Organ matters - Organs matter!

Hello David,

This opportunity certainly sounds very interesting.

I'm 26 and I work as a part-time cleaner for an engineering company (27+ hours per week). I am not an organist but I was taught the piano to grade 5. I have recently put together a small practice organ using a couple of MIDI keyboards and a 32-note pedalboard that I built a MIDI encoder for and play through one of the keyboards. I am using this set-up to learn to play the pedals. I have some skills in electronics and I joined the Electronic Organ Constructors Society this year.

I understand very little about tuning instruments although I have read about tuning with beats and this is a subject that I would like to learn more about.

I live in Worthing, West Sussex, so I'm quite a distance from London, but it's not too far to travel.

I have not been actively seeking new employment but this does sound very much like something that would interest me, either in addition to my current evening job or otherwise.

All the best,
William

I don't know of enough organists to say that I have a favourite but I find myself listening to Roucher du Toit every now and then on youtube.
Fanfare for Organ: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ls5s5GlvYOw
War March of The Priests: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4t0hzlHejeo

And my one for fun; J. Ortloff playing 'Springtime for Hitler': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzbFxFoVZIo

Hello,

Does anyone know when the magazine comes out? I'm still waiting for the cheque to clear so I'm probably not officially a member yet. Hopefully I'll hear something soon though...

I completed that MIDI circuit just before Christmas and it works so I just need to fit some switches to the pedals and wire them up and I'll have my first practice organ! I seem to have taken this thread off course a bit.

All the best,
William ;)

Hello David, Peter and Tony, and happy Christmas to you.

Thank you for your replies. I've sent my form off to Ron now and I look forward to seeing some of the projects people are working on.

I will have to see how successful my MIDI project is but you can certainly have a copy if it works well, David.

I did look into buying parts 'off the shelf' but I have my reasons for building my own hardware, such as learning MIDI, having a system that I can easily adapt (when I use the PIC), and the fun of it. At first I will be playing the pedals through my old Yamaha keyboard, so it won't sound very good at first, but I will be able to play through Hauptwerk when I have a good PC audio device. That's the plan for now.

All the best,
William

Hello David,

Do you know if the membership fee is still £12? I emailed this question to the club treasurer but haven't had a reply yet. I ask because the website shows the fees for 2009. Also, is Mr. Coates' address still the correct place to send my application form and cheque to?

I live in West Sussex so I should be able to attend some of the local meets. I play the piano but not the organ so I am hoping to build an organ on which to learn. Currently, I'm building Colin Pykett's MIDI pedalboard circuit on a large piece of veroboard and I'm hoping to test it over Christmas. I also have a 32-note pedalboard to go with it. Eventually I aim to design a PIC-based organ to work with Hauptwerk. I'm also interested in the analogue electronic side of things and I would like to start experimenting with some of the circuits shown in Alan Douglas' books. Incidentally, it was from Alan Douglas' books that I discovered the EOCS.

All the best,
William