Tony Newnham

Hi Shame on you! Free-reed instruments aren't that bad - and it's worth remembering that many of the French romantic composers played harmoniums - they're certainly not a second-rate instrument. (As you may have guessed, I like harmoniums - but not as a substitute for a pipe organ - and I also play a bit of piano accorion!) That said, the free-reed stops in most pipe organs are a different thing altogether. Most harmoniums don't have resontors for the reeds - and don't have tuning springs (they're not needed - the reeds stay substantially in tune with themselves for decades). Schulz used free reeds as the only reeds in some of his early organs in the UK. I've not knowingly come across one, so I can't really comment on sound, nor tuning stability. Every Blessing Tony

Hi This link just took me to the Google home page! Every Blessing Tony

Hi I picked up a second-hand copy in 1983 - Third edition 1949 repreinted 1956. I've never seen a later edition. Bear in mind the dates - it's not really "modern" any more - even electric action only gets a limited mention! But, from memory, it is pretty good at explaining pneumatics. Every Blessing Tony

Hi It really depends on what make the instrument is - like pianos (and pipe organs) there are good and bad. Also, is it a harmonium or an American Organ? My Alexandre - needing some attention but basically sound, cost me getting on for £200 last year - but an American organ from one of the many high-volume, low cost builders in poor condition would be worth a lot less - whilst a Mustel in top condition would be very much more expensive. The big 2mp Esteys and Rushworth's are pretty good quality instruments - and the Rushworth Appolos were pretty scarce to start with, so there's scarcity value to consider as well as price. The Estey "Lizt"(SP?) range are regarded by many as the Rolls-Toyce of suction reed organs, and so tend to change hands for above-average prices. The Reed Organ Society's magazine used to quote e-bay auction results at one stage (I've not seen it lately) - the range of prices paid was vast - sometimes probably unrealistically high - as are the expecations of many sellers. For those intrerested in Reed organs, may I suggest a visit to the Reed Organ Society's web page - and maybe a membership - it's not too expensive. Every Blessing Tony (Who, as you may realise, is something of a reed-organ enthusiast)

Hi I think it imprtant here to differentiate between fully enclosed organs (i.e. all in one swell box/chamber) and 2 seperate enclosures. The former is fairly common on small organs from the late 1800's onwards, and includes many small Comptons and the Walker Positives (and some smaller theatre organs - not to mention many electronics). I find little advantage with this - basically, all it is is a volume control - there's no way of adjusting the relative levels of different stops. Having the great (or part of it) enclosed seperately is a different matter, and is common on many electronics right from the early Comptons - but with the problem that the pedal is usually controlled by the same swell pedal - and taht's another issue that needs thinking through!. This does give the advantage of being able to adjust the relative balances - and adds a great deral of flexibility to smaller organs. Personally, I woyuld prefer the Great Diapason chorus (or at least the main part of it) to be unenclosed - but enclosed reeds, etc. I would think would be very useful. Every Blessing Tony

Hi Not necessarily - mainly late 18th/early 19th century ENglish organs. Every Blessing Tony

Hi Not as many as I would like! About 20 LP's, 80 CD's and a handful of commercial cassettes - plus many private recordings. The sheer cost is an issue - especially the cost of full-price releases. As to favourites - that depends on the mood! Every Blessing Tony

I'd go for tracker (especially a well-planned modern tracker action) any day - providing the layout of the organ allowed it (According to Organ Building, the tracker console at Christchurch was put in at the insistence of the advisors but necessitated a very difficult action layout - possibly the cause of the problems someone mentioned?). In mjy view, detached consoles are problematic - I always feel remote, and there's always a lag due to the sound having to travel a distance (maybe I'm particularly sensitive to this) - and NO musician hears his instrument as the audience hear it, so I find that argument unconvincing! Also, I've find that there's something about the feel of tracker - and given a good action on a small organ (and suitable piepwork) I find I can control the starting transiants of some stops in slower music - and tracker just feels more direct and "in control" somehow! Every Blessing Tony

Beware - the NPOR survey is not recent - and if you look at the notes it appears that the Orchestral Oboe may have gone. If anyone knows the current posiiton, please let NPOR know. Every Blessing Tony

Hi Given the decline in church choirs and the vast potential repertoire I doubt if there's a viable market. Every Blessing Tony

Hi I think "Winkers" are what we would call Concussion Bellows. Every Blessing Tony

Hi Hope my earlier "flying instructions" helped - if you still have problems, contact me direct & I'll see what I can do. Every Blessing Tony

Hi Properly set-up double-touch cancelling I find very useful (e.g. Compton's) however, I used to occaisionally play a small Rushworth & Dreaper with DT cancelling and very weak second-touch springs, and that was a problem - especially as the cancelling also oeprated from the Sw-Gt coupler - so several times I went to add the Gt mixture and cancelled everything else, or to couple the swell and cancelled the entire Great - not nice! I also like double-touch manuals (on theatre organs anyway) - adds a great deal of flexibility. Every Blessing Tony

Hi Hymn accompaniment CD's are already available, and have been for some time. Mayhew's market one set - the one example I heard had a rather poor electronic on it - and there's others available, one of our local Anglican churches uses them (and that sounded like real pipes - given the limitations of any sound system). Every Blessing Tony

Hi John I know someone who is researching Walker's for a possible book, so look out for that! As regards the organ not being on NPOR - could you send the details? (Even building address & organ builder is enough to generate an initial record). Every Blessing Tony

Hi Not by HNB, but retractable keyboards are sometimes found on chamber organs, such as on I used to play at Great Chishill church in Essex. There's a stop list and possibky some pictures on NPOR. Every Blessing Tony

Hi Graham I'm not sure why acknowledgements are not being sent - I'll try and find out. As you are probably aware, the NPOR is under new management, has moved offices and web servers - so there is a rather large back-log which we are trying to clear as quickly as possible. I'll pass your comment about the link to the relevant person as well. Every Blessing Tony

Hi Glad to help. Knowing where to look is half the battle in finding information! Both the National Pipe Organ Register and the British Organ Archive come under the umbrella of the British Institute for Organ Studies. The register is just that, a register of pipe organs in the UK. The archive is a listing of historical material held by the organisation (or at least some of it - I think there's more to index). As you may remember, I'm one of the NPOR editors. Every Blessing Tony

Hi To access NPOR (which currently has around 30,000 surveys of present and past British organs) go to http://www.bios.org.uk/npor then click on the "NPOR" tab. (Normally) select address and enter, for example, the church name and town name (don't bother with the "St." as the system won't recognise it!) and click "send" (If you're not sure if we have a survey, check the "include sites with no survey" option) You'll then have a list - normally in date order - of the surveys we have for that building - click on the numbered link and you're there. It's actually quicker than it sounds. One caveat - make sure your spelling is correct - compuers don't have any inteligence! The "wild-card" symbol is "%" - not "*" that Windozes uses. The BOA section is an index of (so far only) some of the archive material held in the British Organ Archives in Birmingham. If we have BOA info, it should also appear at the bottom of the normal NPOR surveys (if it doesn't it's because a link is broken - let us know!). There are other ways of searching - e.g. by builder (if it's a popular firm, add e.g. a county name!) Hope this helps. Every Blessing Tony

Hi Possibly the realisation that most electronic items have a limited life span will finally register - perhaps by the time a church has replaced it's digital organ 2 or 3 times - but of course, for many that will be too late, as the pipes will have already been consigned to the scrap heap. Every Blessing Tony

Hi Yes - weddings do seem to be prone to problems! I've had the presiding minister inadvertantly give me the signal that the bride had arrived 10 minutes before she was ready to come in (photographers) - that was in a small mission-hall type buidling, with the organ very exposed -elevated at centre front - Oh for a console lift to gracefully sink out of sight! I've had the pedals cypher on low D and top C# when playing the Bach "Air on a G string" - 2 brides who have been 45 minutes late - and playing a heavy tracker action for over an hour was no joke - and most recently I played a wedding at a church that rarely uses it's pneumatic action organ. The tuner had been through and got most of it working - although the swell couldn't be played from its own manual - too many missing notes, so I had to couple it to Choir or Great, the Gt Trumpet was unusable - and part way through the opening hymn the texture suddenly got rather light and treble-heavy - the bass ocatves of BOTH great Diapasons (on off-note chests) had gone AWOL - leaving just a quiet Flute. (You could hear water bubbling in the action tubes!) Other services can be just as entertaining - but at least I've not had a Pedal Posaune cypher - and refuse to clear until the reservoir had emptied - I was glad I wasn't playing the organ that day! I could go on - having been playing for over 40 years there's been plenty of opportunities for mishaps! Every Blessing Tony

Hi Another Wakeman fan! Good! Have you heard "Live at Lincoln" - mainly recorded on the organ. Not great music by any means, but very pleasant listening. Rick has frequently used organ in his recordings - right back to "The 6 Wives of Henry 8th" in the 1970's - and even had Mander's build him a small travelling organ (2 manuals controlling 3 extended ranks of pipes). Every Blessing Tony

Hi If I remember correctly, about 30% of Congregational Churches refused the merger with the Presbyterians. A very good friend of mine was President of the Conregational Federation a couple of years ago. There are still a fair number of organs that are not yet listed on NPOR - mainly in Free Churches of various denominations - there's plenty of Baptist ones missing as well! We do our best with the information that we have - even when two correspondants contradict each other! Every Blessing Tony

Hi See my earlier post in this thread. I understand that there's some sort of harness that makes sure the seat back does what you want it to! (I've not seen the device, and wasn't aware of any other examples apart from the recently-restored organ at Rock). Every Blessing Tony

Hi Interesting that you quote Spurgeon - judging by his published sermons, he preached for about an hour! I did once, for a special service, edit one of his sermons down to 10 minutes! I probably find writing to time rather easier than most preachers - I spent 8 years producing Christian Radio programmes - and if 5 minutes was needed, then you had 4:50 and no more! You are, of course, welcome to come and hear me oreach - most Sundays at Heaton Baptist Church, Bradford. Every Blessing Tony