innate

I have had limited success converting "live" MIDI files into conventional notation but there are probably software music sequencers (NB don't confuse a MIDI Sequencer with a stepper-like registration system on an organ) which can make this easier. Sequencers (or their more upmarket siblings that can process audio too, including Logic, Performer and ProTools) have a function where "beats" (and, I imagine, sub-divisions of beats) can be plotted onto tracks played "wild" (ie not in time with a click-track). Additionally, the midi-import function in Sibelius can be tweaked to produce less garbage. If the midi input can be split into separate "tracks" eg for each manual and pedal, then the process can be more straightforward, I suppose. I'm wondering if MainStage (a live MIDI controller application which is, I think, part of Logic) could be useful in controlling MIDI-enabled organs remotely.

Cynic's comments seem pretty accurate to me, although I'm no expert either. Most MIDI-enabled equipment has two MIDI sockets, MIDI-IN and MIDI-OUT; there is also sometimes a MIDI-THRU, if you want to "daisy-chain" several devices together. Some experts talk about MIDI-delay; this may be exacerbated if there are many MIDI-messages to transmit in a short space of time; technically, I think MIDI has difficulty "playing" two or more notes at exactly the same time. Don't shoot me if this isn't true! MIDI can control notes on and off, "patch changes" (a bit like stop changes), MIDI volume, expression, reverb, and many other types of data, using hexadecimal code. There are 16 channels in the basic MIDI spec, but this can be expanded.

I'd echo the earlier suggestions of the Robertsbridge Codex—there's a funky Estampie in the OUP Anthology of Mediaeval Music—and the Buxheimer Organbook; I'd also add the Mulliner Book (some good bits of Tallis) and the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book (not mediaeval in any useful sense of the word but I'm sure La Volta on fractional reed alternating with a bright plenum will fit the bill).

Isn't this the church that numbers our Prime Minister amongst its congregation?

I have a feeling the small Willis tracker at Christ Church served a similar function.

That's what I want to hear too! Would I be right in thinking they would be appropriate for the Buxheimer pieces?

Disappointing that the church website uses the words "too costly to repair"; I'd have preferred "too costly for us to repair". Interestingly, and I wonder if this might not deserve its own thread, I caught Loyd Grossman (of Through The Keyhole fame) on the Parliament Channel giving evidence to, I think, a select committee of MPs about heritage and the voluntary sector and he actually mentioned "historic pipe organs" in the context of heritage organisations that are run by volunteers "out of love" and don't have "smart offices in Strasbourg". Mr Grossman was an eloquent and impressive speaker.

Prompted by comments on other threads I wondered if it might be worth starting a thread all about regals and their close relatives, their beauty, form and function. Cited as good is that on the Aubertin box organ in St John's College, Oxford. Bad, or worse, are the now landfilled one from the Collins organ in Brasenose, Oxford and the (later addition to) the old instrument in Carisbrooke Castle, IOW. What do the panel think about the Messingregal 16' at New College, Oxford? What other examples are there in the UK of this once significant component of the old German organs?

I was surprised how untouched Oxford Town Hall appears to be on NPOR.

In the same part of the country and with particular input, both financially and musically, from The Rev'd Canon Professor Dr Sir Frederick Arthur Gore Ouseley St Michael’s, Tenbury had two organs in a relatively short span due, I seem to recall, to deficiencies in the first instrument. The stoplist of the first is extraordinary, considering the time and place: Flight/Harrison 1854/1867 It was replaced by this: Willis 1873 although given that it later became: Willis 1953 Maybe the second stoplist isn't entirely accurate. Very interesting to note the changes.

That's pretty descriptive, Mr H! But weren't regals stand-alone instruments, in addition to (or maybe prior to) their incorporation into church organs? I have this memory of Henry VIII having several. I'm speaking purely from an authentic point of view here.

It is a matter of personal regret to me that I never heard, let alone played, the Collins Brasenose organ. If I'd had access to the regal, I would have been tempted to play really early stuff on it, eg that Estampie in the Oxford Medieval Collection from the Rebertsbridge MS. Is the consensus that it was bad even for a regal?

To me it sounds as though the organist is absolutely placing the stress on the last note of the first and third phrases with an agogic accent to boot! On an instrument with no control over dynamics within a phrase the main way of placing an accent on the PENultimate note would be to lift off the previous note and on this recording I can't detect any gap between the ante- and the pen-ultimate notes.

I don't find that so incredible. If the builder is reputable and the stoplist appropriate, why not programme, say, CÜ III or La Nativité, or the Poulenc Concerto? There seem to be many organ builders capable of installing and finishing an organ on schedule.

What does [sue Wright] mean by "the entire pipe system"? The wind trunking? The organ pipes? The central heating? If the first, which seems most likely, how could its replacement be a "massive expense"?

I like the quote on the Music page of the church website from St Agustine [sic].

I'm on Facebook but couldn't access the Wall linked to above, only the Info page. Is this the church? Fairly lacklustre website, and someone is listed as organist! Quite gratifying that this discussion is about the fourth hit on a google search for the church.

This is a thread titled and about Willis Open Day. For practical reasons that should be obvious other Open Days would be best discussed in another thread. It's not as if new threads are expensive or difficult to start. Or to delete if people can't be civil.

As a bit of an aside, I'll be in Edinburgh over Christmas. Which churches should I try to catch, from an organ and church music point of view?

I'm sure you're right. I suppose the relevance is that Lemare's stipulation implies that generally in England at that time the Swell (including reeds) was softer than the Great, which must count as some sort of testimony. M

Yeah, that Esurientes in the Bach Magnificat is rubbish

Is it relevant to mention that Lemare insisted that the Swell be louder than the Great on some instrument he was involved with planning (maybe St Margaret's Westminster)? Apologies if Lemare never said anything of the kind.

Getting off-topic... 4 seconds after reading MM's comment above I found this: accidents

I practised there for FRCO 30 years ago. There's a Great to Choir coupler and no Choir to Great, if I recall correctly. Can't remember what it sounded like!

St Michael's, Highgate has a lovely resonant acoustic and a fine 3-manual Nicholson with a resplendent Tuba. There might, however, be problems with recording over a weekend as Sunday mornings are quite busy and there's normally an evening service too. No idea on charges but for an amateur outfit it might be negotiable. Do you suppose it could be managed in one day over three sessions?