Tony Newnham

Hi Can you send the NPOR office (or me) an e-mail with the relevant info (and source of info) - we can then file it in case of future queries. Many Thanks Every Blessing Tony

Hi First - find out what the stop sounds like in the building! Then and only then can you decide what usage is appropriate. To quote an example - St. Mary, Saffron Walden - the chamade there is very loud - but since it fires down the South Aisle and the console is on the screen, the organist only hears it reflecting from the West End - and that's a heck of a long way away. I've heard some famous organists use it in chords in recitals, and it's downright painful - espevcially if you sit on the South side of the Nave! Usage there is probably limited to the odd fanfare, trumpet tune and etc. The chamade at Bradford Cathderal can be used choradally (although I in practice limited it to soloing the introduction and part of v3 of "Thine be the Glory" - but then I was playing for a funeral). Bradford emphasises the need to hear what the stop sounds like rather than assuming - the chamade is actually quieter than the solo trumpet. Chamades can be purely solo stops - or they can be part of a chorus - which probably isn't the answer you wanted - it depends on the organ! Every Blessing Tony

Hi As far as I'm aware, it's only happened once (and is now resolved) - and that was not just the same initials but the same name! We are prettgy careful - and the editors can access the surveyor database to check things if need be. As far as DHC is concerned, it is a Dave Harris, so it probably is you (there is an address, etc. in the database, but that's not public knowledge. For what it's worth, my code is ADN (TDN had already gone when I joined the team) - so anything with ADN as the source code is down to me Every Blessing Tony

Hi True - but it's also very easy to get it wrong! There are a number of surveyors with the same initials and hence similar codes. We have to be careful that we get the right one! Every Blessing Tony

Hi You're almost certainly right - the other stop list on NPOR is flagged "specification uncertain" - it probably dates from the 1950's-60's. The one you've linked to is dated 2001 and was probably noted by an organist who played for some event there. (I do know who from the source code, but we don't generally reveal sources unless there's a specific reason - and only then (if the person is still alive) - with permission. The other stop list comes from the Charles Drane notebooks (he's no longer with us!) - and was possibly derived from a magazine or similar (but it could have been a site visit). Every Blessing Tony

Hi I'd suggest returning it to it's original Lewis state as far as possible. Every Blessing Tony

Hi I suspect that it will be cause for discussion among the fundamentalists,as you say. I wold want to know what the words actually say (and the meanings of the names) before judging - Allah could simply be the Arabic (and Urdu) name for God, just as in French it's "Dieu" (Sp?), or it could be an allusion to the Islamic understanding of that name (for the same God). Asian Christians here in Bradford refer to God as Allah. If what the piece says is compatible with Biblical teaching, then why not use it in a Cathedral - if it's not, then perhaps it shouldn't be used in Christian buildings. I can see this becoming a hot potato! Every Blessing Tony

Hi Yes - same church. I'd probably better not say too much on list - but suffice to say he had little musical training - read the treble clef only (makes harmonies "interesting" to say the least) and had no intention of improving. I was warned that the organist here could be a problem (he's over 80, has been playing here for almost 60 years and still plays one service a month) but I have no problem. I suspect it's because he knows that I appreciate what he does - and he knows that if he says he can't/won't play something, I can! The week he's scheduled to play we have a more traditional (Baptist) communion service - the other weeks, musical style is more "blended". To be fair, the Sunday I "preached with a view" here (for non-Baptists, that's last stage in the Baptist appointment process - followed by the church meeting that says "yes" or "no" to the appointment) I was told that he had been ill and wouldn't be around, and the music group would be playing, so I planned the music accordingly. Well, D. decided he would come and wanted to play - and considering he only saw the music (a mix of hymns and worship songs) the day before, he coped well with everything - and we've got on well ever since. Every Blessing Tony

Hi The HOSA project (Historic organ Sound Archive) was a specifically funded piece of work that was limited to organs in East Anglia - and probably instruments that were unlikely to have been recorded commercially. We do hope to extend the scope of the project if funding becomes available. Every Blessing Tony

Yes! Every Blessing Tony

Hi Any confirmed information is more than welcome. We are trying to get everything up to date - and we've even managed to slightly reduce the backlog. Every Blessing Tony (NPOR Editor)

Hi The information on the Shultz is on NPOR - see http://npor.emma.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch...ec_index=N02809 Every Blessing Tony

Hi I've been looking at some of these initiatives - it's very interesting, and it may well be the way that Christianity is made relevant to the majority in our society who have rejected what they perceive as the boring, outdated spirituality of the established church. I'm basically in agreement with Cynic on the mattger of quality - whatever style of worship we adopt, it should be done to the very best of the ability of the participants - and I would also add that all who participate in worship also need to work to improve their abilities. Contemporary worship music undoubtedly aids many people to relate to God and worship Him - and I certainly wouldn't want to decry that in any way. We live in a diverse society, so it follows that expressions of worship will be diverse - that's been the case in the UK since at least the 1700's and the establishment of non-conformist churches (even if there were legal problems until the 1820's!) and I suspect "non-conformist" patterns of worship existed since soon after the first day of Pentecost. Just because "I" don't like a particular style of worship doesn't make it wrong - or inferior. Every Blessing Tony

Hi Milne's "building a 2 Manual Chamber Organ" contains the necessary information - or ask a freindly organ builder - most of them make their own wood pipes I think. Every Blessing Tony

Hi Sadly, gathering notes are only too alive and well in some churches - including one where I preach frequently - I often automatically start singing at the "right" tgime and have to wait for the pianist & congregation to catch up. Yet when I've played there, I don't use gathering notes and have no problems with the congregation not starting in time.

Hi Would bluetooth be reliable enough? Especially given that it's now available on many mobile ohones, etc. - the risk of interference to the signal could make life interesting! Also, what's it's range? Another aproach would be MIDI over a radio link (the hardware is available) - I guess it uses one of the standard de-regulated radio mic channels - again I would have some reservations about reliability - a multiplex system only requires a single cable, which should be possible in most installations. Incidentally, tracker has been used for a nave organ - St. James, Edgbaston (now closed and organ destroyed) - see http://npor.emma.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch...ec_index=N07334 To be accurate, the Nave division was elevated on the East transept Wall of the crossing - the main organ in a chamber behind this - trackers ran through an arch in the stone work. See the description on NPOR for the rather convoluted tracker runs involved for this later addition. Every Blessing Tony

Hi Try your local freindly organ builder - they may well have one (or more) laying about. Certainly one of our local builders had 2 or 3 surplus last year. Just watch out for excessive wear and tear. Every Blessing Tony

Hi That's the name I was trying to remember. They used to be regulars at CRE, and their prices looked pretty reasonable. I never used the firm as I could never raise funding for the projects I had in mind. Every Blessing Tony

Hi There used to be a firm that specialised in organ hire - my memory says at Abinger Hammer, near Guildford, but I don't know if they're still in business. Other than that, try one of the companies that build/import them - they'll have a pretty good idea of what's available. I think the Albourne people at Huddersfield have (or had) a hire organ - but that's rather a long trek to your part of the world! Every Blessing Tony

Hi Visit the Victorian Reed Organ Museum at Saltaire (near Bradford) and you can see one. It's a small folding reed organ, built with heavy plywood for the case (presumably marine ply?). Every Blessing Tony

Hi Hodich & the "Diaocton" stop? Every Blessing Tony

It is done occaisionally, but it's not that common. It seems likely that the 61 note manual compass was introduced over here to reduce the effects of missing notes in the top octave when using the coupler (normal compass until late Victorian times was to g3 or a3 (56 or 58 notes) - and there's not much repertoire that uses the top of the top octave. Every Blessing Tony

Hi I suspect for battleships, the humble harmonium sufficed - the collection at Saltaire has a folding harmonium buit for the admiralty for just this use. I've vaguely heard of a pipe organ on a luxury liner - maybe in the Aeolian book that I read a few years ago? Every Blessing Tony

Hi There's a reference in the Organists' Review article to: "The Organ of the Sheldonian Theatre, University of Oxford" pub. Univ. Oxford PRO 2002. There were some rumblings in the journals at the time of installation about replacing pipes with this. The only real way to judge it is to go and listen. Every Blessing Tony

Hi The picture was in "Organists' Review" in the article about voicing digital organs by the Comerfords. The organ is a "prestige" job in Oxford (Sheldonian Theatre). Another source of consoles set up for Hauptwerk is Ron Coates. 01737 844420 or ron.coates@ukf.net. I know Ron, but I've not seen his recent work. Every Blessing Tony