Phil T

We have the Choir of St Mary’s Church, Cambridge (led by Sam Hayes) coming up shortly, their web site is under construction so offers very little information. Does any one know anything about either the choir or DoM?

As some seem to get very annoyed that a particular thread has gone off topic, I thought I start a thread that will never go off topic. Thread Hijacking is welcome and as long it’s organ or music related, please feel free.

I’m sorry to take this thread off topic, but it doesn’t sound like your problem is due to there only being one rectifier. Without seeing what’s there it is, of course, only a guess. From what you’ve said, the control boxes are marginal ie of a current rating that is only just up to the job. I should add that a properly designed power supply (rectifier) SHOULD maintain a relatively stable voltage as long as it’s being operated within its designed current rating.

Like Innate, I’ve got no experience of the programme, so this reply may be of little use to you. Sibelius offers SATB or choir (or pretty much any combination) and organ (either manuals or manuals and pedals) and allows full playback. It will print off two pages of A5 onto one page of A4 and, if you print on both sides (A4), you can fit a small(ish) anthem onto one page of A4.

Do I take it from you posting that you don’t consider yourself a member of the general public? I’ve found that generally most threads wander off subject, but the majority usually end up back on track.

That's what I thought too.

Hence the

There you go Sean, you're now my friend.

Tracking down an intermittent fault is always tricky, as it can often be weeks before the fault reappears. Once a fault becomes hard and fast it’s usually much easier to fix. KISS is a good philosophy for life, why make things harder than they need to be? Some times it’s not possible to use wood (or carbon fibre) to connect the keys to the pallets.

Because Nicholas Farrell, who was playing the fictitious DOM (and who couldn’t play the organ), didn’t have hairy hands. David Briggs was his “playing” stunt double, has hairy hands.

That was, I believe, Gloucester. David Briggs was DOM at the time and, apparently, he shaved his hands/fingers for shots of the organ being played.

Thanks Nigel. Absolutely fascinating, you do have to wonder what it’s like to play?

Is there any chance of some photos? That would be interesting to see.

I was going to try and write something deep and meaningful, but I think what Vox wrote sums it up nicely.

A superb cd, I particularly like the Whitlock “Fantasie Choral No.2 in F sharp minor”.

I’m pretty sure that Bluetooth doesn’t have the bandwidth for a medium size console, but I may be wrong. I don’t see the problem with sampling the o/p of a console and transferring the data, via fibre optics, to a remote division.

Simple mechanical engineering is usually the best solution to any given problem, as long as it’s feasible. The organ at St Paul’s couldn’t exist in a pure mechanical form. With many cathedrals adding nave divisions, there is a need for non-mechanical actions. Surely the best thing to do would be to use tracker action when feasible, and embrace technology when tracker action isn’t? :angry:

He’d probably have changed the pitch on the grounds that it was easier on the ear. :angry:

But the organ, as an instrument, continues to morph. I should imagine that when swell boxes, pedal boards, pneumatic action, etc were introduced, there were many that hated “these new fangled inventions”. If we don’t embrace new technology, don’t we cap the growth of the instrument? If an organ builder built a superb sounding instrument with a brilliant console that had just the right “touch”, would it really matter what technology was employed behind the scenes? :angry:

That's only 125 w per speaker. My Hi Fi is 250 w per channel, so half a Kw in total. Added/Edited as it didn’t come across well. I was trying to point out that 3Kw of amplification for a large building isn’t that much. If you have a 7.1 surround sound home cinema system with 250 w per channel, then that’s 2Kw, and that’s in a domestic environment. :angry:

In their time, many “traditional” engineering solutions were cutting edge; they were the “design” and “innovation” of their period. It’s hard to define better. Is it cheaper, improved reliability, better access, etc? It’s often down to personal preference. Personally, I’m all for embracing technology. :angry:

The trouble is, you’re looking at what (engineering wise) currently exists, and applying modern solutions (carbon fibre, etc). If you started with a blank sheet of paper, I personally don’t believe you’d design and build “tracker” action. Again, starting with a blank sheet of paper, I don’t think you’d have more than three manuals, even if you had more than three divisions. :angry:

There is such a thing as an “Organ, portable, small” in the RN, but I’ve never seen one, so have no idea how small, portable, or organ like it is.

Especially when the tenors split, so half sing the top part an octave down, and the rest sing their own parts. I believe this is known as fauxbordon, but I may be wrong. Whatever, it’s a very effective of adding more “colour” to a psalm.

Does singing psalms, whilst someone who knows how to accompany them properly, count? If so, yes.