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St. Bartholomew's Church, Crewkerne, Somerset

Started by KB7DQH, September 24, 2010, 05:58:53 AM

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KB7DQH

Church mentioned in the article has already installed a "demostration" electronic... The pipe instrument in their Grade I-listed building becoming increasingly unreliable and in need of restoration :'(
http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/news/Pulling-stops-battle-church-organ/article-2678112-detail/article.html

Article describes the congregation as being "divided" on the issue at hand...  The "churchwoman"
seems to think that an electronic would be "simpler to repair if something did go wrong with it"...

Too many examples exist of properly maintained pipe instruments greatly outlasting their electronic counterparts to allow this miscoception to breed uncontrollably :o

My quick search of the NPOR database did not come up with any information on the pipe instrument,
it may not be listed???

Although a small article, it seems to center the debate on the cost of pipe vs electronic rather than organ vs. ????


Eric
KB7DQH
The objective is to reach human immortality—that is, to create things which are necessary to mankind, necessary to the purpose of the existence of mankind, and which have become the fruit that drives the creation of a higher state of mankind than ever existed before."

Jonathan Lane

I'm afraid I have to laugh as well as cry at what the lady church warden has said.  A quote from the article:

'But churchwarden Dorothy Tozer said the cost of renovating the existing organ would be around £80,000, whereas a new electronic organ would cost £35-40,000. And there was a positive response to the organ at its debut service on Sunday. She said: "We don't have the money to do either of these things at the moment and we are still raising money to repair our roof as it is. If the organ stopped working, we would be forced to use a piano. But it is something we are looking into as the pipe organ isn't expected to last much longer. This past winter was the death knell for it. We need to look at the long-term future and if we were able to get an electric organ put in, it would be much simpler to repair if something did go wrong with it.'

They are looking at spending £40K on an electronic, which would by a medium quality instrument, as opposed to £80K to maintain their pipe organ.  Perhaps a few facts are relevant, from anecdotal as well as proven evidence.  If you are lucky your electronic organ will last 20 years before a major upgrade is needed, whereas the pipe organ will last many more, a new pipe organ of high quality should see 200 years out.  An organ the size of that at Crewkerne would cost up to £500 per year to tune, whereas a single callout for repair on the elctronic may well exceed that (a friend's electronic organ needed a single part at £450 plus two visits by the engineer to allow it to even work at all, the chance of a pipe organ being put totally out of action is rare.)  Most organ builders would carry out essential maintenance on a standard tuning visit, which ensure potential problems are dealt with swiftly, whereas a fault with an electronic organ is unpredictable and therefore unpreventable.  One electronic organ I played had to have four callouts in as many weeks when it was less than three years old, but not under the guarantee.  I'm not sure how long electronic organ builders guarantee their organs for, but we conditionally guarantee all new material for 25 years.  If the church in question had contacted me they might be looking at a simple and straightforward solution, but my feeling is, lack of investment over the years since Brian Daniels did the last major work may well have caused them to reap what they do now (and knowing Brian personally, I am sure his work at Crewkerne was up the the typically high standards of his other work.

Jonathan

KB7DQH

#2
And if the roof isn't fixed neither electronic nor pipe instrument (or a piano for that matter) will survive for very long....

However, other congregations have found unique funding methods to assure their beloved pipe instruments don't fall silent 8)http://www.organmatters.co.uk/index.php?topic=184.0

Eric
KB7DQH
The objective is to reach human immortality—that is, to create things which are necessary to mankind, necessary to the purpose of the existence of mankind, and which have become the fruit that drives the creation of a higher state of mankind than ever existed before."

revtonynewnham

Hi

The organ is on NPOR  - http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=D08090  Hint - only put the minimum search terms in for an NPOR address search - I used "Bartholomew Crewkerne" - and make sure you spell the names correctly - computer's don't have the intelligence to spot wrong spellings in database queries!

This is actually quite worrying, as the organ had work done just 6 years ago.  Why the sudden urge to get rid of it?  Maybe there's been a new incumbent who dislikes organs and want's to "modernize" - or church politics at work?

What this (and other churches looking at the same options) need to realise is that, although the electronic might be cheaper initially, and need less maintenance, it will never sound as good as the real thing, nor will it last as long.  They're looking at spending some £30,000.  Being generous and giving the new organ a life of 20 years, that's costing them £1,500 a year, not taking into account inflation, etc.   Try asking the church treasurer to put aside that amount every year and see what response you get!  That's the realitiy of the situation.  The pipe organ, if properly rebuilt, will last a minimum of 50 years before needing major work, and then will go on for at least another 50!  If they can use tracker action, it will last even longer.  The chamber organ here had survived getting on for 200 years and at least 5 changes of location with no evidence of any professional work - certainly, the last 2 moves were done by an amateur, and quite possibly the others were as well.  I wish churches would look at the total cost of ownership, and not just the short-term cost implications.

Every Blessing

Tony

David Pinnegar

#4
Quoteif we were able to get an electric organ put in, it would be much simpler to repair if something did go wrong with it

Who's pulling the wool over these people's eyes? What's simpler, a blower, bellows held together with leather, wood chests, metal pipes and wooden sticks connected together by leather buttons . . . or multi-layer printed circuit boards with micro-spaced connexions and batteries on boards which rot and corrode the lot . . .

What I really hate to see is the online and paper publications of the electronic touts who score up their "installations" supplanting pipe organs, often making a facadist development of the organ case, their publications looking like trophy hunters' scoreboards. I also find the electronic manufacturers' literature patronising and appealing to people with an IQ of 90 or 95 at most. But there again, perhaps that's just the sort of person who would be daft enough to throw out the investment of a pipe organ for the lure of a fancy load of television set and computer circuit boards.

Can anyone get hold of the church concerned and direct them to this thread on this forum?

I bet some electronic tout with a vested interest is behind it suggesting how unrescuable their pipe organ is . . .

Best wishes

David P

Jonathan Lane

Quote from: revtonynewnham on September 24, 2010, 03:22:05 PM
Hi

The organ is on NPOR  - http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=D08090  Hint - only put the minimum search terms in for an NPOR address search - I used "Bartholomew Crewkerne" - and make sure you spell the names correctly - computer's don't have the intelligence to spot wrong spellings in database queries!

This is actually quite worrying, as the organ had work done just 6 years ago.  Why the sudden urge to get rid of it?  Maybe there's been a new incumbent who dislikes organs and want's to "modernize" - or church politics at work?

What this (and other churches looking at the same options) need to realise is that, although the electronic might be cheaper initially, and need less maintenance, it will never sound as good as the real thing, nor will it last as long.  They're looking at spending some £30,000.  Being generous and giving the new organ a life of 20 years, that's costing them £1,500 a year, not taking into account inflation, etc.   Try asking the church treasurer to put aside that amount every year and see what response you get!  That's the realitiy of the situation.  The pipe organ, if properly rebuilt, will last a minimum of 50 years before needing major work, and then will go on for at least another 50!  If they can use tracker action, it will last even longer.  The chamber organ here had survived getting on for 200 years and at least 5 changes of location with no evidence of any professional work - certainly, the last 2 moves were done by an amateur, and quite possibly the others were as well.  I wish churches would look at the total cost of ownership, and not just the short-term cost implications.

Every Blessing

Tony

Agree totally Tony.

Jonathan Lane

Quote from: David Pinnegar on September 24, 2010, 04:48:49 PM

What I really hate to see is the online and paper publications of the electronic touts who score up their "installations" supplanting pipe organs, often making a facadist development of the organ case, their publications looking like trophy hunters' scoreboards. I also find the electronic manufacturers' literature patronising and appealing to people with an IQ of 90 or 95 at most. But there again, perhaps that's just the sort of person who would be daft enough to throw out the investment of a pipe organ for the lure of a fancy load of television set and computer circuit boards.


I think you have hit the nail on the head, but they will always get sucked.  I spend half my free time sourcing secondhand but decent electrical gear for church, because it is better than the cheap stuff people try to sell you new!  Recently we have purchased off eBay a digital recording mixer which retails at £7K, I paid £160 and it took me 1.5 hours to fix, we also have a £900 DAT recorder which cost £41, and a £15K broadcast TV camera which cost just over £200. 

What I constantly see is churches getting sucked in by it will only cost you X amount and won't be any trouble after you have installed it.  Until the guarantee runs out that is!  I make no pretence that our organs are more expensive than electronic ones, but I also guarantee them for longer than your average electronic will last.

Jonathan

barniclecompton

I have tried emailing the church, but the email addresses given dont seem to work!

NonPlayingAnorak

#8
To be fair, the organ doesn't look great visually (heavy casework blocking windows), nor does it look great tonally. I think the best thing they could do would be to build a new 3m 40ishSS tracker-action instrument with a tonal scheme essentially similar to the original Rothwell scheme (just a bit bigger), with casework by someone like David Graebe. Still, replacing it with a toaster really is stupid! I've left a comment on the original newspaper article to that effect, and I'm just awaiting the registration confirmation email...

EDIT: having re-read this, it would seem silly not to suggest re-using some of the existing pipework, thinking especially of the Rothwell reeds, such as survive unaltered, and that Harrison & Harrison Trumpet... though the entire Great organ looks essentially unaltered, and should be good. The Swell 8, 4 and 2 flues should be salvagable, too, as should the original ranks surviving on the Pedal. Still, I think the organ would be better off rebuilt at the West end on a gallery, with a new building frame and new case... the existing case could then, potentially, be used to front something else in a much bigger building.

KB7DQH

#9
 :(http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/news/Church-pull-stops-order-digital-organ/article-3285302-detail/article.html

Quote


Church to pull out stops in order to get digital organ

ST Bartholomew's Church in Crewkerne has announced plans to acquire a digital organ to replace its deteriorating pipe organ.

An electric organ was trialled at the church on Abbey Street in September and proved popular with most parishioners.

But without the money to purchase the upgrade, churchwarden John Clotworthy said the new organ will not be arriving at the church any time soon.

In the church newsletter he said: "There has been concern over a lengthy period now about the deteriorating condition of the church organ, and debate about how to deal with the problem.
Click here for more

"The Parochial Church Council passed a resolution in January that in view of the deteriorating condition of the pipe organ and in the light of current pressures on the church's resources, it considers a digital organ should be acquired, but only when financial circumstances permit.

"This view is being taken because a digital organ would be a great deal cheaper than restoring the pipe organ, and the sound it produced in the trial was good, in the view of most churchgoers.

"It should be emphasised that the church is not in a financial position to acquire a digital organ in the near future.

"There are other demands on any capital resources which come to hand, such as repair of the chancel roof."

St Bartholomew's, a grade one listed building, is appealing for donations to help the cause.

http://www.viewfrompublishing.co.uk/news_view/9470/16/1/crewkerne-organ-fund-waits-behind-roof-repairs

QuoteMr Dale is passionate about church music and said: "We have a very strong choral tradition at this church and the organ could fail at any time. There is nothing like the sound of a real pipe organ but what is important to us is maintaining the church music. If we cannot raise the money for the digital one in time, we could be without any sort of organ for several years and our music tradition will dissipate.

"There are no major bodies we can apply to who specialise in the preservation of  organs such as this one, perhaps if it was historically pure but it has been much altered over the last 100 years, it wasn't the top of the range but probably second so a good quality instrument.

QuoteLottery funding has been redirected so much toward the Olympics that there is no hope in that direction. I know of churches who were promised grants and had them withdrawn at the last minute."

QuoteThe PCC would like to emphasise that the fabric of the organ will remain, regardless, as the pipes and structure are sound, it is only the mechanism that is worn out.

Mr Clotworthy added that  they could only consider looking at the pipe organ repair if a substantial sum was given, or sourced, for that purpose alone. A special fund has been set up which is already receiving donations specifically for the digital purchase only, but  there is a long way to go.




Two new news articles which have appeared regarding the fate of this instrument...

Eric
KB7DQH
The objective is to reach human immortality—that is, to create things which are necessary to mankind, necessary to the purpose of the existence of mankind, and which have become the fruit that drives the creation of a higher state of mankind than ever existed before."

Jonathan Lane

If you read the second link in Eric's post above, you will see some figures quoted, which frankly are purely misinformation.  Firstly to get a half decent electronic, which will last them maybe 15 years before major work, they are look at £50K plus.  Secondly, I'm not entirely sure where the figure of £75-80K comes from, if as they say the pipes and structure are sound, that means the organ needs a new electrical system.  Even if they fitted a state of the art system, this would come to about the same sum that they are quoting for the electronic organ, if they however went with a cheaper or more piecemeal option, the price would be considerably less.

The organ is described by the organist as about to fail at any time.  This is highly unlikely, unless caused by fire, flood, or earthquake (RIP our colleagues in Christchurch), as a colleague mentioned to me today 'organs in general do not have heart attacks; they merely groan with arthritis!'  I'm not against the use of electronic instruments where they are necessary, but it would seem that the church would be far better of spending £10K now on major electrical work, than spending £25-30K now on an electronic, and when that dies in ten years or so, see their bill rise to nearer the £75-80K they believe it will cost them now.

Jonathan

KB7DQH

Assuming E-P action and water ingress they may be looking at the "classic case" of complete chest releathering in addition to the electrical work?

Not unheard of in the construction industry here in the US for contractors with too much work on their hands at the moment to "high-ball" an estimate to avoid doing the work-- putting enough money into the bid to cover additional resources that would need to be acquired to keep the rest of the work on schedule...

Same practice comes into play when the job looks to have too many possibilities for hidden additional expense... and not wanting to "lose their shirt" even if the contractor "needs the work" ;)

At least the church has the forethought to keep the pipe organ in place until resources are made available for its restoration in future rather than scrapping it ;)

Eric
KB7DQH
The objective is to reach human immortality—that is, to create things which are necessary to mankind, necessary to the purpose of the existence of mankind, and which have become the fruit that drives the creation of a higher state of mankind than ever existed before."

Jonathan Lane

Quote from: KB7DQH on March 09, 2011, 05:05:58 AM

At least the church has the forethought to keep the pipe organ in place until resources are made available for its restoration in future rather than scrapping it ;)


We are about to acquire an organ which had the same intent in 1986 when they installed their electronic.  The elctronic organ installers trampled the Great pipes and heaped most of them in the Swell, on top of the Swell pipes.  The organ is now going.  Good for me though, as its the organ I learnt to play on!

David Pinnegar

Quote from: Jonathan Lane on March 11, 2011, 04:08:00 AM
We are about to acquire an organ which had the same intent in 1986 when they installed their electronic.  The elctronic organ installers trampled the Great pipes and heaped most of them in the Swell, on top of the Swell pipes.  The organ is now going.  Good for me though, as its the organ I learnt to play on!

Dear Jonathan

I don't think it would hurt here to actually name the electronic installers who did such callous damage to pipework . . .

(One of my projects recently has been to develop effective speakers to enable such an instrument to be mothballed without such risks to pipes . . .)

Best wishes

David P

Barrie Davis

This is a quote from their recent magazine;
Readers will be aware that there has been concern over a lengthy period now about the deteriorating condition of the church organ, and debate about how to deal with the problem. I reported in the December edition of "Voice" that the PCC would return to this difficult issue at its January meeting.
The PCC passed a resolution that "in view of the deteriorating condition of the pipe organ, and in the light of current pressures on the church's resources, the PCC considers that a digital organ should be acquired, but only when financial circumstances permit". This view is being taken because a digital organ would be a great deal cheaper than restoring the pipe organ, and the sound it produced in the trial was good, in the view of most churchgoers.
It should be emphasised that the church is not in a financial position to acquire a digital organ in the near future. There are other demands on any capital resources which come to hand, such as repair of the chancel roof, and in any case, the church has an ongoing problem meeting day-to-day running costs. If anyone wishes to contribute towards a digital organ, the PCC Treasurer would be pleased to receive donations.

John Clotworthy, Churchwarden

They seem to have been very badly advised, I wonder who they are buying the digital organ from.

Barrie

Jonathan Lane

I wish they would contact us, after all we are not very far away, and we would be able to show them what could be done, on very little money, to keep the organ in playing order and relatively good condition until further restoration work could be undertaken.  If anyone knows anyone at the church, het them to contact me on 07836 299025 or at organbuilder@jonathan-lane.org.uk ad I will be happy to arrange a visit, and we don't charge for the visit either!

Jonathan

Jonathan Lane

Quote from: David Pinnegar on March 11, 2011, 04:16:23 AM
Quote from: Jonathan Lane on March 11, 2011, 04:08:00 AM
We are about to acquire an organ which had the same intent in 1986 when they installed their electronic.  The elctronic organ installers trampled the Great pipes and heaped most of them in the Swell, on top of the Swell pipes.  The organ is now going.  Good for me though, as its the organ I learnt to play on!

Dear Jonathan

I don't think it would hurt here to actually name the electronic installers who did such callous damage to pipework . . .

(One of my projects recently has been to develop effective speakers to enable such an instrument to be mothballed without such risks to pipes . . .)

Best wishes

David P

As much as would like to, I think it would be better for people to work it out for themselves, needless to say, we are talking about a major manufacturer, and it was a bespoke organ.

John

Quote from: Jonathan Lane on March 11, 2011, 09:25:56 PM
I wish they would contact us, after all we are not very far away, and we would be able to show them what could be done, on very little money, to keep the organ in playing order and relatively good condition until further restoration work could be undertaken.  If anyone knows anyone at the church, het them to contact me on 07836 299025 or at organbuilder@jonathan-lane.org.uk ad I will be happy to arrange a visit, and we don't charge for the visit either!

Jonathan


I have only just registered as a member here, I have done so on the suggestion of Brian Daniels.
Both he and I are former organists of this church and are both saddened at the present situation.

Jonathan and others have put their fingers on an important point here.  To the best of our knowledge no reputable organ builder - not even Michael Farley who is currently responsible for tuning and maintenance - has been asked to quote for any repairs to the action now deemed necessary.   The figures of £70/80K being banded about by the churchwardens and the present organist would seem to have been picked out of thin air as part of what can only be described as 'scaremongering' of the uninitiated.

I concurr with the others about the stupidity of spending even £30K on a digital job that can only last up to 20 years and then be redundant.  Surely this is not good stewardship.

Letter and emails have been sent to BIOS, the Diocesan Secretary, the Archdeacon of Taunton and others pointing out the above in the hope that 'Authority' will play it's part in assuring that no ridiculous toaster is allowed into that wonderful building on a permanent basis.

May common sense prevail

.........John.   

twanguitar

Sorry, but I think the jibe on the name of the churchwarden at Crewkerne is not worthy of any forum. No argument can be won like that, more likely lost.  Let's stop behaving like kids, can we?

Maybe a moderator worthy of the name might feel moved to delete this post.

TG

David Pinnegar

#19
Dear TG

Thanks for taking a well deserved sideswipe at one of our moderators - it was an "NPA comment" which might have been thought by many but left unsaid . . . but I would not want to be po-faced enough to remove it, particularly as it might draw attention of the worthy gentleman concerned to look at the commonsense and expert opinions expressed in this thread. We all drop clangers at times and the noise can draw attention to an important issue. However I'd hope that good humour may prevail . . . and that the whole situation may be resolved happily ever after.

John - thanks for joining the forum and joining in and you express some very appropriate thoughts.

For my own part, recently I have been consulted by an organist of a number of parishes in the west, one of which has an electronic organ. The instrument is a commercial instrument which causes the organist no end of frustration both in terms of realism and of voicing, to which really the electronic manufacturers haven't paid a lot of attention or expertise. The technology is specialised and to my knowledge there is only one person in the country who knows whether that instrument can be voiced and what equipment is needed to do it. Whilst parts may be available theoretically after 15 - 20 years, the changing technology means that the people who know what to do with them have moved on, forgotten, retired, died. In contrast, pipe organ technology is immortal.

For my own part, I try to enable the presentation of the repertoire of the King of Instruments inspirationally on the concert platform, and this is not possible effectively with the very nice pipe organ in the house. Accordingly I use a digital instrument which served a dozen years in a Northern Ireland cathedral. In its three manual incarnation as built, it was known to be remarkably effective, but I found its tonal scheme bored after a while. I enlarged it to 5 manuals, principally enabling substition of two poor stops, the Great Diapason and the Swell Voix Celestes,  but in the process enabling the instrument to do so much more. It does it so well that it's exciting to play, even if daunting, and inspirational to hear.

It does what it's intended to do . . . but that is now far removed from the needs of parish worship which would be perfectly adequately and well served by the pipe organ . . . Parishes need not be seduced by the desire to do more than that . . .

Furthermore, I had an accident with the voicing box a few months ago and the result appeared catastrophic. Only one person in the country knew what to do. The makers certainly weren't answering the telephone on a Friday night nor a Saturday morning . . . and did not answer an email till the Tuesday. Luckily a member here on this forum knew personally the one man who knew what to do. . . . and it's not written in the instruction book nor service manual. (Note to self - for total reset press the BURN button with the instrument off and hold it down whilst switching on . . . How obscure can that be? [Rude comments inherently invited but better left unsaid please!])

It is also apparent that a mouse has got into the instrument, luckily with the result that the swell manual is behaving as a 56 note rather than a 61 note manual . . . . What luck it is that that is the only trouble. When the mouse attacks next, the instrument is more likely to be a total write off.

Bets taken on how long the instrument will last . . . But as a concert instrument, I'm using it to inspire and give experience to young organists whilst it lasts . . . and it has taken the greatest attention to voicing and in particular expertise in speaker design to achieve the purity of
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNCUbsqsiac
and I doubt that any commercially produced instrument comes up to the perfection of the Tuba coming in shortly after 02:25 (fast forward to there!) in
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0Fl0dHpvVw and again with the jolly tune at 10:27

If the parish think that that's what they're going to get from a commercial instrument, they should think again. . .

Perhaps if we ask the current organist to perform at Hammerwood he'll be very happy to have the old pipe organ instead back in playing order at St Bartholomew's.

Best wishes

David P