Organ matters - Organs matter!

Thanks for the replies, especially G.F. and R.C.  Mr.Lang's Fanfare to kick things off eh ? He of Tuba Tune fame and all that ... which would also have been nice if not totally inappropriate at a service mind you ! I'm afraid the techy stuff passed several miles over my head but I'm sure other readers appreciated knowing what your shiny new digital beast has on offer. It's good to read that you're very happy with it though and the end result has also been well received by everyone else. It's such a pity that you're ~250 miles away and from making a few enquiries, transport costs would seem likely to be several hundred pounds. However, can I just ask if transport wasn't such a major issue, do you think the Compton would be suitable for your requirements or is it perhaps just too big for what you need/want in this particular instance ? 

Just in case anyone is interested, I've finally been able to have a good look at the organ and take some (albeit pretty poor) pictures. The silly date stamp on the pictures only proves that I don't know how to drive someone else's camera and couldn't even see that the date was being shown on the screen when I took the pictures either.  I only realised when I got home and uploaded the pictures to the PC several hours after the event unfortunately.  I've now superimposed the correct date on the pictures. I'm sure everyone knows or can at least guess just how heavy it is as well as perhaps being familiar with typical schoolboy errors that can easily be made when putting it back together ... So, there's probably no need to explain how I nearly killed myself trying shift it slightly away from the wall and then rotate by 90 degrees all on my own ! Or indeed mention the minor heart attack suffered when firing it up after eventually getting it back in the right place only to find that it no longer made all the usual kinda noises that it should have been doing !!  Fortunately, I'd spotted and guessed the function of the toggle switch on the rear of the organ so a quick grope behind reconnected the internal speakers again and all was well once more  ;D






At the front, there are 2 x 61 key manuals plus a 30 note peddle board and the stops etc. reading left to right are as follows:

Contra Bass 16'
Bourdon 16'
Flute 8'
Flute 4'

Quintaten 16'
Open Diapason 8'
Splitz Flöte 8'
Octave 4'
Rohr Flöte 4'
Twelfth 2 2/3'
Fifteenth 2'
Mixture III
Mute

Swell To Great
Gt & Ped Unenclosed
Tremulant
Reverberation

Diapason Chorus
Baroque Chorus
Full Swell

Contra Viole 16'
Geigen Diapason 8'
Lieblich Gedeckt 8'
Principle 4'
Wald Flöte 4'
Flautino 2'
Acuta II
Contra Fagotto 16'
Trumpet 8'
Clarinet 8'
Clarion 4'
Mute

Mains power switch and indicator




Round the back, it's certainly very interesting from an electro-mechanical and electronics point of view if nothing else.  As a design engineer myself, I rather like it anyway although it has to be said that the workmanship isn't quite as good as I was expecting TBH. I'm not so sure that Mr.C would have been especially proud of the last model produced anyway and I think I'd probably have given the wireman a good slap into the bargain as well !  Functional and operational just not very pretty or easily repaired should there ever be a problem requiring a bit of internal surgery and all that.






The only additional information that I could find inside is a very high tech state-of-the-art (at the time, perhaps !) Dymo Tape embossed label reading: CANT.63.J.GRAY.  The 12 tone generators reading left to right are: B, A#, A, G#, G, F#, F, E, D#, D, C# and C according to the very handy writing in pencil on the pulleys. Mechanically it looks/sounds pretty good despite it's age and the lack of use and maintenance for more than a decade.  I took the opportunity to remove accumulated dust, cobwebs and various long since demised arachnids as well as giving the tone generators a long overdue treat of a couple of drops of the appropriate oil. Electronically, some shiny new electrolytic capacitors ought to put an end to the noticeable mains hum when you're up very close as they're no doubt well past their prime and the inevitable increased power supply ripple is far from beneficial to the amplifier and so on needless to say.


PS: I've also sent most of the above including the low resolution pictures to you R.C. but I also have the full resolution pictures available if you or indeed anyone else wants to see them.  When I get another chance I'll try to get some better pictures and lose the date stamp as well.



EDIT: Photo links updated in Jan/Feb 2023 due to a permanent change of domain/host

It's in Bournemouth ... as am I !

Given the clues in your other posts on these forums and assuming you allude to Mansfield (Notts) and Rainworth in particular, St Mary's Blidworth is presumably the Parish church with (or about to have) a shiny new digital organ tucked away behind the pipes of the original somewhat temperamental organ.  Such shame that the pipe organ has had to be decommissioned of course but I'm pleased to read that the important parts are being retained for possible use again in the future. The news report I've just read is from the end of July so I hope the new digital organ is now installed, performing well and meets your expectations.  I also hope my 30 seconds of detective work has turned up the 'right' information as well or I'm about to look very silly indeed !!!

Which church is it that you're trying to find a more appropriate electronic organ for ?

Hi all,

I hope no one minds me registering here just to ask for information and help !  I'm not an organist or indeed a musician of any kind unfortunately although I do love almost all forms of music from current bands to classical and virtually everything in between including theatre organs and especially church pipe organs. Sadly, all musically ability in my family ended with my father though.  My father, his father and various other relatives on his side of the family were church organists and competent musicians in general but no one since then ever has been.

Anyway, he had a practice organ at home which he used regularly for several decades but the only obvious information I've found on it so far is that it's a Compton "Cantata".  It's a 2 manual electronic organ with a full size concave peddle board and internal speakers.  A search on youtube brings up 2 videos apparently of a Compton Cantata organ in a chapel near Wrexham and it looks virtually identical to this although it may well be quite different internally of course. I do remember seeing the back off it during one annual clean and service donkey's years ago and I think there were loads of possibly aluminium discs or pulleys driven by a motor and a long belt ... just in case that might mean anything at all to anyone who may know about somewhat ancient Compton organs !  It hasn't been touched let alone played since 2002 when my father died.  It had been "part of the family" so to speak for so long that doing anything other than just leaving it exactly where it sat wasn't something that was even contemplated. Sadly my mother has recently passed away and I'm now faced with the unenviable task of having to do something with it along with everything else because the way things stand at the moment I'm being left with no choice but to clear and sell the house :(

I'm therefore trying to find any information that I possibly can about the organ in the vain hope of ultimately being able to find it a new home if I can provide sufficient technical details about it so that people know what it actually is. As I said previously, I can't play so it would be of absolutely no use to me even if I had somewhere to put it but hopefully it would be of benefit to someone somewhere despite it's age.  Nothing would please me more than to know that it's being played once again and I really don't want to even think about the possibility of it ending up on the tip.

So, does anyone have any thoughts or ideas about how to identify exactly what it is, obtain the relevant specifications or attempt to find it a good home ?  I intend carefully withdrawing the peddle board so I can pull the console away from the wall to check the back and inside for any model or serial numbers there might be when I get the time and opportunity. I can also take some pictures if that would be useful.  Any help or suggestions that anyone can provide would certainly be very much appreciated that's for sure. Many thanks.