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Tony Newnham

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Everything posted by Tony Newnham

  1. Sounds good Nick. Could I ask you to let NPOR know when the work is finished? We can then get the records up-to-date. If I can find time, perhaps I'll try and visit the church - is it normally open? Many Thanks Every Blessing Tony
  2. Hi Do you know who is doing the work? I've not heard anything about it, but Dewsbury is not too far away. Every Blessing Tony
  3. Hi That's correct - it's a task reminiscent of painting the Forth Bridge! We had a substantial backlog before the recent move of office and concurrent introduction of new software, but we are trying to prioritise situations like the one mentioned earlier. All of the editors are volunteers, so inevitably things take a while to get through the system - we are doing our best! At least the new software should potentially make things a little quicker, once it's up and running properly and we've inroned out a few bugs and got used to it! Every Blessing Tony
  4. Hi More likely a change from 30 to 32 note compass at some point in the organ's history? Every Blessing Tony
  5. Hi The reason rhat NPOR is silent is that no one has told us of the changes!!! If you have reliable information, PLEASE let us know, and we can update the survey(s). Every Blessing Tony (NPOR Editor)
  6. Hi The specification is now on NPOR (see E00974), and there's an article in Organ Building 2005. Every Blessing Tony
  7. Hi Steve Are you thinking of Birmingham Town Hall - that was increased to 5 manuals in the (?) 1980's by Manders IIRC Every Blessing Tony
  8. Hi I think we need to bear in mind that a stop list is by no means the deciding factor in an organ's sound - a conventional stop list doesn't mean that an organ isn't "exciting" to listen to or play. It seems to me that most new organs are relatively small, built for Anglican churches, where leading hymns and accompanying a choir in a very specific form of liturgy are the priorites - and hence it's not really suprising that there's a degree of uniformity about the stop lists - they're built to do the same job. The examples quoted in an earlier post are, in the main, not in "ordinary" churches - hence the opportunity to depart from the norm - and they are somewhat larger than most new church organs. As to the question of non-UK builders - that's one I can't answer. Every Blessing Tony
  9. Hi A PS - entering "Windsor" will NOT find Eton. Entering "Eton" will! And will give you links to the various organs at Eton College - I've just tried it. Every Blessing Tony
  10. Hi Please also see my previous reply. We are aware that there are gaps in NPOR coverage. Re. Danish Church in Hull - firstly, does it have another designation? (dedication to a saint or something?) - if so, it might well be listed under that (or the building may have changed hands since the survey was done!) Then, secondly, does it actually house a pipe organ? We do not record details of electronics or reed organs, although the building MAY be listed as "building without survey" if someone has told us about it. If it is missing from the records, then please let us know - there's a downloadable form that you can complete with the relevant information to enable a survey to be raised. The same applies if you find discrepancies or that things have changed. One of the most important pieces of information to check when using NPOR is the survey date - if the organ was surveyed 50+ years ago, then bear in mind that it might well have been rebuilt/replaced. NPOR is a good first sourced of info, but it's not infallable, and it's a mammoth task keeping it up to date. And bear in mind that if people don't tell us when things change, etc. we are unlikely to find out! Every Blessing Tony
  11. Hi It sounds like you've clicked the BOA tab. To find an NPOR survey, go to www.bios.org.uk/npor, then click the "NPOR" tab (1st left in the row of tabs) In the drop-down menu click on "Address" (or, if relevant, one of the other options) Enter the town name - "Halifax" - and if you know the CORRECT name of the church, just the saint's name (e.g. Barnabas Bradford will find out local Parish Church here) and click "send". The next screen will give you a list of possible buildings, and just click on the link from there. Entering "Halifax Parish Church" will not work, because that's not the correct name for the building, so the database just won't recognize it. Please bear in mind that computers do not have any intelligence - it will only find words that are in the relevant part of the database! if you're not sure of a spelling, you can use "%" as a wild card to represent one or more characters. The new interface is very different from the previous one - but once you're used to it, it is actually easier to find the information. Hope this helps. Every Blessing Tony
  12. Hi As usual, the first port of call for info on UK organs is the National Pipe Organ Register (www.bios.org.uk/npor) There's currently somewhere in the region of 30,000 current and historic organs listed - and we're continually updating and adding more information as it comes to hand (so PLEASE let us know if you find an error or an out-of-date survey!) Every Blessing Tony (NPOR Editor)
  13. Hi There was an article the Sept/Oct Choir & Organ magazine about this very issue - the gist of it has been included on NPOR (see N04410). A builder search on NPOR will reveal which organs we have recorded that Smith built or worked on - but it was so long ago,I doubt if there's anything much in original condition. Every Blessing Tony
  14. Hi The shortage of clergy can (and should) be addressed by increasing lay participation - and anyway - I'm not ready to be replace by a machine just yet! As for the use of recordings or MIDI, I've attended 2 Anglican churches recently (both in very difficult areas of Bradford) that have gone down this road - it's far from ideal, and in one - a generally thriving Evangelical parish - the MIDI backing tracks were nigh on inaudible - and the introductions were so unclear that it was a leap of faith to start singing - hopeless. The other church - a more middle-of-the road parish at least had stuff with reasonable introductions - even an organ for the traditional hymns (admittedly a recording of an electronic) - and adequate volume to keep the congregation together. Better than the other church, but still far from ideal. If I'm invited back there to preach, I'll suggest that I play the organ as well! Every Blessing Tony
  15. Hi NPOR lists well over 100 organs (of all sizes) either by Bryceson or worked on by him - discovering how many still exist would need far more time than I'm able to spare. I've seen NPOR surveys for a number of small Brycesons, and indeed the organ in my previous church had no builder's plate, but we think, for stylistic reasons, it could be by Bryceson (NPOR Index no. E00001) - and that's still going strong. Every Blessing Tony
  16. Hi Thanks for the reply. As far as I know the Collins/Allen tie up has only come about in the last couple of years. The ref. to Deckworth organs is nearly 20 years ago, when hybrids were very much in their infancy - Compton did a few (plus the "Melotone" attachments in many of their cinema organs, and I think that a firm in the Midlands tried the concept, but Deckworth is a new name to me - presumably the company didn't survive very long - so far I've only seen this one reference to them. Every Blessing Tony
  17. Hi I've just come across a reference to "Deckworth organs" in a cassette review in "The Organ" for Jan 1988. The review describes it as a hybrid instrument - a few pipes and electronics for the basses - does anyone have any more info - or know if any still exist? There's nothing coming up on NPOR, nor on a general web search. Thanks in advance Every Blessing Tony
  18. Your work is invaluable but I would have thought it beyond the resources of any organisation reliant on the voluntary co-operation of others to be able to maintain its records in a state of total accuracy in real time. It would be quite unrealistic to expect it. Whilst you can reasonably hope to maintain accurate stop lists , it would surely be unreasonable to expect to rely on the register in order to discover that the church was vandalised last night and pipes from the choir clarinet stolen, or that the swell is out of use because of water damage from a leaking roof. Indeed I assume some transitory faults (like blown fuses or rodent damaged wiring) would not be sensible to record since they might well have been corrected before the entry recording their occurence was made. I am sure that much of this information is passed on without problems, particularly where a discernible event has produced a clear consequence. I suspect that the source of most difficulties result from the processes of decay in an instrument whose maintenance has not been as thorough as might have been desirable, perhaps through shortage of funds. Suddenly an incipient problem asserts itself and becomes a very noticeable fault. Only those intimately connected on a regular basis with an instrument are in any position to give an accurate account of what the situation is NOW, at the time when the hapless visitor arrives to perform. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Hi Your comments obviously are right - by reference to NPOR should (hopefully) prevent a player turning up expecting one organ and finding something totally different! Having said that, one of the most important fields to consult in NPOR surveys is the survey date (and latest update date) - if there several years back - or missing - then don't assume the organ is still there or playable! Some of the surveys date back to information that's derived from archives over 100 years ago - and many of the thousands of organs recorded by the late Charles Drane date from the 1940's-1950's - and he didn't always record the date when he saw an instrument either! Having said that - in my opinion it's as well to have a contingency plan anyway - after all, part of the instrument may become unusable (cipher or action fault) even during a concert - or a note on a reed might go off tune. NPOR is a useful source of information, but by its very nature, it doesn't have all the answers! Every Blessing Tony
  19. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Hi That's why we are trying to keep NPOR up to date! (A never-ending task!) Every Blessing Tony
  20. Hi Don't forget that a good many organs are not tuned to standard pitch (which has itself varied over the years!). The instrument may well be in tune with itself, but way adrift from A=440HZ - and it's quite common for early music to be at A=415Hz (a bout a semi-tone flat). Every Blessing Tony
  21. Hi Tracker has it's place - and is still, in my opinion, the best choice when circumstances allow. With ref. to long runs on tracker, I well rember on that I played at odd times - in the former St. James Church, Edgbaston, Birmingham. That was a fair size 3 manual from just before the turn of the 19th century, typical chancel chamber position - however, it had a nave department - elevated at the head of the north aisle effectively. That had tracker action - running from the coupler backfalls (Nave was playable from choir or great manuals) down to just above the regulator, where a set of squares turned the action 90 degrees to horizontal - to another set of suares giving a right angle to the right to another set of squares to give a vertical run of about 6-7 ft - to yeat another set of suares taking the action horizontally through the wall (probaby about 5 ft run) to a horizontal roller board beneath the chest! I think there may have been some pneumatic assistance for the basses, but everything else was tracker - somewhat heavy, but still playable without too much trouble even after some 40 years of neglect and minimal maintenance. Why Nicholson's didn't use pneumatics I don't know -especially as the Swell Trumpet was on a pneumatic chest & relay to give 16ft and 4ft extensions! Probably the best tracker action I've played on a large organ is the St. Martin in Girton College, Cambridge (a suspended action). Every Blessing Tony
  22. Hi I've heard the qQuentin MacClean recording on "The Organist Entertains" so it does exist. I can't remember the date, but magnetic tape was available in the late 1940's. Welte rolls, according to what I've read in various places, were edited and tidied up - I don't know to what degree, but editting wouold just mean covering holes in paper, and punching new ones in the right place. Every Blessing Tony
  23. Hi I must say that I found the organ at Addingham pretty reasonable - not top class, but a competent instrument, and I suspect the rebuild and digital additions cost rather less than a replacement. Regarding the cathedral, I wasn't in the area when the pipes were removed, so I can't comment on the politics involved (and probably wouldn't anyway!). The lack of the Nave department today was slightly problematical, even with the centre of the nave about 3/4 full for the funeral, I was having to use plenty of organ. The deputy organist had advised nothing less than Swell 7 + Great 6 (out of 8 pistons) which wasn't far out - although I did go rather lower once the singing was under way - but suprisingly, not even the Purcell Trumpet was too much to solo the melody in "Thine be the Glory" for the last verse - with Gt7+full swell for the final refrain - the congregation certainly sang well! Had the Nave organ been available I would have been able to add that and use less "up front". Every Blessing Tony
  24. Hi The digital sounds are identifiably different to real pipes - possibly because they're "too good" - not random in the same way pipe speech is - perhaps slightly artificial. It's rather intangible... Every Blessing Tony
  25. Hi Richard Apology accepted. It's very easy to mis-interpret e-mail correspondence. I'm very sorry to hear that your new priest is trying to oust the choir and organ - what a waste of a resource which should be encouraged - and with goodwill on both sides can happily co-exist with a music group. I'm pretty surfe that my organist here at Heaton feels his ministry is more accepted since I came here - and I hope the music group do as well. I hope your priest sees sense before it's too late. Every Blessing Tony
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