AJJ

............and if it 'fits' as tonally as it does architecturally then we are in for a real treat. AJJ

This is personal experience - recently I have played a number of weddings at a church with a large (+/- 50 stops) digital - and have therefore had to get used to this instrument in a way I previously not had to. It is not a Wyvern. Despite the fact that I do have a Wyvern in my front room which I would now find it very hard to be without the church device above continues to leave me cold and (in my hands at least) just does not see to work. The complexity of sound ('can't think of another way top put it) of a good pipe organ of similar size is not there - may be something to do with speakers v pipes in the actual air moving process in the building perhaps - a problem specific to here/ - I can not say. Consequently it feels rather like trying to accompany a congregation/choir using - say - a backing CD. All the stop names are there, all the sounds are sort of there but the expected 'reaction' from choir and congregation is not there. So - I found that whatever I tried this expected reaction was never terribly positive. This all sounds very 'fluffy' but the problem I find is hard to describe but very much there. The instrument in question is not old but possibly the speakers are not well installed or just not 'right' or maybe the brand (well known and well advertised) not as good as it is made out to be. AJJ

I have a fairly early Priory recording by possibly Graham Barber - the playing is very good but the organ has a decidedly 'clinical' sound to it. The consultant I think might have been Noel Rawsthorne. AJJ

Nice one - though I would feel lost without a 16 Pedal flue - maybe in the style of Drake - from the manual 8 then quints and things but if pos. all the way - if you see what I mean. AJJ

Seriously - it is good to have pcnd back - certain areas of discussion were just not getting covered! AJJ

Has he been dead? - it's nowhere near Easter so maybe with Davros back on Saturday evening and the current Dr Who regenerating - maybe he's turning into pcnd - or Pierre Cochereau perhaps. (I daren't start a new thread on this - my wife is already suspicious of the 'Organ Chatline' as she calls it - she'd flip if I started on a Dr Who one too.) AJJ

There is a superb CD of Simon Nieminski playing Reuchsel here - well worth getting for some really quite interesting pieces really well played. AJJ

Is this from a set or is it published alone? Thanks AJJ

I heard him play it once there following a service - the final hymn was sung to 'Orientis Partibus' complete with vaguely atonal playover. A

I played it following my mother's second marriage!! AJJ

I play quite a lot of Bedard - the RSCM stocks quite a bit - Maureen McAllister & Robin Jackson (husband and wife team of FRCOs) introduced him to me via their concerts and repertoire sessions with the local Organists' Association. More 'spicey' and also from Canada is Rachel Laurin - Allegro Music can get her pieces - listen here examples. AJJ

Yup that's it - I had a counter-tenor friend who for some reason had hysterics at that bit every time we sang it - 'not sure why though. A

'Didn't notice but I did check my hub caps on the way out!! AJJ

Doesn't a cockerel say something like this in an anthem by Byrd - if I remember my repertoire correctly? AJJ

I had a good one last week - not at my regular church - rather filling in where a friend is Curate. They all arrived 1/2 hour late (really nice people though) - no one knew except the Vicar (and presumably the Bride, Groom etc.) that the time had been changed - I was there for about an hour with the 'putter out of books' chap before we found out. They wanted the Ride of the Valkyries to come out which is not at present in my repertoire (even though I do have a rather neat version arranged by my friend and former choirmaster David Patrick) so they had a CD instead. The funny part was when half way through this I shut the console and prepared to leave - some of the congregation still left looked totally aghast as they thought that I had been playing it. OK the organ was a vast electronic machine but all the same.....! AJJ

Thanks Paul A

'pcnd' who comes on here sometimes is good on this - maybe PM him if he doesn't spot the message first. AJJ

Thanks all. A

It is good isn't it!!! AJJ

If anyone out there is aware of or has a recording of the above - I would be very glad to know. Thanks AJJ

A bit 'anorack' perhaps (who cares - on here at any rate!) but a couple of my favourite CDs include Thomas Murray doing a 'tonal tour' of various instruments - all in the best possible taste I hasten to add. One is of the big Yale machine and the other of various large and small Hook instruments - all in the US. Some will find the thought of this horrendous but I am sure many here might be interested....! I once sat amazed as a teenager while the late Christopher Dearnley did something similar at St Paul's before the Mander rebuild. Continuing thanks and amazement at all this however! AJJ

Unless it were just the 2' in the bass and the 1/2 draw altered the treble only - cornet or 2'. AJJ

Thanks - 'might get the book. A

Readers may be interested in this - David Cooper was a very talented musician and also a very likeable person. AJJ

As Pierre suggested - make it a Samuel Green type Oboe - take it down to full compass and duplicate it on the Pedals as well. Add an Open Diapason too - if needs be the bass could be stopped plus 'helpers'. There could then be alternate 8' on each manual along with the common Stopped Diap. AJJ