Follow The Piper Generation

Illustration of man playing pipe flute or horn with bycocket hat. Left of the hat is white text in handwriting font. Below the piper is white text in print font. All on orange background.

“Follow the Piper Generation” was a tagline used to advertise the Hammond Piper Autochord in the early 1970s. A brand new Hammond Piper Autochord in 1971 cost $899 which, if you calculate for inflation, would be $7,285.99 in 2025. The Piper Autochord had a cassette player/recorder attached underneath the keys, and there were sounds controls which made the Autochord sound like a piano, harpsichord, sitar, guitar, marimba, banjo, trombone, accordion, flute, violin, or trumpet. There were seven different rhythm options, namely latin, western, parade, rock, ballad, waltz, and jazz.

 The Autochord was advertised as an instrument for a beginner organist which would still sound great after you learned the basics. The instrument came with its own special type of color-coded music scores. Many organ enthusiasts, however, complained about the fact that the switches to turn on the different sound options worked the opposite of most switches: when pushed up, the switches were off. The instrument did not have foot pedals like most organs; instead, the Piper played an automatic bass part.

Duke Ellington promoted the Piper Autochord in 1973. Posters with his review of the Autochord feature a picture of him sitting on top of the instrument. One of the effects available on the Autochord is called dynamute, which Ellington describes as “the wa-waa sound a trumpet makes.”