JWAnderson

I agree about it being a terrible instrument, there was so much colour in the old N&B instrument which was lost, a lot of solo stops as well like the Tubas. Also the 32' wooden Posaune was taken out and replaced which was pretty stupid. Another thing I don't get is why they got rid of the 4rk Mixture on the Great and replaced it with a 3rk. JA

St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne T. C. Lewis 1891, restored by H&H with new console with curved stop-jambs. Also had a HN&B console before this one. Josh

Loudest I've heard was Christchurch Cathedral, New Zealand Hill Norman & Beard 1926. The tuba is on 19" which is the loudest in the country at the moment. JA

I'm sure they can. I can't wait until 2009 when the organ is going to be reinstalled. JA

Johannes Klais in Germany are doing the work, and as far as I know the work is scheduled to begin near the end of the year. I played this organ a couple of years ago and I found it to be an all right organ, but does not have enough power to what it would have had in its Norman & Beard incarnation. I think it was a terrible mistake for Croft to rebuild it in the 70s. surprising that only 11 of the N&B ranks are still speaking, including the two 32' flue ranks. If anyone wants the current specification or N&B one, let me know. JA

Rodgers Instruments make the MX-200, which has around 100 organ stops and about 7 or 8 hundred orchestral sounds. I don't think this would be any good if this was what you were thinking of. My church has one of these on the Rodgers, which is fine for using with other stops on the organ but probably not by itself. JA

John, Was just wondering if you heard anything about the 16-ft Diapason and its location within the organ? Would be great to know, as this thread has become very interesting. JA

Thanks everyone for your comments. It seems to look a lot easier than it actually is for me, but shouldn't take too long to learn. JA

Thank you very much Dulciana. Exactly what I wanted. JA

Hello everyone, I have been reading another topic and there was a mention of Vierne's Berceuse, which as it happens is a piece I have been trying to find for quite a while. So my question is: Does anyone know where I could purchase it or get a copy off the internet??? I first heard this piece on the 1998 Atlantic City Convention Hall Organ CD, and it has been one of the pieces I've been trying to find since then, so if anyone could help that would be great. Josh A

Yes Tony, you would be right about this although I have never seen any examples of this. But I suppose if they can extend the pedal stops, then they can definately do this on the manuals and borrow at the same time. Tracker would possibly be an option on this, but one thing I would want to avoid would be a heavy action. JA

I definately agree with you about organs being dangerous places. If I am tuning I never let anyone under 15yrs old into the organ because of the dangers, but I generally let tuning assistants in if there is a lot of work to be done inside. Some organs I have encountered with free-standing cases have the Pedal bass pipes accessible on the outside of the case, so this "wack-a-mole" idea could be possible if this is the case. JA

Yes the Tromba could be available on the Choir, but this would mean changing the pneumatic action to electro-pneu. but I for some reason prefer pneumatics than electronic actions. I had chosen a Tromba because I had heard a really brilliant one in June. It was either a Bishop or most probably Norman & Beard from when they rebuilt the organ in 1912. A solo division would be possible on electric action. The HN&B organ at Christchurch Cathedral NZ has only a three manual console but a Solo organ is available on the Choir manual. Obviously this would have some effects but it still works. The 32' Posaune would be able to be changed to a Fagotto 16, borrowed from the Sw but this would be possible with pneu. action. About the Ped. Principal 8, I was planning to have that stop in a Brindley & Foster style with notes 1-12 made from Wood and then 13-30 in Metal.... I think that's how they did it?? I don't think I would add a Dulciana on the Great, since the clarabella would be quite capable of accompanying the solo voices. JA

Here is my spec: Great Organ 1 Double Open Diapason 16 A 2 LGE Open Diapason 8 3 SML Open Diapason 8 4 Clarabella 8 5 Principal 4 6 Wald Flute 4 7 Twelfth 2 2/3 8 Fifteenth 2 9 Mixture III (17.19.22) 10 Tromba 8 Swell to Great Swell Super Oct to Great Swell Sub Oct to Great Choir to Great Swell Organ 11 Lieblich Bourdon 16 B 12 Violin Diapason 8 13 Rohr Flote 8 14 Salicional 8 15 Voix Celeste 8 T.C. 16 Gemshorn 4 17 Lieblich Flote 4 18 Fifteenth 2 19 Mixture III (15.19.22) 20 Contra Fagotto 16 21 Horn 8 22 Oboe 8 23 Vox Humana 8 24 Clarion 4 Tremulant Octave Sub Octave Choir Organ 25 Lieblich Gedackt 8 26 Dulciana 8 27 Vox Angelica 8 T.C. or Gamba 8 28 Harmonic Flute 4 29 Piccolo 2 30 Clarinet 8 Tremulant Swell to Choir Pedal Organ 31 Contra Bourdon 32 C 32 Open Diapason Wood 16 D 33 Violone 16 A 34 Bourdon 16 C 35 Echo Bourdon 16 B 36 Principal 8 D 37 Bass Flute 8 C 38 Contra Posaune 32 E 39 Trombone 16 E 40 Trumpet 8 E Great to Pedal Swell to Pedal Choir to Pedal Pressure-Pneumatic Action 4 Composition Pedals to Pedal & Great 5 Composition Pedals to Swell 4 Thumb Pistons to Choir 4 Thumb Pistons to Great & Pedal 5 Thumb Pistons to Swell Reversible Thumb Pistons & Pedals to Sw to Gt & Gt to Ped I had thought about adding a Solo with Harm. Claribel 8, flute 4 & Tuba 8 but ran out of stops, but I think that the Tromba could be voiced to be used as a chorus reed & a solo reed, possibly on a higher pressure. JA

I am sure that your organ would have better reeds, diapasons & flutes than mine since my church's Rodgers is probably over 15 years old now. The speakers are installed where the old pipe organ was behind a screen at the front of the church, but if this has an impact on the sound, I don't know. I would definately like the church to get a customised organ once the Rodgers dies, but that could be quite a while away at the moment. JA

Thats the problem, they will never be as good as a genuine pipe organ. The only good stops on some electronic organs are the flutes, but the reeds are absolute rubbish. All the electronics I've played are all right organs, but try playing something in full organ, the tone all goes 'foggy' and it sounds terrible. JA

To bring this topic back if anyone is interested, I have just received the original specification of the Brindley & Foster Organ. GREAT ORGAN Open Diapason 8 Hohl Flute 8 Dulciana 8 (common bass with flute) Octave 4 Harmonic Flute 4 Swell to Great SWELL ORGAN Bourdon 16 Violin Diapason 8 Lieblich Gedackt 8 Salicional 8 Voix Celeste 8 TC Gemshorn 4 Flautina 2 Horn 8 Oboe 8 Tremulant Octave Sub Octave PEDAL ORGAN Open Diapason 16 Bourdon 16 A Bass Flute 8 A Great to Pedal Swell to Pedal Pneumatic Action throughout JA

Definately, a loft of organists! Although a rank of organists could be a good one. JA

My Rodgers has had quite a few problems in the 11 years that the church has had it, e.g. failing completely because of lightning storm, or uneveness of regulation of flues. There are some nice stops like the flutes, but the reeds sound horrible to my ears. I would prefer the church to get a Wyvern or something else. Does anyone know if Wyvern organs are sold in the southern hemisphere? JA

I agree, it is an absolutely fantastic organ. In my opinion, one of the best with Barker Lever action. If you have a look here you can find some more info about it. JA

The Methodist church which I play at has a Rodgers 751. Not really the best organ but does what the church needs it to do. I'd much rather replace it with a pipe organ. JA

This is very interesting. Out of all the 20 or so Positive organs in NZ I have never come across one with the harmonium style pedals. JA

When you say 'the organist having to supply the wind for him/herself' do you mean using the pedals like on Harmoniums? All the Positive organs in New Zealand that I know of have the hand pump, but of course this would be inconvenient if no one was available to operate it. Most of the ones SIOC have restored have had electric blowers added, but still retain the hand pump. The pneumatics are a real nusence on the melodic stops, since they have to be either cleaned or replaced every 20 or so years. But if I added a pedalboard I would possibly have to keep the pneumatics since the Bourdon pipes are divided six either side of the organ. One problem with the Positive organs is that they are quite a nusence to tune e.g. removing the swell box back panel etc. JA

I agree about that. I am thinking about restoring a redundant one for home use, but a pedal board is one thing I definately would install. The only thing is I would have to supply extra 18 Bourdon pipes as they only use 12 for the Melodic Bass. Sounds like quite a bit of work but would probably be worth it. JA

A lot of builders install those. The South Island Organ Company in New Zealand which I work for, did use Muldersoft Transmission systems and they had the ability to use Auto-Pedal / Ped to Gt etc. If anyone here knows of the Positive Organ Company, London, their one-manual organs had the 'Melodic Bass' which was a pneumatic system so you would get the impression of playing the pedals aswell. Their specifications were normally around Open 8, Flute Bass 8, Flute Treble 8, Viol 8, Dulcet Bass & Treble 4. They normally included Melodic Diap 8 or Viol 8 which were also pneumatic and the rest of the manual action was mechanical. JA