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pwhodges

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Posts posted by pwhodges

    Youtube

    in General discussion

    Posted

    The only solo recording of the old Willis/Harrison organ in Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford (apart from mine in the British Sound Archive, which even I cannot access) which I have been unable to get a copy of has popped up in the Archive of Recorded Organ Music on YouTube.

    Played by Paul Morgan while organ scholar there.

     

    Carillon - Herbert Murrill
    Larghetto in F sharp minor - S.S. Wesley
    Fugue in E flat ("St. Anne") - J.S. Bach

    Sadly, the transcription has a lot of wow, and the end of the Wesley is missing.

    (My recordings in the British Sound Archive are of Paul rehearsing for this release, and also some hymn accompaniments he recorded for a missionary to use in his church....)

    Paul

    King Charles and the organ

    in The Organ

    Posted

    I note, however, the typical conflation of the organ with "the church organ".  Admittedly, for most learners, that is still the most accessible to learn on (though it's now considerably easier to get a similar instrument at home, if there's room - and money - for a simple console), but focussing on one use of the instrument is sad, and could reduce interest from non-religious people.

    Paul

    How many 16' pedal flue stops should be used simultaneously?

    in General discussion

    Posted

    The same can happen when you're listening live, of course.  And even with a single pedal stop, there will be places where you get cancellation or reinforcement on odd notes (different at each place, so making an "ideal" microphone position hard to achieve - maybe this is a case where multimiking has an advantage over single-point techniques!).

    In my (non-commercial) organ recordings I've never really bothered about this - and I've not been troubled by the results.

    Paul

    Real pipe organ vs Virtual pipe organ

    in The Organ

    Posted

    Salisbury used the (unreleased) sample set while the actual organ was out of action (rebuilding the blower room, as I recall); they also used a French sample set for some voluntaries, I think.  I never heard or saw any comments on how well it was received.

    The organist at the time had built a replica of the real console for his home use, and I suppose that got used in the cathedral.

    Paul

    Real pipe organ vs Virtual pipe organ

    in The Organ

    Posted

    The nearest to a true comparison that I can think of would be to record the organ "live" at the same time and using the same microphones as the recording of the sample set, played back on the same system.  This would enable a comparison in which presence and setup of the sampling software was the only variable.

    Paul

    John Compton

    in Nuts and bolts

    Posted

    I'm wondering whether MM is even still with us (though he's younger than me)...

    Anyway, higher up this thread he provided an email address which it might be worth trying: camitch49@yahoo.com

    Paul

    In Dulci Jubilo BWV 608

    in Organ Music

    Posted

    6 hours ago, innate said:

    Wikipedia says that the pedal part was intended to be played an octave lower than written on a 4' stop, which would make the notation more of a representation of the sound than instructions to the player.

    That is taken straight from Peter Williams - who suggests the same treatment for BWV 600.

    Paul

    NEH v Common Praise hymn books

    in General discussion

    Posted

    Not a hymn book, but I had a book pre-ordered on Amazon for delivery in October.  When the due date came, they said it was not available and they could not give me a date.  I'd had this on other books and the delivery had then appeared within days.  But this time it stayed in this state, and when I realised it was in stock everywhere, and going to the Amazon page for it showed it as available from Amazon, it was clear they were not going to sort it out - so I cancelled the order, and reordered elsewhere (at a higher price, of course...). 

    The idea that this is deliberate because they don't want to fulfil their promise of the lower price seems realistic, I fear.

    Paul

    How good is your hearing?

    in General discussion

    Posted

    Hearing aids are developing by leaps and bounds.  My wife's hearing aids (absolute latest top of the range in-ear Phonaks) have a number of settings, and she says the music setting in particular is amazing in comparison to earlier models; though as her deafness is congenital, she has no ideal to judge against.  In their normal default setting (which is actually adaptive) she now hears birdsong which she's never heard before.  But yes, they are expensive, I'm afraid.

    It's a little while since I tested my own hearing, but I think the top is down to about 10kHz, maybe a little lower (I haven't determined a reference volume to listen at, which affects the apparent result).  I am not conscious of the loss as a change of apparent sound quality, but have started to realise that conversation in adverse conditions is now that bit harder to follow, even though it seems to sound the same - which is a curious contradiction!  Still, the result is probably not bad for age 77.  I've also had continuous tinnitus for more than half my life, but curiously it's never really interfered with hearing other things, or even been a nuisance at all.  It's very high-pitched, but I have never been able to identify it as a note for some reason.

    I had been planning when I retired to make a couple of Hauptwerk sample sets of organ of interest to me, building on my sound recording experience and expertise.  But when I started experimenting with techniques, I realised that one of the most crucial aspects of this work is noise reduction - because sample noise is additive from every single sample - and this noise is naturally concentrated in the highest frequencies.  But in the top octave or more I would be unable any longer to judge the retention of required frequencies against the suppression of unwanted ones - and so I might end up making samples that sound perfect to me, but are clearly defective to those with younger ears.  Inevitably similar considerations must affect pipe organ builders and maintainers.

    Paul

    Armchair wanderings, Denmark - Hald Ege Kirke

    in The Organ

    Posted

    25 minutes ago, Choir Man said:

    Frede Aagaard installed an earlier organ in 1968 shortly after the church was built, but this was removed when the newer organ was installed.

    A link from the Wikipedia article gives the reason for this:

    Quote

    Due to a misunderstanding between the organ builder and the architect, the organ was given a different foundation and a different location in the room than intended by Frede [Aagaard], resulting in unstable operation. After a long series of calls and repairs, the organ was taken down in 1980 and replaced by another.

    It was his only organ installed outside Sweden.

    Paul

    Pronunciation of Hele?

    in General discussion

    Posted

    Too easy...  I found that the remnant of the company is part of "Midland Organ, Hele & Company", which is still active (though it would be hard to tell from their web site) in Leicestershire.  I rang the number on the one webpage, and had a chat with a nice man who confirmed that it is indeed "heel".

    Paul

    Are we dying on our feet?

    in General discussion

    Posted

    23 minutes ago, Colin Pykett said:

    So it is a most curious situation that so many apparently rushed to join the forum when it was set up yet have never been active in its deliberations.  Why?  And why do people keep joining even today (good) but then never post (not so good)?

    This is normal behaviour that I have observed on every forum I've ever been involved with.  Why?  "Something, something, human nature", I suppose.

    Paul

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