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On the Isle of Man... Wurlitzer is just magic...

Started by KB7DQH, August 15, 2011, 08:46:25 PM

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KB7DQH

http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/wurlitzer_is_just_magic_1_3675877

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THE Villa Marina Arcade is home to one of the most extraordinary, versatile and intriguing musical instruments I have ever come across.

The Isle of Man Wurlitzer organ was signed out of the factory in Tonawanda, USA, in 1929.

It was acquired by the Isle of Man Government in 1989 from a private UK owner and, after a stay in Summerland until its closure in 2004, it was housed in a custom-built space at the renovated Arcade in 2009.

This is where I found it, attending one of the many free concerts being held throughout August, and local enthusiast Gerald Clark was kind enough to show me the inner workings of the iconic instrument.

The traditional pipe organ voice may be the staple of the Wurlitzer's sound, but its sonic arsenal extends way beyond what many would expect.

Wurlitzers, and other organ brands, were originally installed in cinemas (the Isle of Man's was installed at City Cinema in Leicester until 1957) to accompany silent movies.

This concept may seem archaic to the IMAX generation, but Gerald's example of a 'scene' ('Now imagine the train is fast approaching!') was truly engaging, and as light-hearted as the demonstration had been, there can be no doubt of the Wurlitzer's ability to create genuine drama on a cinematic scale.

The sound is huge.

Behind the organ itself, visible to the audience through panes of glass, are two entire rooms of mechanics and instrumentation that generate the many voices of the Wurlitzer.

Much like a modern keyboard, players can switch from clarinet to xylophone at the push of a button.

The difference is that in the Villa Arcade 100-year-old electro pneumatic technology is producing the sound live by pumping air through the clarinet pipes, or bringing a beater down to strike the xylophone, instantaneously as the organ keys are played.

There is no amplification – the natural acoustics of the room and positioning of the instruments produce a sound big enough to fill the Villa Arcade.

I can testify to the integrity of this system. We were in one of the back rooms, when an opportunistic passer-by spotted the unsupervised organ and took us by surprise with 'three blind mice'. I nearly went into cardiac arrest – from where we were it sounded apocalyptic.

Before meeting with Gerald, I associated the word Wurlitzer with a bygone era of Blackpool donkey rides and sticks of rock. This association with traditional songs and dance hall culture may be one reason the Wurlitzer fan-base is primarily of the more mature generation.

But I feel, after having my socks knocked off by the resonate growl of the bass notes, the thud of the bass drum and the howl of the tuba, that the Wurlitzer would be equally adept at providing the epic soundtrack to a thunderstorm as Beside the Seaside, such is its versatility.

I wonder if we are due a renaissance, with contemporary artists reinterpreting the possibilities.

The full summer programme of free concerts, and the history of the Isle of Man Wurlitzer, can be found at www.villagaiety.com/wurlitzer.xml.

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."