Organs (cinema, theatre, church, etc)

Hi all In all of the gloom of my previous posts on the subject of disappearing organs. One ray of optimism is coming from an Italian organ business, who have recently launched a brand new instrument at the budget price end - Orla at £3k I say budget price, as builders such as Allen's & Lowrey, continue to supply new, very sophisticated instruments with a £20k price tag as normal. For me, as long as an instrument has "MIDI" so as to transmit data to my laptop, it will work fine.

Hi all Theatre organ music does not have to be all singing & dancing, not that there is anything wrong with that. Another side to theatre organ music. I hope that you enjoy this harmonic presentation as much as I have, listening to it. Either on Hi-Fi or earphones to receive the subtle sounds for full appreciation.

Hi all Just when you are settling down quietly with a port & lemon, along comes a little lady playing the upgrade version of my Yamaha. Not far short of a miracle Then they get younger! Happily for me, these latest Yamaha Stagea organs are not available in the UK or anywhere in the west, as they lack the dealership expertise as well as possibly the organists to play them. It's a struggle to find an organist to play anywhere at present. I cannot take on any more at my very low level of performance, having to turn requests down like I am. I am not being modest either. I am being honest. At my very small local church, they have a donated Yamaha spinet organ from the 1970 era. Very limited in what it will do, but for that, I am the only person that ever plays it. A couple of weeks ago I played at five different venues, one of those for a host who had been let down at the last moment. Without being silly, twenty years ago a could name at least seventy good robust quality organists, some of whom I played duets with. I would struggle to name twenty nowadays, for all of the UK. That is why organs are being removed from churches, it isn't just because folk don't like them or cannot afford the cost of the upkeep. They ain't got anyone to play 'em. The view from my corner of the world on a Sunday. I am sure that my moderator friend will confirm this, but when I was at KHVIII in the 1950/60 era, in the days when we had a school assembly, whilst we had an outstanding pianist, Mrs Gates, any number of staff could turn their hand to playing a hymn. I had a short period at Caludon Castle School where every morning each of the eight teaching blocks had someone to play for their assembly. I can tell you that at this date, there is only one member of current staff who can play at KHVIII, even where they have a lovely digital organ. Seven years ago, I was asked if I would play for them, by the now late Mr Vent, who contacted me. It doesn't get any thinner than that. Before I drown in my own doom & gloom, just a lovely reminder that we do have the finest talent here in the UK, so I will go to bye byes with this soothing mastery in my ears. Robert Wolfe at Thursford.

One for Philip - St Patrick's Cathedral, Manhattan

Hi all With so much depressing world news, as well as the latest regards our local football club, it appears that little changes over time. A bit of positive news about our speedway, but then a headache for our motor-parts industry. That is why we had theatres, picture houses, our local pubs & yes churches. Somewhere to lose ourselves even if for only the afternoon matinee. I have had a busy day, not long home from volunteering, so I am being soothed by these long ago tunes. If you can look for your earphones, please have a listen to these three gems, all played on virtual reality theatre organs. Nightingales Moonlight Foolish Hearts There are many more by this performer on YouTube, so just relax with your favorite tipple & listen.

Hi all My new view on a Sunday. Next to the new organ, a new piano too.

Hi all Just chat. I have spent time of late, coupling our new church organ to the piano, so that when our pianist is absent, the piano & organ combination can still be maintained, as though the pianist was there playing. That is such a help, because there is nothing like the percussion of a piano to help keep the tempo going. It has been such a revision in music technology for me, as it is quite complex connecting the midi out signals from the organ to the midi receive system on the piano. I only want the notes to be played on the piano, so that the piano ignores the organ preset & voice changes. So, setting what data the piano receives has been quite a step back to my early days of teaching music technology. It is so complicated & has taken me many hours of studying the owner manuals. So, as of this morning, it worked fine, allowing our pianist to play his guitar, at which he is very talented. Although the industry standard of using MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a relatively modern technology, there is nothing new regards the basic concept of one instrument being played by another. Theatres & cinemas used electro-pneumatic coupling devices to do the same, for over a century for the same reason. I was told as a child, by our Gaumont organist that coupled pianos in cinemas was to aid the community sing-along time.

Hi all, A clearer picture of the organ technology whereby the piano is couple to the organ, so can be played by the organist as a phantom piano. A close-up of the organ, an instrument bursting with technology. The lower manual, 61 notes is ideal for piano work, or when not, the top two octaves on the lower manual have a default split, so making the instrument a three manual organ in effect. I say default split, the organ opens up with the split. We can move the split anywhere, transfer to the top manual or cancel altogether. The default behaves as a solo instrument, the sounds of the flute, oboe & so on are amazing.

Hi all Quite a test for our music system at my church today. Our pianist is away, so the phantom piano will have the whole day of services to show its mettle as it were. Once the piano is switched on & the default volume set on the piano, all of the control passes from the organ. That is the theory anyway. We meet ages before the start of the morning service so as to have a run through, the above picture from a few weeks ago. The piano now remains permanently coupled to the organ, so our pianist can play his guitar if he so chooses. At other times, I can control whether the note data etc is being sent to the piano from the organ controls.

Some more for Philip - Ribe Cathedral, Jutland

I always enjoyed the theatre organs and singalongs! My first experience l think was at the Gaumont! The Empire, Rex, Lyric, Globe, Savoy, Rialto, all had them!

Another for Philip Trinitatis Church, Copenhagen

So the old Cathedral organ could not have been played by Handel as is sometimes claimed, unless the Willis build incorporated parts of the original which may be possible.

Hi all A picture from 1st April, 2018 (my birthday), where Sam & I are leading the morning worship. I was unaware of the picture being recorded until I saw it on another website - possibly Sam was aware by his outward expression. The time of the picture was 11.08am, but by the markers in the hymn books, it was obviously at the start of the service. Thank you all for your contributions to this thread. ps. I can just make Pam's face in the congregation, further to the back. This before the dreadful illness that she is now coping so well with.