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MikeK

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Posts posted by MikeK

  1. I always find it difficult to understand why incumbents do not choose there own hymns,  preferring to leave it to someone else to do this. Hymns should be chosen to comment on or expand the theme set by the readings, sermon etc. Without this continuity they become merely 'gap fillers' & often irrelevant to the rest of the service imho.  I would like to think that  there is some discussion between interested parties when hymns are chosen, but in my experience this rarely happens.  Perhaps playing in one of our 'dissenters' churches has spoilt me!  Am I out of touch with what happens in the 2 mainstream establishments?

  2. A dulciana on the G O  of a 2 manual  is useful as an accompaniment to a swell oboe or other suitable solo stop.

    On the instrument I am responsible for I have had the C O dulciana tuned sharp to beat against the violin diapason. It also works well coupled up to the S O & used with the viol d' orchestra. Other combinations are available!

  3. Not just village organs!  As well as a humidifier plant we have 3 large seed trays filled with water under the main frame of a 4 manual organ. The church heating is maintained at 22deg. at the weekend & reduced a couple of degrees during the week. This used to play havoc with sliders sticking but since the addition of the trays we have had no problems at all. I got some funny looks though when I placed them in the organ chamber & was then seen carrying several full water cans!

  4. After over 60 years of playing the organ I have probably made more than my fair share of c****ps, but two in partcular stand out!

     

    I was playing for the annual civic service in a large south coast church with an equally large organ, complete down to 32' reed. The console was equipped with a general crescendo pedal & a 'blind' tuttii piston, both showing only a small light when on, no stop knobs actually moved After finishing my processional voluntary with the gen cresc. fully open, followed by the tutti piston which added tuba, octave couplers & kitchen sink, I closed the gen.cresc. pedal, pressed the gen. cancel piston but forgot to reverse the tuttii piston,- for some strange reason this was not cancelled when the gen. cancel piston was used;- you've guessed it,- playing over the first hymn on full organ was not appreciated by his Worship the Mayor, & the Chief Constable reached for his whistle!! I've only done it the once!

     

    The second was really not my fault, your Honour! After a successful rehearsal for evensong in a well known Cathedral in this part of the world, I started to play the choir in for the start of the service when I realised all the piston settings had lost their memory, & any piston seemed to randomly bring out any stop. What was meant to be a quiet ethereal sound, using swell celeste etc. turned out to be a hurricane on full swell! By nature I am a lazy player & rely more than I should on console aids,- playing for a full choral service with only hand registration put me out of my comfort zone! It turned out that the 'memory ' bank was kept live via the aid of a car battery when the organ was 'off' & someone had disconnected the supply to the charger in order to use the socket. (This was in the very early days of memory chips) It was just my luck to be the person playing when the battery gave up it's last volt!

  5. My audiologist has suggested that I share my problem with fellow board members to see if anyone has experienced the problem I am having in coping with a mild hearing loss.

     

    I have been supplied with nhs hearing aids which help well with most situations but are unable to deal with music, particularly organ music. I have had the aids 'tweaked' about 5 times so far, with no real success & I am therefore thinking of going down the 'private' route. Before I do, I wondered whether anyone has any recommendations or experience of high-end hearing aids they are willing to pass on. The particular problem I am experiencing is an 'out-of tuneness' best described as making the organ sound like a badly out-of tune fairground instrument. A similar effect can be created by turning the 'chorus' effect up to maximum on an electronic instrument. Listening to recorded music sounds as though it is being shaken around in a tin!

     

    Before spending a lot of money I wondered if any fellow organists can offer me some tips?

     

    Mike

  6. Lacking a quiet 4' reed on the pedal organ, I find the solo unison off useful in coupling the horn or orch. oboe down, ie solo-ped, solo octave +unison off, horn. My short legs do not allow me to play an octave higher in order to reach the dusty extreme of the pedal top octave with ease! Also the Sw. 16' L. Bourdon + 8' L. gedacht + unison off + octave provide a useful 8 & 4 flute combination, there being no 4' flute on the swell.

  7. Members who new him will be saddened by the news that Chris Manners died suddenly, earlier today. Chris was for many years the Managing Director of Percy Daniels and organist of All Saints Church, Weston Super Mare.

    May he rest in peace.

  8. Sounds like Redland Park URC. A fine, fun-to-play organ. I hope it feels better soon.

    You are indeed correct!

     

    Thank you to those members who have responded with help, and as a result I have been able to speak to Vic Hackworthy.

    The main problem seems to have been the failure of 2 zener diodes but what caused one to fail & then another 2 days later remains a mystery. Further problems have now emerged with the general cancel piston & Gt.& Ped Combs Coupled, but at least the organ is now playable!

  9. The organ in the church where I am DOM has a Christie Multiplex transmission system which has failed. There are 2 racks of circuit boards, one which transmits the signal to a receiver unit in the organ, & another which takes care of the departmental & general pistons & memory levels. Both are protected by a 5A delay fuse. By a process of elimination it seems that the power supply board in both racks is causing the fuses to blow. My question is, do any members have experience of this system and/ or a circuit diagram?

    The Christie system was designed by Vic Hackworthy who is now retired, & I have been unable to contact him.

    Any help with this problem would be greatly appreciated. It seems a replacement system will take at least 3 months to design & fit! The organ in question is a 4 manual with approx 53 speaking stops.

  10. ==============================

     

     

    I find that I am able to respond to Liam's latest post with a hint of relish, because he opened up an almost forgotten memory. I was 14 and the organ was about 84 years of age, never having been touched. (The organ that is!)

     

    Bearing in mind that I was, at this point, a self-taught beginner, the fact that I was hurriedly called in to replace an elderly organist who had suddenly died, meant that I was thrown in at the deep-end. To make matters worse, this particular service was a confirmation, at which a number of local choirs were to sing. So not only was I faced with a big service, a strange organ and massed choirs, I somehow had to provide voluntaries. Remembering this, I find myself smiling, because I do recall playing Handel's "War march of the priests" as an entrance. (The Bishop of Bradford commented about it afterwards).

     

     

    MM

     

    I thought Mendelssohn wrote 'War March of the Priests' or have I missed something!

  11. And in the case of the Southampton organ (albeit 30 + years ago now) even manage provide a very lively and acceptable authentic sounding continuo and 'padding out' for performances of Messiah etc. by the Southampton University Choral Soc.

     

    A

     

    Many years ago, probably in the late 50's or early 60's when I lived in Southampton I remember going to a performance of Messiah at the Guildhall when my teacher, Cecil Williams had to use the theatre organ console as there had been a fire in the concert one. The sight of him sat at the monstrous horseshoe console is still etched in my mind some 50+ years later!

     

    M

  12. Maybe I was just having a bad day, but Wymondham seemed too hard and loud for the building which is why I said I didn't much care for it. I was also careful to say that I didn't totally dislike Warwick. Actually I have no real problem with the Transept organ at all.

     

    Some other favourites would be St. Mary's Southampton if only it was all up together, and I don't know how the Hill in All Saints Hove hasn't got a mention yet. Likewise All Hallows Gospel Oak. I'd also have to give a mention to Farm St, and the oratory which for me at least, really works.

     

    I can also mention one I particularly disliked, and apologies to any here who may know it and think differently, but the Catholic Church in Kingswinford has one of the most ill conceived, badly constructed and miserable little instruments I have yet encountered.

     

    AJS

     

    I too have a soft spot for St Mary's Southampton, but have not heard or played it for over 45 years! I was a pupil of and assistant to, D. Cecil Williams when the organ was still being 'run-in.' Does anyone know how much of it is playable these days? I do remember the enclosed 32 reed, something it had in common with another organ I consider should be in any top ten,- St Mary Redcliffe.

    MK

  13. Not tracker but very un Compton is this - there has been some work since it went in (Walkers I think) and the Swell/Great reeds are now slightly different having been somewhat tamed. I've not heard it for 30+ years but I think another poster on here plays there sometimes. I once met the chap who drew up the scheme ('can't remember his name but he was organist there when it went in) - he was interviewing me for a teaching course at a college in York in the mid '70s - we spent more time on the Boltons organ than on my possible college place.

     

    A

    The person you are referring to is David Lang, now retired & living in York. I had the pleasure of being his assistant at the Boltons in the mid-60's. I remember the organ as being most un-Compton like, very in-your-face & taking no prisoners! Just what a young music student used to playing a large Willis III in a very resonant building needed! I believe David was at that time a lecturer at Roehampton Teacher Training College & also a part-time teacher at the RCO. He was also a fine organist.

  14. Interesting references to Hull City Hall and that no self-respecting organ restored would dream of eliminating the Compton additions and return it to F&A original design. Maybe only a decade ago some people I know would have been falling over themselves to have it de-Comptonified.

     

    It had a conservative restoration in I think the 1980s by Rushworth and Dreaper which from what I could gather resulted in Compton's illuminated push button stops were replaced by conventional drawstops. Comparing photos of the console before and after, personally I prefer the looks of the revised console. But in changing the console, were R&D responding to a perceived need for something more conventional, or were they just cultural vandals? How will that change be judged in history?

     

    Either way, it remains something of an undiscovered jewel and is thrilling to play.

     

    Contrabombarde

    The change to conventional drawstops was more likely the result of difficulty in finding suitable replacement bulbs!

  15. Pcnd5584 makes an interesting point about the placement of couplers; I agree with his suggestion that they should be placed with the department which th

     

    My preference is for the inter-manual & pedal couplers to be placed on the left jamb, along with the swell & pedal departments., as an earlier contributer pointed out, it is more likely that the left hand can be freed to select stops. If the swell to great, choir to great & solo to great couplers are placed under the great stops it is quite a stretch for the left hand, particularly if like me, you are not blessed with long arms! There is also the question of balance, if a 4 manual console has the couplers placed with the relevant department then it is likely that the great department jamb is going to be much larger than any other department, perhaps not a problem with an 'attached' console but certainly a consideration where console height is concerned. My personal preference is for the swell, pedal & couplers on the left jamb & great, choir & solo on the right,- perhaps this is because my own church console has this arrangement & I have got used to it.

     

    As for the placement of general thumb pistons,- before our recent console rebuild the generals were all on the left,- 4 under the solo key slip & 4 under the swell. As we were having new keyboards the opportunity was taken to review the position of these & I decided to have the 4 under the swell slip placed instead under the far right of the solo manual. I now regret that decision as it is a long stretch to No.8, with a 61 note compass! I tend to use only 1 - 4 & then change channels, it's less hassle!

     

    Fortunately this console is not fitted with a stepper/sequencer toe piston, however I consider the worst place to fit one is where the great to pedal toe piston is usually found and I speak from experience, unfortunately! Is there some way in which these things can be temporarily disabled? I suppose one solution is not to use any generals & set every one to alternately pull & push the great to pedal!!

     

    No mention has been made yet of the order the swell pedals are placed, my own preference is for the swell to be in the middle if there are 3 swell boxes or on the right if there are two, but I have met every permutation possible! What do other members think?

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