New Age Air Calliope



View of Calliope, whistle side

In the early 1980s Melville McBride of Aptos, California built 6 calliopes which he christened the

"The New Age" Outdoor Air Calliope



The first unit was delivered to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.  The next four unit were built for Shrine Clubs local to the builder.  Mr McBride's wife convinced him to keep the sixth and final Calliope and that is the unit pictured on this page.  In June of 2005 Mr McBride donated this final Calliope to a local Church.  At that time it had been in storage for several years.  It appears to be relatively unused when compared to the other example that I've seen (which is documented here: http://www.haskey.com/johnh/organ/calliope).

The Calliope has 44 notes and measures approximately 48" wide, 60" tall and 30" deep.  The whistles are somewhat unique in that they are made of PVC and ABS pipe obtained from a local hardware store.  In fact, some of the wind conductors on the interior still have their hardware store price tags on them!  There is an internal blower which is audible but virtually unnoticed once the music begins.  At approximately 15' the sound was measured at approximately 105db!!!

Here are some detailed pictures of this instrument:

View of keyboard and music desk
 The performer's side of the instrument.  The power switch is at the right.  The yellow objects on the left are a set of ear muff style hearing protectors.  With 12 large whistles at the ear level of the performer it is loud.  Note the four casters and power outlet at lower right.
Closeup of name plate
 A closeup of the keyboard showing the eagle on the music desk and the nameplate which reads:

"THE NEW AGE" OUTDOOR AIR

CALLIOPE

APTOS, CALIFORNIA

There are 44 keys from F two octaves below middle C to C two octaves above middle C.
Run only when playing
 The blower switch and the only instructions on the unit:

RUN ONLY
WHEN  PLAYING

The blower is quite audible when the Calliope is not being played.
Valves under keybed
 With the panel below the keyboard removed the valves above the windchest are visible,.
Closeup of valves
 Closeup of the lowest valves.  If I remember correctly they somewhat resemble the design by A.C. Brill of Carnival Plans fame.
Whistles, Row 1 and 2
 A view of the first two rows of whistles showing some of the smallest whistles which play the highest notes.
Closeup of smaller whistles
 A closeup view of some of the smaller whistles.  The threaded rod and nuts allows for some adjustment.
Plumbing fittings with price tags
 A couple of the pipes underneath displaying their hardware store price tags.  
Eagle on music desk
 Closeup of the eagle on the music desk
Eagle on side of Calliope
 Closeup of one of the eagles on the side of the Calliope
Eagle on side of Calliope
 Closeup of one of the eagles on the side of the Calliope


When I inspected the Calliope it was evident that it had been in storage for some time.
It could use a 'cosmetic freshioning' in that it had some dust and the painted surfaces
could stand to be cleaned.  The can be seen in the pictures of the decals above.

I hope to be able to provide a link to a recording of this instrument soon.


Page created June 11, 2005.  Images and Text Copyright (c) 2005 John Haskey - If you are interested in higher resolution versions
of the above photos please contact me.