JWAnderson

Hello everyone! An interesting question popped into my head today whilst I was preparing an engraving list for a set of drawstop knobs regarding stop names. The stop in question is a Double Open Diapason 16'. The whole name will not fit onto the name plate because of the size of the font, but my first thought was to shorten it to Double Open Diap. But then, I thought why not shorten it down to Double Diapason. Now getting back to the question- If you saw Double Diapason engraved on a stop knob, what would stop would you expect to get, a Open Diapason at 16' or a Stopped Diapason at 16'? I can think of two organs where one has this as an open stop and the other where it is a Bourdon.

This Bevington (http://www.stmaryschurchbrighton.co.uk/Organ%20pictures.htm) at St Mary the Virgin, Rock Garden, Brighton from 1858-1878-1904 seems to suggest a Sesquialtera 17.19.22, however this is only one organ. I get the impression that their Mixtures never seemed to go above 1ft. JA

Schrodinger's cat may or may not be thinking outside the box... or at all.

I have seen an early 1900s Norman & Beard console with rounded sharps. This was a rebuild of an 1880s Brindley & Foster and incorporated a new console. JA

I really do not agree with the statement he makes about "the organ as we know it has to change." Surely the fact that it is an immobile instrument and every one is unique is what makes it so great. Of course you could make digital organs sampled from pipe organs all around the world and go to an organ and know exactly what sounds you will get from what stops or combinations of, but where is the challenge for the organist?! I have only heard "His Weirdness" perform live once, on the "Third Century" (as he called it) Norman & Beard organ in Wellington Town Hall, NZ.

Scary stuff isn't it... This was the first organ I worked on when I started my apprenticeship last year.

Hi everyone, I've been pondering about the topic of stopper lubrication and was wondering what peoples opinions were about using Tallow (rendered lambs fat) or Talcum powder. I can see advantages to both options; e.g. with Tallow you can effectively 'set and forget' and it does provide some seal in the gaps that can occur between the leather and the pipe. Would be interested to hear other contributors views on this. JA

Hi everyone, I've been pondering about the topic of stopper lubrication and was wondering what peoples opinions were about using Tallow (rendered lambs fat) or Talcum powder. I can see advantages to both options; e.g. with Tallow you can effectively 'set and forget' and it does provide some seal in the gaps that can occur between the leather and the pipe. Would be interested to hear other contributors views on this. JA

I would just like to wish everyone on the Manders Forum a happy new year and thank our hosts for providing this excellent resource for another year. Josh A

Some very nice schemes so far. Here is my attempt. Great Organ Double Open Diapason 16 Open Diapason I 8 Open Diapason II 8 Stopped Diapason 8 Principal 4 Wald Flute 4 Grave Mixture II (12.15) Fourniture IV (19.22.26.29) Trumpet 8 Solo to Great Swell to Great Choir to Great Great Reed Octave Swell Organ Lieblich Gedact 16 Violin Diapason 8 Rohr Gedact 8 Echo Gamba 8 Voix Celeste 8 (Bottom A) Octave 4 Fifteenth 2 (from Mixture IV) Mixture IV (12.15.19.22) Contra Fagotto 16 Horn 8 Hautboy 8 Tremulant Octave Sub Octave Solo to Swell Swell Reeds on Pedal Choir Organ Unenclosed Lieblich Gedact 8 Violoncello 8 Suabe Flute 4 Flageolet 2 Solo to Choir Swell to Choir Solo Organ Enclosed Harmonic Claribel 8 Viole d' Orchestre 8 Clarionet 8 Vox Humana 8 Tremulant Tromba 8 Octave Pedal Organ Double Open Diapason 32 (Wood) Open Diapason 16 (Wood) Violone 16 (Metal) Bourdon 16 Principal 8 (Metal) Trombone 16 Solo to Pedal Swell to Pedal Great to Pedal Choir to Pedal Gt & Ped Combinations Coupled One question, is a Tremulant counted as a coupler?

Well she obviously knows how to pull out ALL the stops....

CTT will know more about this, but as far as I am aware, we only removed the pipework after the September earthquake and everything else (soundboards, bellows, console etc) was left in place as the actual church was out of bounds at that stage. Everything had to be removed out through the back room which was safe, including the facade pipes.

Thank you everyone for your kind thoughts regarding the earthquake. It is great to know in times like these that there are people all over the world thinking of us all. I was one of the men from SIOC who was trapped in the Durham St Methodist church when it came down. It was a significantly terrifying event being under all the rubble (including the Sw soundboard which had landed on my feet) but am now recovering well from injuries sustained, in Timaru hospital. It was very sad to find out that three of my colleagues had not made it and the factory will definitely not be the same without them. My heart definitely goes out to the families in this tragic time. Josh A

Agreed about the case. Is quite impressive! I think you may be meaning Auckland, New Zealand. The cathedral organs in Wellington were last rebuilt in 1980 (St Paul's Anglican) and 1991 (Sacred Heart Catholic). JA

My copy to the St Paul's one arrived on Thursday and have enjoyed it so much that I have watched it about six times already. I have particularly enjoyed the history of the organ feature (with all the improvisation on that theme) and also the Cocker Tuba Tune 'talk-through'. Was very interesting to see all the views inside the organ. I have a feeling that Willis Corno di Bassetto stops mostly had hooded pipes, but may be wrong. JA

Yes MM, the action was pneumatic with ventil chests, which are mostly in original condition, apart from releathering and respringing some of the pallets. The action was electrified when the console was detached in 1964. We are planning to move all of the original pipework back to where it should be on their respective soundboards and any additions will either utilize existing chests from previous rebuilds or new electro-pneumatic chests. This will make sure that additions made will be identifiable easily. We are definately planning to keep the original Ventil soundboards as they are, I believe, the only example by Brindley & Foster in New Zealand now. There were only two B&F instruments imported into NZ, one two-manual and one three-manual, the latter being built in 1896 with pneumatic action and ventil chests (I think), but rebuilt with slider chests and same tonal scheme by Norman & Beard in 1913. I do not know how much the voicing of the original pipework has been changed (if at all), but do not think that there would be any problem with making additions to the scheme. All of the original stops will be as they were in 1903 and the organist can choose not to use the additional stops if they so wish. One question I do have is about having both the 8' Octave (extended with metal pipes from the Open Diapason which is all wood) and the 8' Principal. I had heard that a lot of the time B&F had wooden pipes in the bottom octave of the Open Diapason and metal pipes from C13 upwards. JA

Hi everyone, I am at present working on a project to produce a specification to rebuild/reconstruct (?) a two-manual organ built in 1903 by the above mentioned builder as part of an interior restoration at the church. The organ has been rebuilt twice, in 1964 when a screen was built covering the organ, most of the original casework being destroyed and a detached console provided, and again in 1971. The planned work will include removing the screen and reconstructing the original facade, providing a new attached console and adding a third Choir manual. The original specification was: Gt 8,8,8,4,4 Sw 16,8,8,8,8,4,2,8,8,trem Ped 16,16,8 Additions in 1964 were a 15th unit on the Gt, extended to provide a 12th, and a Lieblich Flute 4' on the Swell. In 1971, significant changes were made, moving the Sw 16' Bourdon to the Gt and extending it to 8', replacement of Gt Hohl Flute with a Nazard 2 2/3' (the extended 12th being removed), the Gt Open being moved to a unit chest and duplexed to Pd at 4' & 2' and a Mixture (19-22-26) being placed in it's soundboard space. The Sw had only a Larigot installed in place of the Bourdon and the Oboe transposed to 16' (which has now been returned to 8'). The Pedal had a 32' resultant and an 8' extension of the Open Wood added using pipes from a Norman & Beard Open Diapason No.1. The whole of the Pedal was rewinded to a new pin-cushion reservoir. The original Ventil chests for the Gt & Sw were releathered for the first time then and have been no problem ever since. The aim of the reconstruction is to return the organ back to it's original soundboard specifications but make additions which are sympathetic to the original style and would contribute to the variety of uses that the organ is put to. Working with my client, the final specification we have come up with is below with additions in italics. Great Organ Double Diapason 16 A Open Diapason 8 Hohl Flote 8 - scales for new pipes taken from remaining 12 pipes. Dulciana 8 - common bass Principal 4 Harmonic Flute 4 Twelfth 2 2/3 Fifteenth 2 - 1964 Trumpet 8 B Swell Organ Bordun 16 C - returned from Gt Violin Diapason 8 Lieblich Gedact 8 Salicional 8 (common bass) Voix Celeste 8 (TC) Gemshorn 4 (tapered) Flautina 2 Mixture 15.19.22 - 1971 Gt recast Horn 8 Oboe 8 Choir Organ Rohr Flote 8 Echo Gamba 8 (common bass) Lieblich Flute 4 - 1964 Sw Harmonic Piccolo 2 Clarionet 8 Vox Humana 8 Pedal Organ Open Diapason 16 D Bordun 16 A Echo Bass 16 C Quint 10 2/3 A Octave 8 D Principal 8 E - bottom 12 pipes will be used in facade to replace dummy pipes Flute Bass 8 A Super Octave 4 E Octave Flute 4 A Trombone 16 B Trumpet 8 B I would be interested to hear thoughts from others about this. JA

Strangely enough, not as much as you might think...

Would've been great I think Forgot to mention, there will be no extension what so ever... not even in the Pedal Josh

Thought everyone might be interested: this is what happens when an organ scholar at the Cathedral, a organ student and a pipe voicer try to write a specification... Great Organ Sub Principal 32 Double Open Diapason 16 Open Diapason I 8 Open Diapason II 8 Open Diapason III 8 Open Diapason IV 8 Open Diapason V 8 Open Diapason VI 8 Clarabella 8 Rohr Gedackt 8 Principal I 4 Principal II 4 Principal III 4 Wald Flute 4 Alpenhorn 4 Twelfth 2 2/3 Fifteenth 2 Mixture VIII (10-12-15-17-19-22-24-26) Sharp Mixture III (29 sharp kitchen knifes, mounted en chamade) Double Trumpet 16 Trumpet 8 Trompetta de Battalia 8 (starts fighting with Trumpet 8 when used together) Clarion 4 Swell Organ Dulciana 64 (C25) Contra Double Dulciana 32 Double Dulciana 16 Bourdon 16 Open Diapason 8 Roar Flute 8 Dulciana 8 Viola da Gamba 8 Voix Celeste 8 (C13) Midget Violinist 8 Midget Violinist Celeste 8 (Amputated below knees) Principal 4 Open Flute 4 Dulcet 4 Nazard 2 2/3 Fifteenth 2 Dulcetina 2 Tierce 1 3/5 Plein Jeu VI (15-15-15-15-36-8) Double Contra Oboe 32 Blare 16 Trompometta 8 Oboe da Crappia 8 Clarion 4 Glocken Fonterra 4 Choir Organ Enclosed in holding pen A member of the choir will be assigned to each note on manual and connected to 240V mains. Fanfare Organ Vuvuzela 32 Vuvuzela 16 Vuvuzela 8 Vuvuzela 4 Belchhorn 16 Oprahclide 8 Piccolo Tuba Miserabilis 1 Hungarian Sonaraphone (all pitches imaginable; when drawn throws hammers at floor followed by a recording yelling "Bastard!" Echo Organ Enclosed in a cardboard box somewhere in a small town 30 or more kilometres away. Kazoovuzela 16 Jews Harp 8 Kazoovuzela 8 Kazoovuzela 4 Spoons 2 Kazoovuzela 2 Digeridoo 16 Pedal Organ Helicopter 128 Sub Ultra Terra Diaphonic Piccolo 64 Contra Boredom 32 Double Woof 32 Woof 32 Sub Bass bass bass 16 Open Diapason Metal 16 Open Diapason Wood 16 (made of tree trunks preferably) Cyclotetramethylenetetranitramine 16 Boredom 16 Quintolotelephone 10 2/3 Octave 8 (also made of tree trunks) Heckelphone 8 Flute 8 Methylaniline 4 Super Dooper Octave 2 Plain Jew II Fancy Jew III Fancy Christian X Octocontrabass Clarinet (Has a range so low that it does not even have a pitch) Fog Horn 64 Diaphone 32 (Voiced to be heard all around city) Diaphone Profundas 32 (Voiced to be heard at least as far as the next major city) Rumble 32 (F30; engages a system of pneumatics to shake the whole church) Contra Bagpipe 18 Bombarde 16 Dudelsack (German Bagpipe) 16 Fusillade 8 Drive By 4 General Gt & Pedal Piston Coupler Clergy to a rather nice holiday... ^ Tibia Liquida # Choir to Pub ^ Goes online, books air tickets and sends clergy away. # A bar, complete with bar-tender, comes out of casework either side of console. We have suggested this to the DoM; his response "Organ Scholars and their dreams..." However, all suggestions welcome.

Here is what sounds like an arrangement of Flight of the Bumblebees for our favourite instrument: The Vuvuzela! I hear it will be on a new CD to come out shortly named 'Vuvuzela Mood'

One year late, but certainly interesting: http://www.youtube.com/user/trinitywallstr.../40/beaj4d_JW8c Josh

It would have to be one of the easiest stops to add to any organ I would think. All you need is a direct connection to a reservoir and a block for it to stand on with no pallet etc. Hmmm, maybe this could be the perfect alternative to a Fanfare Trumpet in the west gallery of my boss's church... :angry: JA

Ahhh!!! I thought the hordes were massing for a minute there...

Hmmm, must remember to read all of post first. I thought you meant when the reeds come on at 1:05 in video... Josh