Home organ wanted - advice please?

[mikeh]

I'm a pianist who had organ lessons many years ago at school, which in the eyes of friends and family has been ample qualification for me to be asked to play at weddings and funerals over the years.  So my repertoire encompasses the Bach "Little" Eight and the Widor Toccata, and not much else.  But a recent wedding reminded me what fun it is playing the organ, and I started to wonder about expanding my repertoire, and buying a home organ.

My budget is about £10K, which points me firmly in the direction of what I have since discovered is known in these parts as a "toaster".  And that may yet prove to be economically and practically the best solution.

But after the initial exhilaration of pulling out all the stops and frightening the cats with the Widor, I wonder whether a digital organ might feel a bit artificial in a home environment, like playing an electronic gadget rather than a musical instrument.  I cannot abide digital pianos - to me, even the best modern ones  feel nothing like the real thing.

So I started exploring the possibility of acquiring a small pipe organ within my very limited budget, and so far the best (and almost only) option I've found is the delightfully-named "Flatpack" organ kit from Lammermuir (http://www.lammermuirpipeorgans.co.uk/going-to-pieces.asp).  If you buy both halves of this instrument you get 2 manuals plus pedals, and 3 stops between them.  And if you build it yourself (which they reckon amounts to around 530 hours work - a bit more than an IKEA wardrobe!), then the price is just about within my grasp.  I'm not too frightened of the DIY aspect and it would be a great way of learning about the insides of an organ.

The Lammermuir has a 4' flute on the upper manual, while the lower has an 8' rank, with a 2' brought into play by a lever.  The manuals can be shove-coupled.  The pedalboard is permanently coupled to the lower manual.  I've seen and played one of these instruments and was very impressed indeed.  It looks and sounds really beautiful, has a wonderful action, and is completely in scale for a domestic environment.

On the other hand ... just 3 stops? What to do when the music calls for changes of registration, or even just a crescendo?!  For the same money I can have a really nice toaster with 30-odd stops, switchable English or Continental voicing, a headphone socket, selectable temperament, and masses of programmable buttons and flashing lights, and maybe even proper drawstops!

Surely I must be mad even to consider the pipe organ?

Help!

Mike

[Holditch]

Hi Mike

Welcome to the mad world of decisions regarding pipe organs! It's not easy.

I have a small home built pipe organ consisting of approx 250 pipes and at the moment 6 stops spread across two manuals (pedal is computer based electronic). I love the way it sounds and even though it only has 6 stops, it still has enough tonal variation to play some fairly exciting music. I will never however get the Notre Dame reeds that I long for, but nor will you with an electronic organ.

The main benefit in my mind about having an electronic organ is the ability to turn the volume up and down for practice purposes and also the ability to practice stop changes more akin to one played on a 20 or 30 rank pipe organ.

Electronic organs in the home are normally easier to accommodate (weight is an issue with mine!) and they don't require as much loving attention with regards to niggly tuning issues.

I think for the majority of sane people an electronic in the home is the way forward, but for some of us it just didn't pan out that way!

I'm sure the Lammermuir will sound wonderful, and in my opinion is more of a natural instrument than a box full of electronics, it just depends on what you priorities are

Good luck deciding

PS if you near Manchester, you can come an give an alternative home pipe organ a go!

[jwillans]

Hi Mike,

I am a little biased but unless you are talking about a significant size home instrument, I think you will struggle to find anything that comes close to Hauptwerk (http://www.hauptwerk.com) which is a digital organ - but on a different level to most options in this area.  Hauptwerk is software that runs on a PC and you will require a console.   Given that it sounds like you are wiling to explore DIY solutions, one option would be to aquire an old pipe organ console and convert this to a midi device for use with HW.  I agree about digital pianos, but organs lend themselves much more to simulation (no touch sensitivity - less complex overtones) and HW does an excellent job at this.

Hope that helps,

James

I'm a pianist who had organ lessons many years ago at school, which in the eyes of friends and family has been ample qualification for me to be asked to play at weddings and funerals over the years.  So my repertoire encompasses the Bach "Little" Eight and the Widor Toccata, and not much else.  But a recent wedding reminded me what fun it is playing the organ, and I started to wonder about expanding my repertoire, and buying a home organ.

My budget is about £10K, which points me firmly in the direction of what I have since discovered is known in these parts as a "toaster".  And that may yet prove to be economically and practically the best solution.

But after the initial exhilaration of pulling out all the stops and frightening the cats with the Widor, I wonder whether a digital organ might feel a bit artificial in a home environment, like playing an electronic gadget rather than a musical instrument.  I cannot abide digital pianos - to me, even the best modern ones  feel nothing like the real thing.

So I started exploring the possibility of acquiring a small pipe organ within my very limited budget, and so far the best (and almost only) option I've found is the delightfully-named "Flatpack" organ kit from Lammermuir (http://www.lammermuirpipeorgans.co.uk/going-to-pieces.asp).  If you buy both halves of this instrument you get 2 manuals plus pedals, and 3 stops between them.  And if you build it yourself (which they reckon amounts to around 530 hours work - a bit more than an IKEA wardrobe!), then the price is just about within my grasp.  I'm not too frightened of the DIY aspect and it would be a great way of learning about the insides of an organ.

The Lammermuir has a 4' flute on the upper manual, while the lower has an 8' rank, with a 2' brought into play by a lever.  The manuals can be shove-coupled.  The pedalboard is permanently coupled to the lower manual.  I've seen and played one of these instruments and was very impressed indeed.  It looks and sounds really beautiful, has a wonderful action, and is completely in scale for a domestic environment.

On the other hand ... just 3 stops? What to do when the music calls for changes of registration, or even just a crescendo?!  For the same money I can have a really nice toaster with 30-odd stops, switchable English or Continental voicing, a headphone socket, selectable temperament, and masses of programmable buttons and flashing lights, and maybe even proper drawstops!

Surely I must be mad even to consider the pipe organ?

Help!

Mike