Organs (cinema, theatre, church, etc)

Very excited for you Philip.

It's arrived.

Just in time for Christmas, Phil. Brill, Brill.

You must have been a very good boy to deserve such a fine instrument, Philip. If I ever catch up with you, it's going to cost you a plate of bangers and mash.

I've even got an audience!

Hi all, I would never ever like to report to you that I had spent a lot of dosh on a white elephant. Let me tell you, this is no white elephant. I've spent so much time on it, please notice the piled cushion to safeguard me having by a flat bottom! It's important for any instrumentalist to play their instrument, not for it to ever play them. The power of this instrument, it isn't the Town Hall in Birmingham, or the Westminster Chapel. It's a lounge instrument. I could add the huge concert speakers & audio mixer to do that. That was needed for the Yamaha, being a much more brash instrument. The power is how this Ringway orchestrates for the most subtle of harmonies, as long as I press the right notes in the right order. For that, I cannot believe it. My soft slippers are the order of the day, as I'm able to walk the pedals. I've just played the familiar tune to Silent Night, where every orchestral instrument could be heard, the softest to the loudest. I've never had a symphony orchestra in my lounge, but you would be forgiven if you thought that I had one here now. Happy Christmas, everyone. PS. Ticket sales have gone up.

Hi all, Talking of destroyed chapels & churches, there are eight sampled church organs in my pre-sets. Each one from a separate church or chapel, ranging in intensity, right up to Westminster Chapel, then no.8, Hereford Cathedral with choir. I can access those at the press of one button. I don't need to wear my specs, whereas to do so with my Haupwerk samples of the past, I needed to have loaded my dedicated laptop, then select each organ & pre-sets, needing a lot of vision that I don't have. If my vision was good, there's no finer system than that of Haupwerk sampling. I could have bought a ready built organ, with the samples all set in, costing a lot more than this Ringway, but without the fun. Tutors have often failed their pupils, by not making music fun. It's no wonder Alice & Arnold didn't like their boring piano lessons.

Hi all, My last post on this. Picture that you are in a lovely concert hall. The conductor raises his baton, for the first beat of the bar. The first sound you hear is the quiet drum, followed by the plucked double bass, then the bowed strings. In that random example, the practicalities are evident. That's the order that our ears hear the sound. So on my Ringway, the component instruments are presented in that practical reality, not a flat sound, the characteristics of electronic instruments of the past. I press a pedal, say one pedal, but I hear those components in the practical order. I've never in my life come across that technology. I will leave that for now. Otherwise I'm boring everyone. There are so many other things to describe in gasps of my amazement. Love to you all.

I remember when it was free to family and friends!

It is free. The animal entrance is what I was referring to. It's fully bonified. Do you get it? Bonified.

Good morning, For anyone interested, The Beeb, available on catchup or iplay, channel BBC 4, presented a "Documentary that follows the tireless efforts of a small band of pipe organ enthusiasts to save these magnificent instruments as churches and venues across Britain close." I can't make a comment as I've yet to watch it. I've been far too busy.

I'm looking forward to your video.

Well Helen, I'm looking forward to you being sat in my lounge. There's more to come. A piano may be arriving this week too. This new instrument of mine is so different to the brash nature of my Yamaha, that I need to go back to basics. There's nothing to match the orchestral qualities of a piano. A piano is percussion, sustain & harmonic. No other instrument has that versatility. Composers have always worked off a piano. I'm officially classed as a romance pianist, not an organist. I'm so in awe of the orchestral quality management of this new organ, I want to exploit that all of the way.

PhilPam, Did you by chance see on Christmas Eve the wonderful man who saves Church organs from redundant churches rather than ending up in a scrapyard? I was fascinated and my schoolfriend Victor Saville (we were at Folly Lane School and later the Tech, a retired organ builder) will be when I tell him, as it is what he has done himself on many occasions. BBC 4 "The Organ stops: Saving the King of Instruments". Victor still keeps his hand in with tunings and some repairs. I'm sure you would enjoy the programme on catch up if you are able!