RBone

Good afternoon I saw, inspected and played the Skrabl organ at Beaminster a couple of weeks ago, and would like to respond to the comments below, and others that appear on this forum. Firstly, I consider that the builder has done an outstanding job of voicing in this instrument, and achieving a warm, colourful and vibrant ensemble in what is a woefully dry acoustic. In that respect, the upperwork has a wonderful, shimmering brightness without any steely "glare". That is maintained when it is heard in the choruses, in which the 8' and 4' principlas provide well proportioned foundation. Personally, I found the Full Swell sound more effective than it had any right to be, without any trumpet type stop, but with the two fine oboe-type stops (at 8'and 16'). A particular feature, which I see has been noted elsewhere, is the beauty of the flute stops. The 8' Bordun is is a fine and useful stop, and quite different in timbre to its companion flute stop. I had not, in truth, played an organ with a dedicated coupling manual before. However, having had a little familiarisation, I believe that it is very useful for maximising the resources of this 2-manual instrument. One can use it to play on the Great and Swell together, and still have them separately via their respective manuals. For starters, that is very useful for accompanying Anglican church music - still, let us not forget, the prime function of this organ. To my ears, there is also a good balance between the Great and Swell divisions, so this is also a good instrument for the classical organ repetoire, including music where an antiphonal effect is desirable. To sum up, I am convinced that the builder Skrabl was selected, not for cheapness, but on the grounds of quality and value for money. I have never been an unquestioning enthusiast for the work of continental builders, but found the Beaminster organ a pleasure both to the ear and the eye - including the superb workmanship apparent from the case - to the action t- o the console. It does credit to its builder and those, most certainly including the organ consultants, who were involved in its vision, procurement and installation. With best regards. RBee16 quote name='bazuin' date='May 21 2008, 10:08 PM' post='37298'] I have a colleague who visited this organ recently and told me that the organ has: "mixtures that are too low, no development of foundations into the treble, action not great, sizzling principals, no swell chorus, pointless coupling manual, voicing not finished properly. It was commissioned simply because it was cheap: 140,000 for 25 stops, half of which were old pipework." He doesn't mince his words as you can see. Can anyone confirm/contradict? The idea of the UK importing cheap organs from behind the former iron curtain is, on the face of it, absurd. But maybe someone can leap to the defence of Mr Skrabl? His website says "The uniqueness of the Skrabl sound requires some explanation. On very many occasions, clients, organ technicians and organ advisers have been amazed by the extraordinarily different and magical sounds which have been created by Anton Skrabl in his recent organs. One adviser recently described them as 'Flutes to die for with an amazing translucence and Principals which seem alive and a refreshing change from anything I have so far encountered'." So, who is right? Greetings Bazuin