Paloma Maestro
Only the best is good enough for you? Check out our Paloma Maestro harmonium! High-quality materials, finest workmanship, easy handling and unique construction ensure an incomparable experience in terms of sound and playability.
The Paloma Maestro combines traditional craftsmanship with high-precision computer technology. Since 2018, Paloma has been the first Indian instrument maker to integrate a CNC milling machine into the manufacturing process. The result is a top-class instrument that enchants the senses in every respect. Beautiful natural looks of precious teak wood beguile the eye. Silk matt surfaces flatter the skin at every touch. The hands enjoy the easy and precise playability. And above all: the perfectly balanced and immensely versatile sound with its warmth and fullness leaves nothing to be desired.
Unlike many scale-changer harmoniums the Paloma Maestro is not a touchy diva but is extremely good-natured. Its enormous sustain makes it child's play to produce an even sound stream or to play with fine nuances of volume. The absence of extras like scale changer and octave coupler reduces weight and makes it surprisingly sturdy. Thus you can easily travel with the Paloma Maestro if required. And if some maintenance is necessary, all reeds and the stop and drone slides are easily accessible thanks to the screwless folding mechanism.
"BONUS: One month free online access to comprehensive harmonium teaching material at the Bhakti Breakfast Club with harmonium purchase!" - more info here!
Sound sample Paloma Maestro
- complete melodic range with all three registers
- three-note chords in middle range
- complete melodic range with all three registers without cover (jali)
- 44 adjustable stick and palette keys (English keys)
- range of three and a half octaves from c to g
- 3 high-quality reeds per key in low (bass), middle (male) and high (female) register
- 6 large large knob for playing the three registers separately or together
- 6 small knobs for drone notes
- all drone notes can be played with every register
- top opening bellows with double fold
- removable cover plate with sliding openings for sound regulation (Jali)
- sound holes on the base of the rear panel of the cabinet
- Wedge lock for easy maintenance opening
- metal support surface for the bellows hand on the rear wall of the cabinet
- separate air chamber for register and drone levers
- silk matt natural surfaces with visible grain
- cabinet made of teak wood
- Key mechanisms made of beech wood
- three-sided surrounding intarsia strip at the base of the cabinet
- including padded carrying bag
PALOMA is the international brand name for instruments by Haribhau Vishwanath from Mumbai (formerly Bombay). Haribhau Vishwanath was founded in 1925 as a small repair shop. Today Paloma is an international top brand for harmoniums. This is due to successful innovations such as the Compactina and Maestro models and unique quality standards. Working techniques and tools have been permanently developed further over decades. Under the direction of Ashish Diwane, Haribhau Vishwanath in 2018 was the first Indian instrument maker to integrate a computer-controlled CNC milling machine into the traditional handcrafted manufacturing process, in order to get consistent precision in the production of essential components.
Apart from harmoniums, Haribhau Vishwanath also manufactures shrutiboxes, santoors, swarmandals and some drums. In addition, the company is active in the instrument trade and procures some rarely needed instruments for which direct purchase from the manufacturer would not be worthwhile. Haribhau Vishwanath has been a partner of India Instruments since 2005.
In India, our harmoniums are tuned to international concert pitch of a = 440 hertz. In Europe, however, they usually sound slightly higher at a = 441 to 442 Hertz due to the colder climate. The difference is small and not necessarily noticeable even to trained ears.
We do not offer manual set-up of other tunings for harmoniums with 3 sets of reeds - the extremely sensitive reeds in the highest register can too easily be damaged beyond repair.
NOTE:
Air temperature and blowing pressure influence the vibration frequency of harmonium reeds. At higher temperature and higher pressure, it decreases; at lower temperature, it increases. In our workshop in Berlin we tune at room temperature around 20 degrees Celsius.
Dimensions: height 30.5 cm, width 58 cm, depth 31 cm, weight: 14.5 kg
Each instrument is a handmade unique piece, which may deviate individually from the data given here.
