Phil T

At the church where I sing, the vicar’s wife has taken to choosing the last hymn for the morning service. They’re either those horrible speech rhythm hymns that never seem to work in the formal setting of a church with organ or an old tune with poor words that repeat time and time again.

Hum, sounds familiar. What is it with vicar’s wives picking organists/music/hymns? They (the wives) are members of the congregation like everyone else. I sometimes wonder who wears the trousers. Surely the vicar does what his parish (through the PCC) wants?

That’s larger than I thought. I thought Chichester with 4 man and 48 speaking stops was about as big as could be comfortably made/played.

How large? How many Manuals? How many stops?

The merits of tracker action vice electrical/pneumatic action have been heavily discussed within this forum. One of the limits of tracker action is the size of organ that can be built. My question is: - What is the largest Tracker action ever built?

I’m sorry to disagree with you Pierre, and I can only speak from my experience, but I’ve seen hydraulic valves (actuators) operate in less than half a second. This is (I admit) in a system operating at 4000 psi and so is totally different to the system that MM is thinking about. The system that MM is on about is more akin to a cars braking system: The repetition of the ABS facility is still pretty rapid.

Hydraulic system, as in piston under the pallet and piston under the key connected together with small bore pipe full of hydraulic fluid? Sounds interesting, and on the surface, very plausible.

My own experience of control engineering lies within weapon engineering. It is possible to rotate a gun mount through 360 deg so I’m sure it’s possible to open and close swell shutters. I’m sure the syncros used to achieve this are very similar to that used in the aero industry. I’ve no idea what’s commercially available but I’m sure it’s possible to adapt existing technology for use in an organ.

Hence the lack of smilies.

It doesn’t open up a separate window and so is quicker, but then it has fewer facilities.

I agree that if you’re moving several tons around with pin point accuracy, then the cost of a syncro system is very expensive. The syncros used in model aircraft etc are certainly relatively cheap. But then, as you’re only tracking (pallet end) a max of about 20 mm, stepper motors/solenoids can be used instead. Cheaper yet again. LOOK AT THIS This shows what is available straight off the shelf.

When I was a young lad (that makes me sound old) I started listening to different styles of organ music. I liked (and still do) much French organ music, mainly Vierne and Widor. Every performance or recording was on an English church/cathedral/concert hall instrument. I got so used to this sound that when I heard this style of music played authentic Cavaille-Col instruments, it just sounded wrong. Ramble ramble ramble……….

Surely the point of an exact restoration is to preserve our heritage for future generations? Yes, historic designs may be flawed (to our thinking at least) but that is a reflection of the thinking of the time. How many times have you heard cathedrals saying that a particular tonal scheme had been jealously guarded or lamenting tonal alterations that destroyed historic instruments?

Every day is a learning day. I hadn't even thought that the weight of touch would/could change as you played up and down the keyboard.

The way I read it was 8mm of travel divided into 128 steps of 0.064mm. As these steps are so small they would appear to the average user as infinite control. Sadly my ability at the keyboard doesn’t go beyond a few clumsy cords. Surely the “feel” provided by tracker action is due to the resistance of the springs, pallet and action? Is the “feel” also due to the audio cue as the pipe starts to speak? If an organ was built with tracker action but with the pipes speaking into a different room would the player really know (by touch of finger tips) the precise point the pallets opened? I just don’t know.

This (valve bounce) is exactly the problem they encountered with high revving engines. How did they solve the problem? Replacing the mechanical cam and valve with a pneumatically operated valve.

I looked at the Fisk lever. It was interesting how they did it. If you take it one step further, then it’s just good old pneumatic action but with the pneumatic motor (bellows) outside the wind chest.

Sorry, I should have been more specific. The car fly-by-wire I was referring to was the throttle linkage.

I’m sure with the use of Synchros, a system could be designed that would track the fingers, so would feel good yet would also be fast and silent. Modern cars, planes etc have had fly by wire systems for years. The question is, if a Synchro system can provide the “feel”, why on earth would you want or need mechanical action as well?

How about, Three Chorale Fantasias-Parry Sonata in E flat-Bairstow Rhapsody on a Ground-Statham

Try this This is good but very in depth.

You want to look at articles relating to fluid flow in pipes. There are basically two types of flow; Laminar and Turbulent. Laminar flow gives the smoothest delivery of fluid (air is classed as a fluid). Sharp changes of (pipe) direction will lead to Turbulent flow. This will lead to an un-smooth delivery of fluid. This is normally undesirable in hydraulic and pneumatic applications. Hope this helps.

The Widor 5th Symphony Toccata is popular with the masses. They appear to prefer it to other far better pieces. Over played and over rated yet still immensely popular.

Where can I get this CD from, I’ve tried looking on the internet, but no where seems to sell it.

I rather like the case at Westminster Abbey. The pipes are fairly plain but seem to work because of it. I hate the organ at Kingston parish church with its Perspex shutters, some may find it attractive, but I think it’s awful.