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Messages - Bruise in the Muttastery

#1
It would be great fun to help the researcher by sharing my enthusiasm for the organ.

My first encounter was as a small child and I was fascinated by the sound as well as the facade of gold coloured pipes high up in the gallery over the pulpit.   I was finally allowed to go to the gallery to watch the organist play the postlude and was fascinated by the large drawknobs (1927 Pilcher) and watching the organist play the pedals (he wore white bucks!).

Later the organist-choirmaster in another church bribed me to good behaviour in children's choir by allowing me to sit in the chamber while she practiced IF I would behave.  I think this was likely the only successful method of getting good behaviour from me as a child.  ;-) 

My love for the organ was fueled by its appearance within and without.  Interestingly, the console has never really engaged my love for the instrument, although I appreciate a beautiful console and recognize their necessity.   Pipes are what drew me in!

I look forward to the researcher's questions as well as his findings and summation.

Bruise in the Muttastery
#2
In current society, in addition to the electronic cliques, there seems to be  social compartmentalization as well.    I remember as a youngster, about 12, going to AGO meetings and being included and nurtured by people of various ages.   There were folks with grey hair, but also some people my parent's age and younger, even a few teenagers.   Some members even brought their own children.   This group was critical to my formation as an organist and to my love for the organ as a musical instrument and as a "machine."

It is disappointing to me that Facebook and Twitter seem to be sucking membership from the chat lists.  Personally I find FB and T to be cumbersome to use so I stay away from them.

I would guess that Youtube has inadvertently played a part in recital attendance since so much is available free and without the need for travel.   Youtube has taken me to places that would otherwise be unavailbe to me and I appreciate it.

Youtube has the potential of being an uniting force in drawing viewers to the organ.  Those who have the equipment and ability should take advantage by posting creative and entertaining videos to acquaint people with the organ.   Not only the organ's music, but its amazing construction and visual beauty of facades and interiors should be shared.

Sadly, music has disappeared from many schools and the only exposure many young people get is what is on their I-Pods and CDs.    In the past I have had limited success with inviting classes to visit the organ that I played, inviting those who played piano or keyboard to give the organ a try, as well as those who were just curious.   It's difficult to set up field-trips, but with the cooperation of parents and teachers it can happen.

The language of the organ -- music -- has the advantage of being "universal" and by eliminating titles, pieces that may be specific to worship  can become "inclusive" and meaningful in a general way.

This reminds me of the choir-director in a church where I played.  She insisted that the voluntaries (prelude, offertory, postlude) be specifically related to the readings of the day.   Rather than waste my time finding pieces with the "right" titles, I simply played standard literature and put "appropriate titles" in the bulletin.   What was amazing was how many people commented on how the voluntaries supported the readings.  This proved to me that people simply need a nudge in the direction desired, and the music will speak effectively on its own.

It would also help if experiences with the organ could stray from traditional "sit-and-listen" events and include dialog and even food to draw people together.

As well I have included other art forms in my recitals.  My favourite was a three year series called "Stories in Glass" in which I linked the music with the stories portrayed in the stained glass windows of two churches.   As well, I have had artists bring paintings and photographs which were treated similarly.   Another favourite was at Christmas, inviting florists to bring flower arrangements and/or trees which were available for purchase with one to be given away in a drawing.

I, too, miss the discussions of things organ and hope that this list will again become active.

There was a message a while back about people wanting organs.  Currently I have a 2/38 Allen ADC-4000 which was given to me by a church that went "rock."   I have enjoyed having it, although the sounds critical to my years are not there.... that being the sound of Principal pipes and colourful flutes.   I could live with one Principal stop, and would be very satisfied with a Principal, a chiffy Holzgedeckt, and a sweet flute.   I would really love to find an elderly tracker to refurbish.

Bruise in the Muttastery
#3
The organ (original stoplist in this thread) is a nice instrument and would be versatile except for Romantic music and some modern.   Personally, I would quickly tire of the upper work.  What I want when I play an organ is colour!

Original stoplist:

1.Principal   8ft
2.Chimney flute 8ft
3 Principal  4ft
4 Gemshorn  2ft
5 Quartane  1 1/3 + 1 ft

6 Sub bass 16ft
7 Flute 8ft
8 Basson 16ft

9 Gedackt  8ft
10 Spitz flute 4ft
11 Principal  2ft
12 Quint 1 1/3 ft
13 Trumpet 8ft

I would change thusly:


1.Bourdon 16 (wood, chimneys from mid-c) 
2.Principal 8 
3 Bourdon 8  (metal)   
4 Octave 4     
5 Spitzflute 4   

6 Dolce bass 16  (open from FFF up - depending upon space/$ ) stopt basses
   Bourdon 16  (great)
7 Flute 8ft   open metal
8 Rankette 16ft

9 Gedackt  8ft
10 Salicional 8ft   
11 Clear Flute 4ft
12 Nazard 2-2/3ft
13 Clarinet 8ft

A manual 16 appears to be an extravagance at first, but it does triple duty, providing weight to the full chorus, a continuo bass stop, as well as an additional unison flute when played an octave higher.

I have an Allen ADC-4000 at home with 28 stops.  I have voiced it so that the unison and octave flu stops are at optimal comfortable volume rather than having a "large" organ sound that is "turned down" to fit the room.

Bruise in the Muttastery
#4
Greetings,
Last night I was pondering my "minimal" stoplist and recalled that  19 stops is not minimal.  For a minimal stoplist, that can play a simple service perhaps:

GREAT:   Open Diapason 8

SWELL:  Salicional 8 tc, Dulciana 8 tc, Stopt Flute 8 tc, Stopt Bass 8

PEDAL: Bourdon 16, Flute 8

COUPLERS:   Swell to Great 4, Great to Pedal, Swell to Pedal

This stoplist would give four unison colours, and with the Swell to Great 4 coupler would give octave pitches to brighten and give a small chorus for hymns.    The reason for the one Swell to Great 4 coupler is to simplify the action, and 8' coupler would be an option.

This could also be done with three manuals by adding

CHOIR:  Gedeckt 8, Tapered Flute 4, Clarinet

I think small organs are a wonderful challenge.

Bruise in the Muttastery
#5
Greetings,
This is my second post to OrganMatters and I'm very excited to find this topic.   I love small organs and am an admitted stoplist hound!

For a small instrument I would aim for:

GREAT
Bourdon 16  - wood with chimney from middle c
Open Diapason 8  -  metal in facade
Spitzflote 8
Principal 4
Waldflote 2
Clarinet 8

SWELL
Stopt Flute 8
Salicional 8
Quintadena 8
Violin 4
Harmonic Flute 4
Mixture IV
Oboe 8

PEDAL
Violone 16
Bourdon 16  from Great
Flute 8   open metal
Trombone 16

The organ is 2 manuals and 16 stops, 19 ranks.     I always want to have a 16 Bourdon on the Great which not only gives weight to the chorus, but also provides an additional unison stop (played 8 va) as well as a duplexed Pedal stop.   

To trim this organ down, I would  omit the  Trombone 16, the Mixture and Oboe.

If a three manual instrument is desired I would add:

CHOIR
Dulciana 8
Stopped Diapason 8
Chimney Flute 4
Nazard 2-2/3
Clarinet 8     (replacing the Great Clarinet with a small Trumpet)

bruise in the muttastery
gainesville fl usa
#6
Greetings,
I'm new here.  Some of you might recognize my user name from PiporgL.   I'm in the "lower colonies"  aka SE USA (Florida).  My fictional residence (which I use for some of my writing) is the Muttastery of St. Dogmael, a Muttastery being a canine version of a Monastery, which is home for the "munts" (mutt + monk).  In the Chapel of All Hounds we have a 3m tracker built by the firm of Haulen, Barken & Wooofff of Beagledor, Canada.   My actual personal is somewhat dull in comparison as I am a 63 year old retired organist/choirmaster in a rather unmusical part of Florida.  Although we have a few nice organs, their work us usually done on Sunday mornings.   But I have digressed before I've even started!  ;-)

I read with interest David's treatise on voicing/finishing a digital organ.   I was given an Allen ADC-4000 last year by a church that has abandoned traditional music.   The organ had been moved into a chapel and the sound source run directly to the PA system through a mixer.   Since it allowed for only two channels, only half of the Great/Pedal and half of the Swell were playable and then without expression.  This gave them the impression that the organ was "broken" which made it seem reasonable to them to let me have it!  whew!

Anyway, I have spent the past year adjusting the voicing and finishing to get the organ to an optimal level for my small room (14 x 25 x 8).   The carpet has been removed revealing the concrete slab and the walls and ceiling are wall board.   Removing the carpet and all uphostered furniture and drapes did wonders for the acoustics, so that I now have a live room with a tiny bit of reverberation (much like the average, small American church!

My desire has been to have an organ that fits the room as a pipe organ would so I concentrated on the stops that would likely be in a small house/studio organ.   Here is the total stoplist:
-----GREAT 
8 Prinzipal, Hohlflote, Gambe
4 Oktav, Spitzflote
2-2/3 Quinte;  2 Fifteenth, Waldflote;     Mixture IV
Trompete 8
   Swell to Great
-----SWELL
8 Salicional, Vox Angelica, Gemshorn, Gedeckt
4 Spitzprinzpal, Koppelflote
2-2/3 Nazard;  2 Piccolo;  1-3/5 Terz;  1 Sifflote;  Mixture III
16 Fagotto;  8 Hautbois,  Trompette;  4 Clairon
-----PEDAL
16 Diapason, Bourdon, Lieblich Gedeckt
8 Octave, Gedecktflote
4 Choralbass
   Mixture III
16 Posaune

One problem encountered is that the stops are grouped onto several boards.   For instance, the Great Principal, 4 Spitzflote, Quinte, Fifteenth are on one board, while the Hohlflote, Gamba,  4 Octave and Waldflote are on another, with the Trompete and Mixture on yet another.   What this means is that a priority stop needs to be chosen with others following as best they can.

My first goal was to set the Great Prinzipal 8 to its maximum comfortable volume and to the specific colour that I wanted.  I wanted the experience/impression of a rank of Principal pipes voiced to fill the room.

After the Principal 8 was set, I set the 4 Oktav attempting to use the "two pipes smaller rule" so that the 4 Oktav was a couple of notches softer than the 8' and about the same colour.   

With the 8 and 4 Principals done I went back and adjusted the Hohlflote and Gambe to roughly the same volume as the Principal, following the French "recipe" noted by Stephen Bicknell.  As well, I wanted to eliminate the flute "electric buzz" that is common to many Allen flutes.   This is achieved by reducing the treble and mid-range and increasing the bass gain.   (Each "board" has adjustments for bass, mid- and treble, and a master gain for the board.)

Then, after more tinkering with the 8 Principal, the 4' Spitzflote was round and bright.  This was possible because the Principal sound I wanted was broader than the very Germanic/American-Classic sound which is standard on this instrument.

The Trompete 8 and Mixture IV are on yet another board, and I reduced the volume and decreased the mid- and treble setting on that board, which resulted in a more Romantic Tromba colour, which is more velvety and smooth than the Germanic Trompete.   Fortunately, this adjusting resulted in reduced volume of the Mixture so that it simply brightens the chorus without increasing the volume.

The Pedal stops which are divided on to two boards were then adjusted.   I have a deep love for open metal pedal stops, so I ajusted the 16 Diapason so that it was just slightly louder, but the same colour, as the Great 8 Prinzipal.   This allows me to use it not only with full organ but also to have purring beneath the strings.   When I want a full, rumbing pedal sound I only need to add the Bourdon 16.   This seems to have been an idea used by Pilcher in his instruments, and he built the most beautiful Bourdon stops.

Similar adjustments were made for the Swell, but were more complex because of the presence of the reeds, which I can only describe as UGLY!   They try to be French but are sorely lacking in foundation.  They have a great deal of harmonic development but not the colour of French reeds.   They do remind me of many of the American-Classic compromises of the early 70s and 80s.

However, since my approach is to have organ sounds that would likely be in a small studio, I do not consider these reeds to be important and I very seldom use them.   The only two regularly used reeds are the Great Trompete (Tromba) and the Pedal 16 Posaune which as been adjusted to match the Great reed, sounding similar to a wooden Trombone.

I have really enjoyed this experience in digital voicing/finishing, especially since I was told by the Allen folks that "it can't be done."    They left me to discover the voicing controls on my own.

I learned a great deal from reading Stephen Bicknell's article on his webpage.

Removal of my carpeting has greatly aided the sound of the organ, significantly warming the sound.  I would like to have more/some reverberation but do not like the affect of the electronic "reverb."   I'm prepared to live with what the room can ultimately offer.    The floor will be painted with Rustoleum epoxy floor paint and possibly the walls as well.   I'm also investigating a ceramic paint which insulates and hardens the walls.  Your experiences and suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Bruise in the Muttastery