Updated version from 2009 to 2014

[Uncle Al]

This 2014 updated version of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen arranged and performed by Barry Holben
will knock your socks off Enjoy Be sure you have your volume turned up

Uncle Al

[Kirbstone]

To get within shouting distance of that guy's technique on that fabulous instrument would require a lifetime of study. A most entertaining version of 'God rest you Gerry Mentalmen'

Thank you, Uncle Al for that.

Tom

P.S. On Christmas day I sent 'my' Church punters out into the cold with J.S.Bach's 'Sheep may safely graze' with a slice of 'Santa Claus is comin' to Town' threaded through it and 'Figgy Pudding' at the end. They were noticed by some....

T.

[crfriend]

My oh my, that is a nice rendition. Thank you for that!

Bit, more amazing, were some of the entries that were linked off of that one, including Nutrocker which was more than worth the price of admission, but also one entitled Behind the scenes where the final checkout of a composite organ was being undertaken. The pipe portion of the instrument isn't present, so the result is essentially a big -- and I mean whopping big -- synthesizer that's undergoing checkout and which will be integrated with the pipes later on.

I'm slightly reticent to call these things organs, though; I'm a bit of a purist in that regard, but the sound can be remarkable, and gone are all the wires and couplers used in the elder instruments -- it's all software and fiber-optics now.

[Uncle Al]

For your enjoyment The Nutrocker
[Notice that the artist is using a drawknob console
instead of a theatre(horseshoe) console]

Uncle Al


P.S. - No fiber-optics were used in this system. Digital control boards
and number 24 or 26 gauge wire between the components.

P.P.S. My friend Don & I are restoring a 17 rank, including chimes,
church organ and this will be the 5th installation of a new "Wireless"
control system. The only wire coming out of the console is the power
cable to the console computer power supply. The 2nd half(receiver)
of the system is in the pipe chamber.

[crfriend]

For your enjoyment The Nutrocker
[Notice that the artist is using a drawknob console instead of a theatre (horseshoe) console]

Yep, that rocks. No doubt about it.

So, as a follow-up for the purists in the group, I offer E. Power Biggs playing J. S. Bach's Tocatta and Fugue in D-minor on the Flentrop tracker organ which was custom built for him at Harvard University's Busch-Reisinger Museum. I have personally heard this instrument in action, and it is astounding. And there's not one bit of electronic widgetry in it at all -- it's 100% mechanical.

Don't get me wrong, I love 'lectronics as much as the next guy (perhaps more), but for outright analogue correctness there's nothing like gut and (mechanical) wire connections betwixt manual/pedal and the pipes.

[Uncle Al]

......Don't get me wrong, I love 'lectronics as much as the
next guy (perhaps more), but for outright analogue correctness there's nothing
like gut and (mechanical) wire connections betwixt manual/pedal and the pipes.

And after you've played a 'tracker' organ, you DON'T need to go to a gym
for a work-out. You can lose 10 LBS each time you play one.
I'll take a digital/analogue(electronic) organ over a 'tracker' any day
That way I can play at least 2-3 songs and not get worn out

Uncle Al

[crfriend]

And after you've played a 'tracker' organ, you DON'T need to go to a gym
for a work-out. You can lose 10 LBS each time you play one.

NOW it's time to haul out the old "... the sacrifices we make for art" crack!

I look at the electrically-activated pipe organ as a labour-saving device in much the same vein as is an electric typewriter over a pure manual one*. But, as a writer, I feel as though I'd do a better job of things with the old tools rather than the new because they'd make me think harder before committing my thoughts to type. This is the same reason why I continue to baffle folks with my stable of "elder (computer) iron" -- a build on this stuff is an investment in time; one does not iterate mindlessly on compilation bugs, one expunges them before committing to the time involved. It's the intellectual counterpart to the winded organist following a strenuous performance on an old-school organ.

I seem to recall some wise-guy cartoonist expressing it thusly in an exchange between a child and his father: "Daddy, why do you use a slide-rule when everybody else's daddy uses a calculator? Because it hurts more this way, son."

This was brought to you via an almost zero-effort keyboard. My Teletype is broken at the moment. Using a classic Teletype is pain incarnate -- even moreso than using a manual typewriter.

* The biggest upside of the electric-action organ is that you can make them truly massive which isn't possible with trackers. The "bigger and louder than anything else" part of my personality identifies intimately with that.

[Jayce]

I was impressed. I'm also a musician...BUT...I only use three fingers, two lips and a diaphram to play the Trumpet, Eb Horn and Soprano Bugle, all my notes are Treble Clef and span maybe two Octives.. HE --> used all ten fingers and both feet AND went through all ranges of the Treble Clef AND the Bass Clef in over a60 Octives. Praise to the guy!!

[pelmut]

I'm slightly reticent to call these things organs, though; I'm a bit of a purist in that regard, but the sound can be remarkable, and gone are all the wires and couplers used in the elder instruments -- it's all software and fiber-optics now.

Some of the old ones are still being lovingly restored in their original condition without any electronic add-ons. I was involved in the restoration of an Aeolian 'residence organ' in Exeter (UK)...
http://www.paulmorrismusic.co.uk/OrganBlower.asp

[crfriend]

Some of the old ones are still being lovingly restored in their original condition without any electronic add-ons. I was involved in the restoration of an Aeolian 'residence organ' in Exeter (UK)...
http://www.paulmorrismusic.co.uk/OrganBlower.asp

I read through that story twice, just to make sure I took it all in properly. It's magnificent! What went from an almost heart-rending opening finished off with a triumphal flare which warmed that almost-rent heart.

That's quite the installation in his "Music room" as well. That's as nuts as if I managed to find an all-up DECsystem-1070 (KI-10 era) and assembled it in my domicile (which would require building an addition just to house it, complete with a raised-floor). Note that the term "nuts" there is used affectionately; I know full well how hard-core purists can behave, and whether it's music or computing (which have strong resonances, mind) in play it's the passion that shines through.

For organs, when did the "electric action" come into play to replace the older tracker notion? Instruments such as Paul's "residence organ" must have been pretty close to the leading edge.

[pelmut]

Some of the old ones are still being lovingly restored in their original condition without any electronic add-ons. I was involved in the restoration of an Aeolian 'residence organ' in Exeter (UK)...
http://www.paulmorrismusic.co.uk/OrganBlower.asp

I read through that story twice, just to make sure I took it all in properly. It's magnificent! What went from an almost heart-rending opening finished off with a triumphal flare which warmed that almost-rent heart.

Since that was written there has been another major bit of reconstruction. Rainwater found its way into the control gear and one of the motor-starting resistors flashed-over to its earthed mounting bolts; the arc spread and did quite a lot of damage before the current rose to a value that blew the fuses. I have had to get slate bars cut to size and make replacement resistors by hand-winding them with the correct grade of "Oxyferry" resistance wire (still available after all these years). A leak in the "pill-box" pneumatic motor was also causing unstable operation, so Paul eventually made a completely new set of bellows for it. The whole thing is now as good as when it left the factory in 1919.

That's quite the installation in his "Music room" as well. That's as nuts as if I managed to find an all-up DECsystem-1070 (KI-10 era) and assembled it in my domicile (which would require building an addition just to house it, complete with a raised-floor). Note that the term "nuts" there is used affectionately; I know full well how hard-core purists can behave, and whether it's music or computing (which have strong resonances, mind) in play it's the passion that shines through.

There is a whole gang of "nuts" that enjoy rallying round to help when we can. It seems you only have to tell any engineer that a pipe organ is involved and he immediately drops everything else in his life to give a hand.

For organs, when did the "electric action" come into play to replace the older tracker notion? Instruments such as Paul's "residence organ" must have been pretty close to the leading edge.

They developed in parallel with automatic telephone exchanges, sharing the same technology and sometimes the same designers and hardware. By 1919, when this organ was made, electro-pneumatic action was fairly well established in some companies, but still rejected by others. Electricity wasn't universally available and the actions were often powered by a dynamo, belt-driven off the blower, which was in turn driven by a steam engine or a town-gas engine.

The organ in Bath Abbey was recently converted back to tracker action, apparently some organists still prefer it to electric action.

[skirtingtheissue]

Don't get me wrong, I love 'lectronics as much as the next guy (perhaps more), but for outright analogue correctness there's nothing like gut and (mechanical) wire connections betwixt manual/pedal and the pipes.

For anyone in the northeast US interested in mechanical organs, you have to visit C B Fisk in Gloucester, Massachusetts. The ones they make there are amazing! As soon as one is more or less assembled, tested, and ready for disassembly and shipment, Fisk holds an Open House (actually an Open Shop) to celebrate. Visitors can have tours of the entire shop, chat with the organ builders, and try out the organ. Check out http://www.cbfisk.com and get on their mailing list! The only electronics/electropneumatic/electromechanical aspects are the selection of the stops.

For you Scots, Fisk submitted a proposal to replace the organ at St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh ca. 1983. But Charles Fisk died during the negotiations and St. Giles feared that without Charles the company would not be the same, and Fisk lost the job. However, history has shown that the company continued on as strong as ever and is now, as it was then, an absolutely top-notch organ builder.

[dillon]

While I suspect this may be an electrically operated organ, if you are in Gloucester MA, the Hammond Castle is a great place to visit also. The organ and great hall are amazing. It is open only in the summer however.