Tony Newnham

Hi "Organbuilding 2003" - the anuual journal of the Institute of British Organ Builders - has an article about humidifiers which is worth reading. Back issues are available, IIRC via Positive Press. Every Blessing Tony

Hi There was a thread about Battersea on the UK Cinema Organ list a few months ago. It's currently unplayable, but there is some possibility of a restoration. All Souls, Clive Vale, hastings has another N&B organ that is in effect Hope-Jones, and virtually untouched. It's been unplayable for a long time (unless anything has changed in the past 15 years since I moved out of the area). Every Blessing Tony

Hi It's not common, but far from a lone example. Usually included for use in pedal solos (chorale preludes, etc.) Every Blessing Tony

Hi That's what comes of replying too early in the morning after a disturbed night - and in too ch of a hurry! Every Blessing Tony

Hi The standard used on NPOR (as requested by the BIOS council) has the usual low C of manuals and pedals designated as "C". The next octave uses lower case (i.e. c- middle c is then c1 and the top note of a 61 note manual is c4. 54 note keyboards are then C-a3, and the old English long compass runs from GG. That's about as close to a standard as you can get in the UK. I@ve just about got used to it, having previously to working on NPOR used CC as the lowest manual note & CCC on pedals (see for example stop lists in old copies of "The Organ" and in many books. Every Blessing Tony

Hi Cambridge University Library have a full set if that's any help. Every Blessing Tony

Hi May I suggest that you download an NPOR survey form & take it with you, so that we can enter the relevant info. Every Blessing Tony

Hi The fact that the fault is appanernt of both departments would rule out dirt on the pallets, so I would look first at the key end, then any relays/couplers - but that's just looking at the matter logically. I don't know a lot about pneumatic actions, but have done a lot of electronic fault-finding over the years. Every Blessing Tony

Hi Or if the blower motor is rated in horsepower, then, IIRC, 1hp = 746w (750 is close enough) - but of course, the blower won't be consuming full power all the time! Every Blessing Tony

Hi I think Anne Page has also recorded the whole set. There are also a few on her "French Music for the Harmonium vol.1" The pitches are a good starting point for organ adaptations - otherwise the melody & accompanyment will be "wrong". Beyond that - try it and see what works! I'd rather play them on a good harmonium any day. Every Blessing Tony Hi again. I came across some pieces by Guillmant for organ or harmonium last year - pretty effective on either instrument - there are odd places where the writing for the 2 instruments varies to make the most of the different characteristics. Using the "Expression" stop on the harmonium (and a fair bit of practice) allows the playing dynamics to be far more expressive than any pipe organ swell box. Every Blessing Tony

Hi I understand that a lot of Compton's records were destroyed during the blitz. Their pipe organ business was sold to Rushworth & Dreaper, and in a fit of vandalism their records were destroyed very recently when they went out of business - I gather they were burnt before the Willis company could get their hands on them when they bought the factory. Every Blessing Tony

Hi A fairly common console position in free churches of the era - in fact the whole building is pretty typical, except for the side-facing pews under the gallery. I fear that they may be over-optomistic on price - there's too much church salvage around at present - and certainly too many redundant organs. Every Blessing Tony

Hi The Old English script on the stops of our organ in curch help to give it that "old worlde" character (it is around 180 years old) - I certainly wouldn't want to change them, and as far as I know, no-one has found them difficult to read. Willis' found an engraver who was able to copy the style for the reversion to a Stop Diapason Treble - it's almost indistinguishable from the originals. Personally, I can see some advantage in colour on medium-large stop-key consoles where the stops are packed close together. On drawstops I find no advantage - and often red engraving seems to have faded, and an unlabeled stop (or illegible label) is difficult for the visiting organist. Every Blessing Tony

Hi There are currently 8 radio mic frequencies for general (licence free) use in the UK. 4 in the VHF band & 4 in the UHF band - pro users have access to several other licensed frequencies. This could all change for the worse with the current government plans to auction off air space to the highest bidder. Every Blessing Tony

Hi Hardly surprising! Even with my small church I've got 7 extra services/events to prepare and lead during this week. Plus all the normal routine. Every Blessing Tony

Hi That assumes that the temperament of the Casio is correct to start with - some older electronic keyboards are significantly adrift in this respect because of the difficulty of generating the correct intervals. (And I suspect that some electronic tuners have the same problem - certainly I was never really happy with my piano when I set the bearings from the tuner). Every Blessing Tony

Hi USe it to get the middle octave in and tune the rest in octaves, etc. I find this far more accurate than relying on the meter (which can't be read accurately enough anyway). I have a few times managed to set the bearings from a tuning fork - mainly on electronic organs. It can be very time consuming! I suppose that pro organ tuners who are regularly doing the job get so used to hearing what's right that they get though a routine check pretty quickly. Every Blessing Tony

Hi The 3 volumes of "The Classical Organ in Britain" (Positive Press) might also be worth a look. They are an attempt to list all the classical organs built in the UK in the various periods that each volume refers to. It's interesting to trace some of the developments (and possibly dead ends?) that are revealed. Every Blessing Tony

Hi I've been playing for over 40 years (but not all in the same church) - but that's eclipsed by our organist here at Heaton - 59 years (admittedly with 5 years when he was away at college and played elsewhere). He still plays 1 service a month. Mental note to self - remember to arrange some sort of celebration next year). Every Blessing Tony

Hi You could start with the diocesan adviser (if there is one in the RC church) or the worship committee chair. Trying for a BIOS Historic Organ Certificate may be another option - but you would need to persuade someone in authority in the church I suspect. Good luck. Every Blessing Tony

Hi We haven't yet been told what denomination the church is! And apart from that, Anglican DOA's have been known to give somewhat suspect advice in the opinion of others! Certain other denominations have no controls whatsoever - particulalry those that have COngregational church government, because there is no heirarchy with any authority to intervene. Every Blessing Tony

Hi Chris Kepp up the good work - and keep practicing. (And please do send the correction to NPOR!) Every Blessing Tony

Hi Go to http://npor.emma.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/ESearch.cgi? and scroll down to the bottom of the screen and you'll find a firm of organ builders called JOHNSON active in Briston 1881-1919. There are also a number of Johnstons listed - but known in the Bristol area. You need to be wary of alternative spellings and spelling mistakes - computers don't have the intelligence that human beings have, and if you get one letter wrong the server won't find anything. Every Blessing Tony

Hi The clip comes from a CD that he released last year. The music is somewhat rambling, but I think well played - perhaps not much use of pedals? I enjoy listening to it occaisionally. For those into technicalities, the recording is a 2 CD set, the second disc being a binaural recoring of the same pieces (best listened to on headphones). Rick did start a course at a music college, and I think had some organ lessons during that time, although piano is his main instrument (along with various electronic devices). He has used pipe organs on a number of his solo CD's - starting with "Catherine of Aragon" on The Six Wives of Henry Eighth (recorded at St. Giles, Cripplegate) and at one time toured with a small extension organ (2 man 2 rk) built by Mander's as part of his keyboard rig. He still owns the organ. Every Blessing Tony