The Orgatron was an electronic organ

Electronic organ

An electronic organ is an electronic keyboard instrument which was derived from the harmonium, pipe organ and theatre organ. Originally, it was designed to imitate the sound of pipe organs, theatre organs, band sounds, or orchestral sounds....

 originally developed in 1934 by Frederick Albert Hoschke, after a Benjamin F. Miessner patent. A fan blew air over a set of free reeds, causing them to vibrate. These vibrations were detected by a number of capacitive pickups

Electrostatic pickup

An electrostatic pickup converts mechanical motion to an electrical signal by means of varying electrical capacitance. This type of pickup, in which the moving plate is a vibrating metal reed, is used in some types of electronic pianos and organs as an inexpensive method of generating...

, before being amplified to create musical tones.

After the death of Hoschke in 1936, Orgatron was manufactured by Everett Piano Company

Everett Piano Company

The Everett Piano Company or simply Everett Piano was a piano manufacturing company founded by the John Church Company. It was previously owned by Yamaha.-History:...

. In 1946, Rudolph Wurlitzer Company bought the patent, and Wurlitzer Electrostatic organ was manufactured in the period from 1947 to 1961.