Organs (cinema, theatre, church, etc)

Me thinks your imagination is working overtime Helen. Philip may surprise you yet !

It's changed colour, Helen. Very similar layout as my White Lady, but such is the increase of computing power since the previous design, that I don't need to keep loading separate banks of pre-sets. It's easier to use, once I get used to it.

I say things like that every time I buy a new laptop.

And so say all of us Helen. Excuse me a minute whilst I throw my 18 month old printer in the BIN

Hi all, Just wet Friday evening yatter. Why on earth would a bloke that boasts about making things last, change such a major item as an instrument that I only bought last year. My white lady needed contractual maintenance under its guarantee. It coincided with the dealer having in stock, the more refined instrument that I've had my eye on since it's introduction in 2020/21. The white lady was & is a fun machine. The sounds were & are fabulous, but it was an instrument designed to appeal to a market of popular music lovers. For example, it calculated the exact sound of Acker Bilk. It did so by corrupting his instrument into the broadcast sound that we all loved listening too. The snag is, all of the bending made the instrument on the organ limited to that performance. Multiply that by all of the instruments made popular by broadcast performances, it literally gave them such a thick sound, that in any other setting it was simply unrealistic. So my new instrument is a fully re-designed UK orchestral organ. It's a serious machine, which is taking my time to get to grips with it. Oh it's still fun, the price was right, I was allowed the full cost that I paid last year, also I have a new twelve month warranty before I pay a maintenance fee. So, that's how that has come about.

Philip, you're torturing someone who grew up listening to Carry On movies, Round the Horn, The Two Ronnies, Black Adder and the rest. If you cut me in half you'd see the words 'double entendre' running through me like a stick of rock. Seriously though, while I have no musical talent, I can understand the appeal of high tech instruments and how they differ in quality. I've looked at music software that can use Garritan virtual instrument libraries and turn melodies into symphonies, Irish jigs or jazz. I fancy turning copyright free tunes like The Coventry Carol into mood music. But I'm not allowed to start any new hobbies until I've got further with the current ones!

Sounds like a win win situation Philip, and now you have a new toy to play with. Enjoy .

Hi all, It is a home organ, it will never replace a Wurlitzer pipe organ or the organ in Coventry Cathedral. Until 2014, I had never had an organ in our home. I always preferred synthesizers along with my piano. I had foot pedals with my synths. Michael & I used to refer to home organs as sideboards. It was the sampled sounds that appealed to me, I bought my Yamaha in 2014 @ over twenty years old, to power my Hauptwerk system. Both of my new organs are basically two synthesizers, neatly joined up, using a hybrid sound system of patch sampled sounds. There is still a army of enthusiasts who like the sideboard home organs, so much so, that Ringway have just produced a new one. That's not for me or my Michael. Doing demos for a trader in Coventry, it was common for instruments to be exchanged often costing thousands, where it was obvious that they had rarely been used, a bit like the piano in someone's front room. I have to have mine serviced, just as the tower ballroom organ is virtually rebuilt during the closed periods. This isn't my scene. It's not the cabinet as much as the sound generation system that puts me off. The piano is sampled sound on it, but .......... There It is.

Hi Anne, Please don't be discouraged by the word 'Talent'. I was exposed to people playing musical instruments from age dot. Just as I loved playing with Meccano, I'm sure it was the mechanics of watching the actions of organs that caught my interest. Watching a steam showman engine powering a massive gavoli steam organ just blew me as it belted out Modern Milly. The music was almost a by-product.

Hi all, It's me! I know that I live in the past, yet I look to the future. My interest in railways, music & food is much in the past. My faith looks to the future, but I will leave that one there. However reliable a piece of high-tech equipment might be, age takes its toll just as it does on you & me. I cannot honestly get over how well I'm feeling in myself, confirmed at present by my medical exam recently. That's only today, who knows about the tomorrows! Anyway, over eight years of me pounding our chapel organ, it's time for it to have a bit of tender love & care. So, that's arranged. The piano also is going to be looked at to see what's needed. Our chapel organ, a Ringway RS 600, is so perfect in design, that we are going to maintain it. I like it so much, that if we didn't have that in our chapel, I would have no hesitation in having it at home. My organ at home, is designed as an orchestral instrument, whereas the chapel organ is a far better maid of all instrument. I'm heartened when following a service, folk do tell me how pleased they are to hear an organ, being embellished with two guitarists, accompanying most of the hymns & singing. I say most, because some hymns are far better on piano. The two guitarists compliment each other by their differing styles. I'm so blessed hearing them. My days of playing out here, there & everywhere are over, yet, time after time, I'm so thrilled to be part of the music team that helps lead the singing worship in my local chapel, where it all started for me in my early teens. Am I living in the past! Possibly & practically yes, but not in my mind. So many of our Coventry previous cultures & such are no longer. Heritage groups are struggling in general. Organs like steam engines are for most a past memory, whether in a church, theatre or pub! Now & again I hear of a cultural revival, someone striking up the band, but the next time I look it's fizzled away. I'm hoping that Coventry's one time Gaumont cinema organ being let loose in Bilston Town Hall ball room this year will have a good future, but like our chapel, it will only do so by the backing of dedicated volunteers, just like our heritage railways. Without them, nothing! Love & best wishes to you all.

Hi all, I'm delighted to tell you that our chapel replacement organ arrived this afternoon. Just looking, it looks no different to the RS600 that was taken away. The key & pedal action is crisp & totally responsive, the sounds sweeter in consequence of that. The instrument taken away, will be fully overhauled, upgraded with the latest computerised technology which will elevate the organ to its new status as an RS620. Very rarely does a solid state component go down. It's the mechanics that wear, like the manuals, pedals speakers & so on. A piano overhaul might be the next job.