage in the development of the modern piano accordion.
As for the Indian harmonium, free reed instruments were introduced to India by French missionaries who would have likely brought instruments such as portable harmoniums, harmoniflutes and guide-chants, which are like very small harmoniums designed to provide continuo for singing. The hand powered instruments became popular in Indian classical music, as they suited the sat-on-the-floor one-handed playing style, and designs were formulated that presumably took the sonic versatility of the harmonium and combined it with the compact form factor of the guide-chant, along with rear mounted bellows such as on the harmoniflute. The resulting instrument was initially manufactured by European companies, but local companies took up production soon after, and the resulting instrument has remained mostly popular since its introduction, and has outlasted the European harmonium by several decades. Very interesting stuff.

 

[Peter Smith]

Speaking not from experience but from little bits of information gathered from the internet over time, I suspect the Harmoniflute was a sort of experimental marriage between the harmonium (European not Indian) and the flutina. They seem to have been made exclusively in France in the mid-1800s, and were a very early stage in the development of the modern piano accordion.
As for the Indian harmonium, free reed instruments were introduced to India by French missionaries who would have likely brought instruments such as portable harmoniums, harmoniflutes and guide-chants, which are like very small harmoniums designed to provide continuo for singing. The hand powered instruments became popular in Indian classical music, as they suited the sat-on-the-floor one-handed playing style, and designs were formulated that presumably took the sonic versatility of the harmonium and combined it with the compact form factor of the guide-chant, along with rear mounted bellows such as on the harmoniflute. The resulting instrument was initially manufactured by European companies, but local companies took up production soon after, and the resulting instrument has remained mostly popular since its introduction, and has outlasted the European harmonium by several decades. Very interesting stuff.

Many thanks for the info from everyone.
I was not aware of history of teh Indian harmonium. It looks a much easier instrument to play than the Harmoniflute!!