Organs (cinema, theatre, church, etc)

Hi all The problem with these instruments is that nowdays they only survive with volunteers as they require a lot of space & skilled maintenance. That is why five have been thrown out of town halls recently. It is not just cinema organs either. It is becoming rare to find a classic pipe organ in a church these days, as they are being thrown out of churches for the same reason. Also, there is a shortage of proficient organists. I have officiated at two church services this morning, because there was no one else & I struggle to see the music. That is how bad it is.

Hi all Just spotted this in the Daily Mail. It is not Coventry, but I shall just pretend that it is. We had so many of these in our city fifty years ago.

Hi all I wish that this was Coventry but it isn't. I have quite an interest in this particular organ, but if any of you fancy a bit of organ restoration you might like to have a look at this clip first, before you decide which room in your home you intend to put the organ in. Please put you earphones on for the sound. It is worth it. Organ Restoration London When I first saw the film clip, I thought that Bernard Cribbins had the right answer, so please keep your earphones on. Have A Cup of Tea Now We are not enjoying the best of times just now, with the economics, our own city football & even England have conceded to a draw. Add to that the weather! Some of my family are off to Skegness next week for a Spring break, so I asked if they had packed their skis. It is this very scenario that made our cinemas & theatres such a valued venue, before the days of our smart tellies. Unfortunately, I do not believe that we have a theatre organ in Coventry. There was one at Napton, which then went to Ashorne Hall near to Warwick but that is no longer there. There was one at Marston Green but that has gone. Turners Musical Venue near to Northampton has also ceased to exist. So with the future technology now in the shape of our laptops, we can at least use this to have a peep into the past like this, one of hundreds of YouTube clips of a sound from the past. Please keep your earphones on & relax with your feet up to this. Wurlitzer

Hi all. It has been my thrill to try my hands & feet on many of our cinema & cathedral organs over the years. As far as church organs go, Westminster Chapel, only yards from Buckingham Palace, had to be a trump card. I played for a youth convention there, as well as for the London Emmanuel Choir performing Handel's Messiah. That is a big organ. Now and again though, it is nice to come across more modest instruments which have their own character, like the solo organ, at St Martin in the Field Church in Green Lane which I played recently. Your Bedworth Parish I enjoyed playing many times as well as the one in your Baptist Church opposite the cemetery. That organ now is in France. My real love though has always been the cinema or theatre organ. I will come back with a couple of links that I am sure that you will enjoy. Jelani Eddington Any by this player I am sure that you will love, a mix of soft classics, evergreens, to the most brilliant technically achievable. Select any from YouTube & the Odeon comes into your lounge. The ladies are not left out either. Just listen to this. Carol Williams This was my church organ, actually a theatre organ. It needs a lot of attention which would cost more than a new synth, which is the way church music & music in general is going nowadays.

I wonder if there is a theatre organ left in Coventry, perhaps someone private owns one. Was it the Brighouse in Yorkshire as my daughter lived there?

Hi Morgana, None in Coventry & yes, Brighouse in Yorkshire. Glad that you liked it. Earphones make all of the difference to the quality of the sound. I am on my upstairs laptop surfing our site, at the same time as listening to Jim Riggs playing. If my Pam is using the lounge computer then this is often where I go & hide. If your pc is fast enough, it is quite feasible to run two programs Jim Riggs Jim, sadly no longer alive, used a technical skill of playing with an automatic piano, pre-loaded with a card roll, like a pianola. Pianola Jim would start the pianola off from a switch on the organ, & then play to it. There are several full YouTube clips of him doing this. The nice thing for me about this method of playing, was that the Coventry Gaumont had this arrangement when Mr. Dekin (spelling?) was manager in the early fifties.

Hi scrutiny You listening is the most important bit. I first heard a sample keyboard twenty years ago, which had the voice of Nat King Cole singing with his daughter Natalie, which could not actually have happened as he was not alive. The keyboard cost over £20k. The whole shooting match can be bought for £5k now.

Hi all I really need your help on this. Home organs, Keyboards or Synths have historically evolved from what are called tone generators, either electronic or electro-mechanical. They use their sound generator to copy a sine-wave or electronic pattern, & so produce a synthesised sound copy of say a flute, or a violin. More complex patterns like a piano require very sophisticated electronics which is why they have tended to be the more expensive to buy. This technology has taken a sidestep over the last couple of decades where, instead of reproducing the sound by tone generation, the actual sound that we want can be copied & played just as you would a gramophone record, but instead of the recording needle sending the signal, the signal comes from whatever note you have pressed on the keyboard. The high technology here is to record as many parts of the sound in a given point in time, which requires huge computer processing power. That was unthinkable even ten years ago, but most of our laptops nowadays are more than adequate. Enough of me talking about a technology far outside of my understanding, but I have watched this technology grow & grow to a point now where it is **marvellous. (I wanted to add a swear word there ** too). Please listen to this & say what you honestly think. I might even buy a setup later in the year, but I honestly value your opinion. SampleSounds SampleSounds SampleSounds SampleSounds SampleClassic Organ

Hi all, Please forgive me if I have linked this YouTube clip before, but it is short, & shows some of the mechanics of a cinema organ. In this clip, we have two fabulous musicians. There are two pianos, the one being played as well as the one permanently connected to the organ, known as the phantom piano. That is not being used whilst there is a pianist. ps. Note the height of the pedals for comfortable heel & toe control. Cinema organ works Please enjoy.

Hi all Cinema organs were originally brought about because of the need to provide musical accompaniment to silent movies. Once sound-tracks arrived, the roll of these organs changed to one of embellishments for the intervals. It was in their last phase of commercial use that they became dance hall instruments. The recording that I have linked here goes back to 1954 & must be one of the first uses of stereo reproduction. Those of us who love listening to the remaining instruments are so used to the high rhythm content nowadays, that it is so nice to come across a high quality recording like this, where the style is more in line with a real cinema environment. We are not actually sure who the organist is, but he is as cracker. Please just sit back with your earphones, click on the picture & imagine that you are eating your tub of ice cream whilst the organist really entertains. ps. I believe that the organist is Walt Strony. Sometimes, organs find their way into private homes or collections. In this link a veteran organist is re-united with his one time career instrument.

Hi all One of the nice things about our forum is that we can share. Now I know that we are not all into motorbikes, steam trains or whatever, but I do hope that all of you, our members that is, feel free to share hobbies & ideas or the like. Many of you know that I have been involved with music for most of my adult life, church organist, orchestra & band work from time to time & never been without a piano at home & for several decades, I had a dedicated music room complete with a stack synth system with pedals. As my model railway occupied the same room, I have been forced to trim down my music systems, so only the piano is there now. From my earlier posts on this thread, you will see that I had considered venturing into the latest technology of sampled sounds, but at great costs. £5k being the kind of price tag. Say it quick & maybe it won't sound so bad. Memories now, as I recall occasions where my late friend Paul, had his music shop near to Gosford Green. He would sometimes invite me to demo on some of the then latest technological innovation instruments, like the range of Yamaha EL series organs. Very impressive instruments, but came with, guess what! Price tags of around £5k at the time, 1994 say. Two instruments that did impress me at the time were the Yamaha EL 70 & its bigger price tag brother EL90. Have you ever noticed that your new showroom motorcar, is hardly worth a fraction of the price that you paid for it, just a few years ago. (unless it's a Merk of course). I just happened to be looking for an instrument on ebay for a friend & noticed a Yamaha EL 90 in mint condition was for sale' for a few hundred pounds. Further investigation & I discovered a dealer, (in Newcastle, not Coventry, sad to say) who specialises in reconditioning & selling these instruments with the same terms as if they were new, along with written guarantees. With digital circuitry, it is the mechanical moving parts like keys, switches & peddles that wear, but with a well equipped maintenance room, that is fairly straightforward. So why spend £5k, where for one tenth of that we can have nearly the same quality of sound. I will post a couple of links for you to listen to both a Yamaha EL90 & EL70. Both of these 1994 era technologies. Toodle-pip! ps. I will follow with the links. EL90 Current price tag around £500 EL70 Current price tag around £300 Modern Yamaha Tyros system Current price tag of between £5k & 6k - very nice, but at a huge price

Hi all It's now over a week since my (new to me) vintage Yamaha EL90 arrived at my home. Since this picture was taken a week ago. a lot of hard practice has been going on, as I try to string music sequences together, a bit like cleaning a rusty bucket I am afraid. The sounds on this instrument are very dated, compared to the quality of keyboard sounds that are readily available. The package on the organ is fabulous though, enabling full control, which is impossible on a single keyboard instrument. The EL90 has the two manuals as well as a generous pedal board, all of which along with the rest of the organ are fully midi fitted, which is what I want to share with you. MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is the facility for any musical instrument to be able to receive or transmit data to another instrument. The fact that the sounds on this organ are dated, is of little consequence, as we can control any modern instrument from it. It is in effect the electronic means of doing what the big wind driven theatre organs have done for years mechanically. I hope that you have seen a 'Phantom Piano' being played, with the notes on the piano going down on their own, being played from the organ console located yards away. That is what MIDI does nowadays electronically. On my previous post, I gave examples of some current prices, one of which the Tyros system, where so much of that high cost, is not just the basic sound generating keyboard, but the added cost of the set-up, like amplification, speakers, extra keyboard & pedal board & all being put together. Just to show that there is a bit of sense in my madness, I am now in a position to add a tyros sound keyboard to my EL90, (Tyros quoted price of £1500) if & when I decide to do so. The complete current Tyros system with little or no change out of £5k. The cost advantage is literally half of what it would have cost me, if I had ordered a new complete multi-keyboard Tyros as advertised. I am not rushing to spend yet, as I am so enjoying just getting to grips with my EL90 on its own. I used the description of me as a rusted bucket, but that us about it. Being out of public playing for so long, has really taken its toll. It's a bit like riding a bike though, that we never completely forget, so each practise session brings more of my memories back. I am avoiding any sight reading, as I have no wish to punish the comparative improvement with my eyesight. For me, the main problem with a single keyboard instrument is lack of control. Yes I know that most single keyboards can be split, but that restricts each hand, which must remain in its own half all of the time. Another thing, what would I do with my feet? I suppose if I had learned to play keyboards like this, I might have coped, but I was trained on open instruments, without any auto sequencing. Auto play stuff did not exist in the fifties. In the mean time, take your partners please.

Great photo Philip. Glad you are having fun with your new toy. Your name's on my card for the ladies excuse me.

Hi Mayjan, You are no excuse, Mayjan. I tell you though, it is hard practise. I even forget what song or tune I am practising, or the one I am leading into. Most of us involved in music have our ups & downs. Over three decades ago, I had successfully auditioned to be a player member of the theatre organ society, organ being my new baby then as apposed to piano in the band. I was so full of it, you know! Showing off. I sneaked a favourite work colleague to come & see a fabulous theatre organ in action with me practising as organist. The fact was that I was rubbish. Somehow my mind had frozen. I still have not a clue to this day as to why. Fortunately, I was able to, put matters to right on another occasion. Playing as I was at the time, over a period of six months, even reduced my weight by more than three stone, as the energy needed was huge. Folks asked me if I was dieting, when in fact I was eating like a horse, or eating a horse. Playing a piano consumes energy, as our whole body is caught up in the expression, but an organ takes another level of energy on top of the emotion & feeling. Both hands, both feet, knees, palms of hands & even wrists. If I was playing for a party dance evening, usually at least two organists taking it in turns of about forty minutes each, none stop that is, with one song going into another & so on, often three songs strung together for a particular dance style, where at the end of forty minutes I was sweating buckets, having to wash a change before my next turn. I would get through three shirts in one evening. As the late Jo Gladwin would say, "You 'ave to laugh"

There used to be a lady pianist years ago who earned the name 'Kitten on the Keys', does that sound familiar to anyone with piano fingers?