Old-time Mennonite Harmonica Orchestra

In an amazing sound experiment, 9 elderly Mennonite farmers from southern Manitoba were placed in a room with harmonicas and microphones, and this recording ensued.

This is a 9-person harmonica orchestra. It is a digitized transcription of an old cassette tape, which gives it an old sound quality.

At first listen it can be difficult to appreciate, but after listening after a while, individual harmonica voices will emerge. Essentially the players eloquently fill the available harmonic frequency space to decorate these hymns, which they would have heard at the protestant Mennonite church that they attended most every Sunday of their lives. Variations of this orchestral group have played at many social functions and occasions throughout 1980s to the present.

The original recording was captured by Richard 'Restless' Unruh, and it is reused here with permission.

This recording can be appreciated as a meditational piece, that according to anecdotal evidence can reduce the desire to consume alcohol and tobacco, and increase the desire to consume cold coffee. This is a testament to the strength of this clean living bunch.