JWAnderson

On my church's toaster, all of the pistons and stops light up. The only problem was one of the 16' reed bulbs blowing, but it would be interesting if all of the piston & stop lights blew! JA

I always thought that there would be enough space for one division on the north side of the chancel triforium, if you move all the pipes that are currently there. In some of the schemes I have come up with for that building, I had always thought of placing the Solo, only 8-4-V-8-4, over in that space. Also I had the idea of placing a division in the West End gallery to help with congregational singing. However, I agree with Colin about the specification you have come up with. Do you have an idea of when the organ might be installed, David? Josh A

I was just thinking that looking at the picture. It does look suspiciously like it could be. JA

I had heard of someone, I think in Australia, using wax on cork stoppers, but I have never heard of any problems with cork stoppers. Brindley & Foster may have used this. An organ which I play had a B&F Lieblich Gedackt which as far as I can remember had cork stoppers. JA

Thanks David. Good luck with the project and I will look forward to seeing it when completed. JA

Sorry David, I have obviously got my facts wrong. There are faults with this organ, particularly the off-note chests in the Pedal & Great (edit), but aside from that I quite like the sound of it. One question: Is the whole rebuilt organ going into the triforium chamber or just parts of it? I was up there in January and had a look at the space, and it does not look very big. JA

My favourites would be: Wellington Town Hall (Norman & Beard 1905) St Matthew's in the City, Auckland (Willis 1862, Lawton & Osborne 1939, Croft 1977) The St Matthew's organ is quite a good organ, and the church has possibly one of the best acoustics in New Zealand. The Tromba 16/8 by Lawton & Osborne is a wonderful stop, but sadly when the organ is being rebuilt, they are not keeping this. Instead it is being replaced by a 'German Baroque Style' Trumpet 16/8/4 (added by Croft 1977), which in my opinion has sort of a squeaky tone which is not very pleasant. JA

I have much the same situation here, except without the pipe organ. I have to say I absolutely hate playing the Rodgers (as I am sure I have mentioned many times before). I think it would be acceptable to ask about this. I was once at an organ recital by Christopher Herrick and the organist at the local Anglican church asked me if I would like to be able to use their organ. I have had access to the organ ever since then and have not had to have any responsibilities for filling in etc. My organ teacher regularly lets me use the organ in his church, but there I do accompany the choir about once a month or play for a service. The organist at the Anglican church said to me that the organ is like a piece of furniture and if it is only used every Sunday or for special occasions, it will eventually gather up dust, so the church tries to get the organ used as much as possible. JA

Don't worry about the criteria. I would be particularly interested in seeing the specification of your house organ. JA

Exactly, and an octave coupler would probably be of use. We have a 1man. at the organ factory, with Stop'd Diap, Dulciana, Principal 4, Octave & Tremulant and it sounds absolutely wonderful, particularly the 8ft flute. JA

Thanks for this Cynic. It looks like a very interesting specification. If I had the money, I probably would add another 8-ft Flute, but unfortunately there are not many redundant organs in New Zealand, and it is quite expensive to import pipework from Europe. Another advantage to adding a second Flute to my scheme, would be that they could both be pneumatically borrowed to the pedal, for a softer or louder bass. I could possibly set it up to get 4-ft flutes on the Pedal aswell?

Hi everyone! Just in the last couple of days, I have been thinking of house organs again. The reason for this is that I am starting to get tired of going around to the church to practice on a rubbish Rodgers Digital. Anyways, the idea I had was to reuse whatever material I could find. So, the organ must contain 4rks of pipes Your choice of how many manuals As compact a design as possible My idea was to have 1 Manual & Pedal with the following specification: Manual Lieblich Gedact 8' Gemshorn or Dulciana 8' (with common bass) Principal 4' Fifteenth 2' Tremulant Pedal Gedackt 8' (pneumatically borrowed from manual) Manual to Pedal So what would you do if you had the opportunity? JA

Unfortunately for us foreigners, you can only watch it from iPlayer in the UK at the moment. They say they are working on another version of iPlayer so we can watch these things, but it will be too late by then! JA

I don't think that any of the pipework is going to be for sale at the moment, as Klais is taking most of the pipes back to Bonn. JA

As far as I know, Klais are going to try and keep as much of the original organ as possible, but a lot of new pipework is going in. The current blower is being dumped for three new blowers. The reason for this is because the current one is not powerful enough, not even enough for the 1970s organ and reservoirs are not inflating properly. Original reservoirs are being kept I think... JA

No problem. As for a specification, Klais do have one but I have no idea where to get it from currently. Yes we are having fun, but it is very hard work in those tight spaces, and also the fact that it gets very very hot up in the organ. Possibly about 10C hotter that down in the main hall. JA

Yes, they were mentioned on the Dr. Who website a while back. Can't remember who though. JA

I agree with most of your points here. The only problem is about the power of the current instrument, and when used with an orchestra it cannot be heard very well. I have heard some very good concerts on this organ, especially by Colin Walsh when he was in Auckland in 2006. However, an update of what is going on at the hall: Most pipework is out of the organ, excepting large Open Wood/Metal and 32' pipes. Console was moved down from the front of the organ tonight using a hoist system, and was completed in about 5 mins. A lot of the trunking/winding system is out of the organ, and underactions of the organ are coming out tomorrow. JA

Just been looking on Youtube and I happened to come across some interesting videos (well only really sound with pics) of Louis Vierne playing some of his own music and some Bach which may be of interest to members of this forum. Vierne at Notre Dame. It was recorded in 1929 so the quality is not so good, but is reasonable for that period of time. Hope you enjoy. JA

Merry Christmas to everyone from a surprisingly warm but very wet New Zealand. JA

You may be interested to know that the dismantling of the Auckland town hall organ is commencing on the 7th January 2008. This is being done by Klais in co-operation with the South Island Organ Company. Also of interest is that a lot of the original pipes which have not been installed in other organs around the country have been located and are being looked at for possible use in the new organ. Installation of the organ is scheduled for sometime in 2009. I will try to keep you up-to-date with pics etc when possible. JA

They supplied materials, bellows, weights and pipes etc. to Nicholas T. Pearce in New Zealand from around 1900s, but thats about all I know of them. Wish I could help more. JA

I found a copy of the case design in the book entitled "The Organs of Canterbury Cathedral" by Toby Huitson, and it is on page 10 if you happen to have a copy of the book. If you are lucky there might be a picture of the case on the internet somewhere. From what I can tell of this small picture, the layout is 3-2-7-2-3 with two levels on the outer towers. JA

Yes I think that the Octavin 1 would be a useful addition to the Choir. I would possibly also move the Choir Mixture up to 22.26.29. JA

I have come up with a Specification for the Canterbury Cathedral Willis organ. It would retain most of the pipework from the 1949 Willis organ, except with a few additions. Great Organ Double Open Diapason 16 Open Diapason I 8 Open Diapason II 8 Open Diapason III 8 Claribel Flute 8 Stopped Diapason 8 Principal 4 Octave 4 Flûte Harmonique 4 Twelfth 2 2/3 Fifteenth 2 Tierce Mixture (17.19.22) Grand Mixture (15.19.22.26.29) Trombone 16 Tromba 8 Clarion 4 Swell to Great Swell to Great Octave Swell to Great Sub Octave Choir to Great Solo to Great Swell Organ Bourdon 16 Open Diapason 8 Lieblich Gedact 8 Salicional 8 Vox Angelica (tc) 8 Principal 4 Flûte Triangulaire 4 Fifteenth 2 Mixture (15.17.19.22) Hautboy 8 Vox Humana 8 Contra Posaune 16 Trumpet 8 Clarion 4 Tremulant Swell Octave Swell Unison Off Swell Sub Octave Solo to Swell Choir Organ Lieblich Gedact 16 Open Diapason 8 Lieblich Flöte 8 Viola d' Amour 8 Flauto Traverso 8 Gemshorn 4 Suabe Flöte 4 Nazard 2 2/3 Flautina 2 Tierce 1 3/5 Mixture (19.22.26) Trumpet 8 Corno di Bassetto 8 Tremulant Choir Octave Choir Unison Off Choir Sub Octave Swell to Choir Solo to Choir Great Reeds to Choir Solo Organ Contra Viole 16 Flûte Harmonique 8 Viole d' Orchestre 8 Celeste (tc) 8 Flûte Conique 4 Grand Cornet (1.8.12.15.17) Cor Anglais 16 Orchestral Oboe 8 Contra Tuba 16 Tuba 8 (ext. 16') Harmonic Clarion 4 (ext. 16') Tremulant (not on Tubas) Solo Octave Solo Unison Off Solo Sub Octave Pedal Organ Double Open Bass 32 Open Bass 16 (ext. 32') Open Diapason 16 (G.O.) Violone 16 Bourdon 16 Lieblich Gedact 16 (Ch) Octave Diapason 8 (ext. Open bass) Principal 8 (ext. Violone) Bass Flute 8 (ext. Bourdon) Fifteenth 4 (ext. Violone) Octave Flute 4 (ext. Bourdon) Mixture (12.17.19.22) Posaune 16 (Sw) Cor Anglais 16 (So) Contra Ophicleide 32 Ophicleide 16 (Ext. 32') Clarion 8 (Ext. 32') Great to Pedal Swell to Pedal Swell to Pedal Octave Choir to Pedal Choir to Pedal Octave Solo to Pedal Solo to Pedal Octave Nave Organ Double Diapason 16 (stopped bass from Nave Pedal) Open Diapason 8 Stopped Diapason 8 Principal 4 Octave Quint 2 2/3 Super Octave 2 Mixture (17.19.22.26) Trumpet 8 Nave Pedal Organ Sub Bass 16 Octave 8 (borrowed Manual) Bass Flute 8 (ext. Sub Bass) Combination Couplers Great & Pedal Combinations Coupled Swell & Pedal Combinations Coupled Generals on Toe Pistons For the Nave organ, I have borrowed Pcnd's idea of using the bottom 12 notes of the Sub Bass for the manual 16'. The Nave organ would be played from the G.O. manual as in the current scheme. There would be about 8 thumb pistons to each manual division and 8 toe pistons for the Pedal. Also 8 General thumbs, duplicated by toe pistons for Swell or Generals. One thing I would like to see incorporated on this organ is the case that was designed by Sir Gilbert Scott, who designed the Chester Cathedral case as well. The organ could also be spread out over both sides of the Choir. The Nave would be placed in the same place as the current division. JA