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Frank Fowler

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Everything posted by Frank Fowler

  1. This forum is quickly beginning to show the many problematic facets of this subject. A Company employee's day might well start at eight when he commences working for his Company by getting into his car to go tuning and will expect to be paid for leaving his house (or the factory if is works from there and will have clocked on at 8) at that time. His paid time does not start from his arrival at the church as that is not his place of employment, nor are the church his employers. If your company charges the same for your consaltancy fee wich starts at 9 am be it Southampton or Stockholm then who absorbs your travelling time and costs. Do you mean that you have to get yourself to Stockholm in your own time and at your own expense to be there by 9 am? FF
  2. The problem is not normally pipes themselves going out of tune but the construction of the soundboards being affected by humidity changes causing skrinkage or the reverse affecting the wind supply to the pipes. A well slided metal pipe is pretty well as stable as a cone tune pipe under ideal conditions and far less damage is done in tuning it with a `reed knife' or similar than thumping it with a `cone tuner' if constant tuning, particularly in the trebles, is required (or insisted upon) when climatic conditions change. FF
  3. Generally most tuners (unless obviously told otherwise as mentioned above) try to manintain an instrument to the best possible state its condition condition will allow and take a pride in doing this. The main object is obviously to get all the notes playing if possible, then do as much tuning as time allows. If the organ is not in good condition then of course there will be problems but there is much that can be done to get an instrument playing and much ingenuity is and has been used. This also raises the problem of how long a 1/2 day or full day tuning is. Does it include travelling time to the church? Time wasted in having to fetch keys? In most churches the organist and tuner develop a happy understanding and there is some give and take. Sometimes a fault can take up to a couple of hours to put right, others, if for example a fault caused by water coming through roof, will need far more than a tuning visit to put right and have to be quoted as a `special repair' job. In my tuning days I seem to have been pretty lucky with clients. On occasions one worked well beyond the time one was expected home for supper as in those days and still is in some cases, for many tuners getting things right was what mattered. You also had some organist (do I note occasional signs in this Forum?) who could be more than difficult. These days Health and Safety legislation presents problems even with simple ladders and of course one should have tower scaffolding erected to remove lofty front or pedal pipes to get in. It would be interesting to see who could come up with a suitably worded tuning and maintenance contract to cover everything. FF
  4. Alas no - there were quite a number of things that we were was never allowed to do! FF
  5. I would like to be a stop connected to a trap door in the pulpit. FF
  6. Frank Fowler

    Gtb

    Many years ago, my wife’s aunt was staying with us in London and on the Saturday evening before the Tuesday she was returning to her home in South Wales, calmly announced she would like to meet Doctor George Thalben-Ball, taking it for granted that I would simply wave a magic wand. I managed to ascertain that he was playing at the Temple in the morning so off we went. We had just sat down when he appeared in the vestry door and came straight over to us. He told me the blower would not start and would I be kind enough to have a look at it, so off I trotted. I checked within my capabilities and reckoned that the problem was in the three phase supply (subsequently proved to be correct – one of the phases was down) and there was nothing I could do. A piano was produced and I had the immense pleasure of hearing the whole service accompanied by GTB on the piano. I don’t know who many organists have heard him play the piano but that morning it was a revelation. If it could be said that a piano could be played orchestrally – he did. After the service had finished he came straight over to us and thanked me for trying to assist and apologised for interrupting our worship. He then chatted to Auntie for some five minutes – my Brownie Points increasing by the second. He was typically approachable and pleasant, as I always found him to be, but more importantly for me on that Sunday morning I had heard him accompany a service on a piano. FF
  7. We had thefts from our church and now the PCC will not leave it unlocked without a `guard' about. There is no restriction on practice provided the door is kept locked if the organist is the only person about. FF
  8. Did Gerard Hoffnung ever get round to writing an instruction book on German Romantic Organ Consoles? FF
  9. The soundboard drawstop actions can be noisy as well. FF
  10. Frank Fowler

    Clarions

    [ ** Don't let Cecil (Sam) Clutton's dictums get to you! I am prepared to concede that he did good work upon occasion and probably 'meant well', but he was also capable of talking/writing total twaddle. Sadly, his position in the UK organ world was so prominent that often his word was accepted as Gospel. Not good. Alas `twas ever thus. FF
  11. As an apprentice I used to help tune the old organ at New College Oxford for Dr H K Andrews - who, on occasions could be slightly difficult. The pipework was at different height levels around the instrument, including and upper and lower soundboard in the Swell Box. The temperature changes could be horrific just by leaving the main door open in winter. Dr A always came in to check the tuning at the end and always played the Treble C Great Principal against Middle C on the Swell 15th. If these were perfectly in tune all was fine - if not.......! Fortunately he always came in at the same time so we could ensure at least these two pipes were in tune. FF
  12. Normally our toddlers are taken to their own `pen' for communion where they can raise cain to their heart's content. On Easter Sunday morning it was decided to bring them into church for the whole service but we had so many grown ups at the service the only space for them was between the back of the organ stool and in the adjacent aisle. Jesus might love little children but I found it hard work to do so for that service. FF
  13. I think that many organ builders can be compared to being like a male lion, who, on taking control of of a pride, after seeing off the former `boss' lion off, kills all his cubs to remove all traces of the predecessor. As David Coram has said, Osmond of Taunton were shockers at this. They had a `trophy' board in the works with various name plates that had been removed leaving only the Osmond plate. In my days with HNB we tried to be honest and either leave the original builder's plate in stiu or include the history on our own up to date plate. Unfortunately although we had idealistic intentions often the original plate was later removed by trophy seeking organ nuts - often the current organist. FF
  14. The old Christie Cinema Organs had coloured stopkeys. Blue for Couplers, Red for Orchestral Reeds, Black for heavy reeds (Tubas) Chocolate for tonal percussions and yellow for non tonal percussions. All very pretty and easy to locate. FF
  15. This is a `famous' Welsh organ and a superb example of it's period. I suspect that the leatherwok must now be coming to the end of its useful life. Put into a church with good acoustics it would be impressive, even with the current specification - I hope that it can be sold and not knocked down with the building. FF
  16. Try putting some buckets or trays of water in the organ, the bigger the surface area the better. Is the organ in a cernrally heated room? Good luck, FF
  17. The standards of sermons are the responsibility of the Church Wardens. In one of my local churches they do just that as well! FF
  18. Are the 15th trebles on the front edge of the soundboard? If so, you might be having problems with the upperboard being affected by humidity changes causing slight warping and subsequently affecting the amount of wind gettting to the pipes. FF
  19. Do Diocesan Organ Advisors come under any appraisal system? FF
  20. If it's any consolation, it is also the churchwardens' responsibility to appraise the sermons and ensure that an acceptable standard is kept up. I am sure that somewhere on the Web all the official responsibilities for church officers are set out. I expect Barry will know where. There well might be other paid staff that do need yearly appraisal so it is appraisal for all and the Churchwardens, who are responisble for the well being of their church, are obviously doing their duty. What's the problem? If you are doing a good job, that is all that matters. If you take on the PCC decision, that might well be aimed at someone else, I suggest that you do so at your own peril. PCCs' do not always take happily to the sort of attitude that you are taking - I've had dealings enough with them! FF
  21. Should the Great and Pedal Pistons (or other Manual to Pedal Piston Couplers, if there) be affected by the General Cancel? FF
  22. I read somewhere this week that it is now the policy of BBC 3 to cease broadcasting all live performances, only recorded ones. This is a pity as I always felt one of their studio live broadcasts usually had an edge on it (including the odd mistake) that an edited, perfect recording often lacks. FF
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