Phil T

When my old parish church looked at replacing their old organ (1980s) a toaster was considered. As I recall (probably badly knowing me) the toaster route was the cheaper one. Two digital organs were brought into the church and tried out. Members of the congregation were encouraged to attend and many did. All who were there thought they sounded fine until the old organ (well past its best) was played. From that point onwards it was decided that the extra money for a pipe organ was the way to go.

But isn’t the whole point of these songs (can you call them hymns?) that they’re more accessible to the masses and everyone can join in? It seems like we’ve turned full circle. If I wanted to stand there swaying and clapping I’d have gone to a rock/pop concert.

There is no definitive answer as to what is the right tempo for hymns. It all depends on the hymn, the acoustic of the building and personal preference. I do find that if hymns are played too fast then it robs the music of feeling and passion; if too slow then it can drag and become druggy. When people complain about “old fashion” hymns it is often down to a too slow tempo.

Was that down to the material on the disk or the quality of singing/directorship? I tend to find any cd (choral or organ) with music by a singular composer leaves me bored too. There are a few exceptions to this, one is a Winchester/Hill cd of music by Gibbons, it’s fantastic.

??????? Isn’t early organ music a product of its time or the registration aids available at that time? If Bach had modern instrument would his works reflect this or would they remain the same?

Just as long as you don’t shout, “You sunk my Battleship”, at an inappropriate moment.

So you can scan apiece into Sibelius, add in relevant registrations; connect Hauptwerk, then hey presto. “I’ll be back”.

If pistons were available on the instruments the composers had to hand, would they have composed (registered) the pieces differently?

Is it South American buskers, people we wearing ponchos or nose-flutes that need controlling?

Now now, there’s no need to be like that.

Can you connect a program like Sibelius to Hauptwerk?

What about “Lord of all hopefulness”?

So with Hauptwerk, can you download different stops from the net? If so a two manual (with pedal) organ could be updated with stops, as required, to play whatever style of music was being played that week. Talk about value for money.

AJT, you're right about Solaris and UNIX, sorry. Looking at the Hauptwerk web site, it seems like a good alternative to a custom toaster.

Jesu, Joy of man’s despairing is a piece that I’ve sung so much that I fully understand where your boys are coming from. Form my own wedding it was “Set me as a seal” and “Lord for thy tender mercies sake”. Of the Walton my old choir said “nice piece, bitch to sing”. A couple of cathedral ringers (should that be singers?) helped it along. Fabulous day.

We run our system on Sun PCs. Much of the reliability comes from removing all programs (games, word processor etc) other than our own dedicated software. The system runs 24/7 for at least 300 days a year with near (99.99%) reliability.

Ah, so back to cars then? Did anyone see 5th gear last night? One of the girls from Girls Aloud crashed her race prepared Ferrari into a parked MPV. I’m sure what she said afterwards was “Oh pistons”. Weak link I know, sorry.

The words that really inspire me are- “Let every thing that hath breath: praise the Lord.” Not a hymn I know, maybe we should have your 20 favourite chants?

Is that the same Sun that supplies large numbers of computers to the US & UK Navy? Just think, with a pc based organ, you could surf the net during the sermon.

You hit the nail right on the head by saying “and can afford to do so”. Sadly I feel that many of the congregation who care about church music have their hands tied by the bean counters. Many from the congregation see church choirs, organs and their music, as elitist and inaccessible to the masses. When it comes to supporting the music, they just aren’t interested.

A Lotus 7, a beautiful and fine car. In the hands of a good driver I’ve no doubt a speedy and pleasant journey would be had but too much right foot on a wet roundabout, ouch. You don’t have to understand technology to embrace it. You don’t have to (and shouldn’t) replace all things mechanical with modern technology. But if it’s there, why not use it?

I’d rather have a “Recorded Live performance” than none at all. I understand that a good tracker organ is a gem to play, but I fail to understand the Luddite tendencies displayed by many organists. Chichester is a fine example of a good tracker organ but many cathedral organs couldn’t exist with tracker action due to placement/space available.

Sorry, spelling was never my strong point and it was early. Lager was what it should have said. The sentiments remain the same though.

My twenty top hymns? Well that depends what mood I’m in. Some nights I drink red wine, other nights bitter, but every now and then, lager it is. Shine Jesus, shine - by all rights I should hate you, but every now and then……….

I’ve heard a great descant to “Love Divine” (Welsh tune, can’t remember it’s name) on a cd from Wells. I don’t know who wrote it, but Anthony Crossland was Master of music at the time. I’d love to get hold of a copy.