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Messages - flared_ophicleide

#21
Organs Preserved / Re: Sheffield Cathedral
November 25, 2012, 04:07:44 AM
I can imagine the Brindley & Foster, whose stoplist I looked up just now, was a very nice instrument.  One B&F, I'm impressed with, is the one at Freemason Hall, Edinburgh.  Though it is smaller, it still gives one a good idea of the tonal concept.

As to the positioning of the Mander, this most certainly can have a major effect on musical delivery.  When considering an odd-shaped room, one should imagine sound waves moving throughout the room.  While doing so, he/she should ask the question: "what would get in the way of soundwaves?", or, "what's going to prevent the congregation or audience from hearing as much of the instrument as possible?"

One idea that comes to mind is to start out by finding a spot in the Cathedral where you can see as much of the space as possible in any direction, thereby establishing a possible site for the organ. Also, take into consideration any possible acoustical interruptions in the vaulting and ceiling, bearing in mind that, ideally, you want the pipework to be placed as high up as practical, since sound carries better when its source is elevated.

#22
Organs Preserved / Re: Sheffield Cathedral
November 24, 2012, 05:31:08 PM
Right. I keep having to remind myself that the NPOR search engine tends to be very picky about what you put in.

I looked on St. Albans' stoplist and saw that the Great has a 16' Bass Trumpet.  If I were asked by the organist and the Dean what changes I would make, I would say this....   

Without the added expense of adding or swapping ranks from the outside, I would move the Great Bass Trumpet to the Swell and put the C.d.B. on its own chest in the Solo.  Even without a double reed in the Great, the Great can still be very effective.  Temple Church, in London, has a similar arrangement in its Great.  Two double flues and no double reed.

Getting back to Sheffield:  it would be tempting to assume that R. Downes had a hand in the design of this organ.  Because I like to search for facts and truths, I couldn't find anything saying that there was a direct connection between Downes and Mander, or do I remember if there was.  Mander  included the 16' Crumhorn in the Swell.  It replaced Rushworth & Dreaper's Double Trumpet.  (God, what were they thinking?!)
#23
Organs Preserved / Re: Sheffield Cathedral
November 22, 2012, 12:11:19 AM
Quote from: David Drinkell on October 14, 2012, 04:41:34 AM
The only things I felt it lacked were a substantial 16' reed on the manual - the Swell double reed was very light

I agree indeed.  According to the stoplist I found on NPOR, this 16' reed is a Crumhorn.  If a 16' Crumhorn is going to go anywhere in an organ, it should be put in a Positive.  At least a Contra Fagotto (if not a Double Trumpet) should be in the Swell, esp. in a cathedral organ.

When I visit Sheffield Cathedral in the spring, the organ may not be there then, but from what I've learned, the Cathedral, itself, is very fascinating.
#24
An unconventional, but ideal, room design for an organ.

After thinking on the relationship between the organ and a churches' sanctuary, assuming that the design and the result of the construction of the latter are suitable, I've concluded that if this assumption is not met, then you have only part of a musical instrument (the organ itself).

I've always been big-big-big on acoustics.
#25
Organ Builders / brass wedges
August 01, 2012, 05:17:38 PM
Most organ builders use, or have used, wooden wedges in reed pipe assembly.  A few (Austin, Hope-Jones, and Hook & Hastings) have used brass ones.

Are there any other makes that have brass wedges?  I'm interested particularly in British and American builders.
#26
I guess I misunderstood what I found on NPOR and one other source.  I thought St. Paul's H-J was still there. 

On next yr's trip, this leaves an opening for another place to go to, since I was going to St. Paul's originally.  I think there's still a H-J in Warwick Castle?  If so & if I have time, I'll go.
#27
Compton Electrones / Re: Compton Electrones
May 26, 2012, 02:08:20 PM
Quote from: chrislawtonorganist on May 14, 2012, 10:31:30 AM
I watched the Beatles Movie last night after reading your comment and at about 6 minutes into the film is the organ scene.

Since I'm not able to quote off my own post, I'll do my best from this one.
Recalling that P. McCartney was briefly playing the Compton, one might wonder if he's ever played a pipe organ?

From what I know....   close to it.

Ian Tracey was working on an organ transcription, or portion (don't remember), of McCartney's Ecce Cor Meum with McC. helping him in determining the registrations.  According to Ian, Paul was indeed interested in the big Willis.  Awesome, huh?
#28
Compton Electrones / Re: Compton Electrones
May 26, 2012, 05:08:23 AM
Quote from: chrislawtonorganist on May 14, 2012, 09:42:26 PM
Well a lot of organ enthusiasts also have an interest in railways (myself included) so why not?


Why do you suppose that is?  What's the connection?  Organs and trains are both large, complex things. *shrug*

I've been interested in both since I was little.  I'm involved in two organ projects right now.  Restoring one and building the other.  As for railroads, though not a priority now, I would go on trainspotting trips with my scanner & camera.  Chase trains.  Stay up very late watching them, and all that.

Altoona, PA, is a major spot.  Then, I would visit their cathedral to see their 1931 Steinmeyer (there!  back on the organ topic. lol)

btw...  Chris.  Thanks for all those youtube clips about Comptons you've played.  As far as voicing and tonal design goes, J. Compton was a bloody genius!  I have a lot of respect for him.
#29
Compton Electrones / Re: Compton Electrones
May 14, 2012, 01:16:37 AM
This may be a bit off-the-wall, but I was watching the Beatles' HELP! movie, and early on, we see Paul McCartney playing a 3-manual electronic theatre, Art-Deco-style.  My first guess was that it was a Compton, possibly an Electrone.
By chance, has anybody seen this movie?
#30
Quote from: degrigny on December 03, 2010, 12:04:00 AM
In Britain we must aim to coax the ear of our audience into thinking that there is a lot more brightness than our registrations would suggest: use of octave couplers, if we have them, and 2' stops.

What comes to mind here is the way one of the 2' stops on Tewkesbury Abbey's 1887 Michell & Thynne was voiced, giving enough sparkle to act as a substitute for a mixture.  Some 2' stops on early Austins have this sound as well.  Austins, then, had strong English influence, since John T. Austin and his brother, Basil, came from England.

Your three-part article is great!  I learned quite a bit.  I voted "just right", then later wanting to retract and vote "want to learn more", which I do.

Thanks for all this.
#31
My trip to the UK next yr includes a visit to Worcester Cath.  I know little about the organ installed in '08, but I'd like to look at the Handel organ and, from what I gather, it still exists, the Scott case in the transept.

One small organ got my att'n the other day, as I was online. The Compton in Borough Welsh Chapel in Southwark, Surrey.  I almost didn't bother sharing about it, since I wasn't sure if the stoplist would interest anybody, but Compton was a genius in the way he voiced and in physical placement of ranks in relation to others.  M. Dupre once remarked that, after hearing the Downside Abbey organ, he wouldn't have known that it was unified unless smb told him.  From what I'm told, on a Compton, you don't have a problem, audibly, with dropped notes in big chords.

Ok, here's the list:

Great

16'    Bourdon
  8'    Open Diapason
  8'    Hohl Flute
  8'    Salicional
  4'    Octave
  4'    Open Flute
  4'    Salicet
         12th
         15th

Swell

16'     Contra Salicional  tc
  8'     Hohl Flute
  8'     Salicional
  4'     Open Flute
  4'     Salicet
  2'     Piccolo
          Cymbale 15.19.22
16'     Trombone  tc
  8'     Trumpet
  4'     Clarion

Pedal

16'      Bourdon
  8'      Flute
16'      Trombone  tc
  8'      Trumpet

I thought this 4-rk organ sounded pleasing and it seems very adequate for this church.  The problem I have is the fact that the 16' Trombone is tc on the Pedal.  That doesn't make sense, since out of 2 1/2 octaves on the pedal, a whole octave is silent with this stop on. 

For absolute minimal requirements, having a manual 16' stop as tc is ok, since most of the activity takes place within the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th octaves. 

There's an Austin in Chicago which has a 32' Bombarde without the bottom octave.  Somehow, it seems that that's just for show.  One of those "looks GREAT on paper, but....  " things.
#32
I was glued to that edition.  Fr. Willis is certainly a source of inspiration.
#33
I picked up a copy of this last Christmas in NY.  This is where I discovered the Brindley & Foster at the Freemasons' Hall.  I could listen to this organ for hours.  Top-notch organbuilder they were.  This led me to buy Simon Nieminski's CD of it.
The awesome acoustics in McEwan Hall were captured by Delphian.  Picked up Priory's Victorian Organ Music done on this organ.

Great album this is, expect for the way the CDs were tucked into those very tight slits.  I thought for sure they would get scratched, so I put the CDs in sleeves.  The book is great for an organ crawl guide (perhaps that was one of the objectives?).
#34
Until I read that the time window for the organs was 1777 to 1908, I was thinking that Fratelli Ruffatti's monumental restoration on the 1579 organ, at Co-Cathedral of St. John, Valletta, was included.

One of these days, I'm definitely going to grab a copy of this CD.  I'm big on reverb.
#35
Douglas Major did a magnificant interpretation of this piece years ago at Washington Cathedral (Gothic Records).  I bought the tape back in '85.
Girard College Chapel (Phila.) comes to mind, too. The piece sounds great on their big Skinner.
#36
It's great that L'pool Cath.'s organ is in such capable hands. Hands so capable that the care of an organ in southern Europe may have been placed in those same hands.  If so, then I'm happy for Mr. Wells.

Mosta Duomo.  Headed for their website right now.
#37
Quote from: KB7DQH on July 30, 2011, 08:52:22 PM


  Granted, there are but a handful of Midmer-Losh organs listed, including the obvious one (opus 5550)  but that leaves 5548 or more "unaccounted for" (theoretically)... not listed for whatever reason.


Actually, Midmer-Losh's opus numbering system had a slight twist to it.  If my memory serves me right, the list started with 5000.  That said, Boardwalk Hall organ is really their 550th organ.
#38
It's possible that the organ at St. Paul's Valletta is featured on the above CD?  By the looks of the dome, this could be the 15 second.

David Wells is the one restoring the big Willis.  He's been the curator for years now.  I put it to you that you were referring to L'pool Cath.?
#39
I love big reverb, but it does come with a price indeed. Back in the 70s, I went to a recital at L'Oratoire de St.-Joseph in Montreal, home of a 5-manual, 78-stop Von Beckerath.  This is an Art-Deco version of St. Peter's Basilica, smaller, of course, but with about 9 seconds reverb. One Bach piece, in G-major, had a fast tempo.  The G.O. 16' Trombone and 8' Trompette in the left hand, an 8' flute and sesquialtera in the right, you could make out the melody in the right, but the reeds were all smeared.

I think one reason for this, is that in the dome, soundwaves keep going all over the place and intersect themselves.
#40
Quote from: AnOrganCornucopia on April 03, 2012, 02:31:41 AM

And no, SOH wasn't by the same architect(s) as York/Beverley, since it wasn't begun until 1897! And yep, I mentioned the tower too. I wonder what it would take to get the organ playing, however creakily... I'd give it a nice new drawstop console, though, the smaller HJ tab ones look rather ungainly and plain to me, though the big original Worcester one did look rather fine. Nice place to spend a holiday, though? Never been up that way but I only know it for the argy-bargy over scrapping of 'toxic' ships...

HJ 'boxes, solid? That's an understatement! I heard it took three weeks to demolish the Worcester ones...

Concrete swell boxes are a bit difficult to brake up, esp. without disturbing surrounding furnishings and the building itself.

Since one of the best ways to keep an organ in good shape is to play it regularly, this one seems to need a complete restoration, since it's been silent for years.  Without regular use, deposits and corrosion result on electrical contacts.

Unless I'm losing track of my facts, I think I remembered reading that this organ has had at least one rebuild, which possibly included re-leathering. 

I've heard of leather over 50 yrs old still doing its job. One of things that causes the leather to depreciate is the expansion & contraction inside a chest when the blower is turned on & off respectively.  Leather on wind regulators can get a good workout anytime the organ is on.  Now, if the organ has been silent for this long, depending on how long ago a re-leathering took place and how humid it gets in Hartlepool, the leather may still be okay.   Water is one of the biggest enemies of the pipe organ.

And a new blower would help, too. *Cheshire cat grin*

Re. the 1897 beginning of const. St. O's:  I kinda saw that coming.  Looking at it on street view in googlemaps, I had a feeling that this is a much later bldg.
The town, itself, looks pretty laid back and not far from the Lake Dist. (still in topic?)