John Robinson

Lovely story. Thank you, from a cat lover.

That's very interesting. Thank you. A horizontal flute, though? That's a new one on me. I wonder what advantage there is in making a flue stop horizontal.

Yes! Who needs an orchestra when you have an organ of that size? AND, you'd save a lot of money, paying for only one musician rather than 80+ !

It's not alone, of course, by any means. I remember discussing this one from Cologne Cathedral on here a few years ago: Aliquot II-III C 1' 8/11' f0 8/9' 15/11' 13/13' cs3 35/9' 15/11' 13/13' I have no idea what it sounds like, but I'd love to hear it (in context of course) just to find out.

Being neither inside the trade nor in possession of very much scientific expertise, I hesitate to reply! Nevertheless, your mention of a 'pin hole in the pipe foot' presumably relates to the use or otherwise of 'open toe' voicing. This is something that I'd like to know more about. What is the point of increasing wind pressure when a closed toe will effectively reduce that pressure? I can only assume that this is done to make adjustments to voicing easier. Also, I'm sure that some lower pressure stops can speak sufficiently loudly without the need for high wind pressures, with the obv

Yes, I have had Phonak aids for about four years now, so not the latest models and I do not have any bluetooth capability or other app for tweaking the settings. I do, however, receive free consultations every 6 months and the audiologist can make any adjustments necessary. As for bass response, I wouln't know really, as my hearing losses are in the higher frequencies.

I confess that I am one who has said that I'd be happy to keep both. On the other hand, if all contributors were to bring their discussions here, rather than simply stop posting, I'd be happy to live with 'the original' exclusively.

Having mentioned that it has been accused of being underpowered, when I attended a performance of the choir of King's College, Cambridge, the organ sounded perfectly good and well balanced to me. Am I right in thinking that the bottom few of the 32' Principal are Haskelled? I think I heard that some years ago.

Interestingly, the Bridgewater Hall organ in Manchester has also been accused of being underpowered. As I understand it, the organ was planned and built before the hall had been completed, and when the interior of the hall had finally been finished, they found that whilst the acoustics were very good generally, the organ should have been planned and voiced to be louder. If that was the actual case, perhaps it would have been better to leave the installation of the organ until the hall was properly completed and its acoustics assessed by the builder (Marcussen).

I'm sure I remember something similar being found in a ruined abbey in Yorkshire. I can't remember much more, or which abbey, but I do remember mention of large pottery jars being sited underneath the stalls.

It's a shame that so many of our churches are either closing down or throwing out their organs in favour of 'worship groups' (what I suggest might turn out to be a passing phase). At least this, and certainly some other, unwanted organs are going somewhere where they will be appreciated. I also find it encouraging that Germany seems interested in acquiring traditional English organ sounds. After all, we have been importing theirs for some time now. My ideal organ venue - never likely to happen, of course - would contain several organs from different European countries for inter

Yes, of course. No criticism intended! I suppose I could have a guess as to what the 38 ranks might be, but I suppose the only people who might know for certain are the builders. Now defunct, of course. It would be interesting to have a root around in there, though, to try to work it out.

Yes, I noticed that too. Personally, although Compton and others did that routinely and, admittedly, the end results may be good, I'd much prefer far fewer extensions as this gives a very exaggerated appearance of size. Perhaps someone in the know might edit the entry and add the usual letters after each (I suspect most) of the listed stops to show their derivation. I'm assuming that there are sufficient letters in the alphabet! Seriously, though, if there are 38 ranks it would be necessary to include some double-letters too.

Well, I can't see it becoming a carpet warehouse, as has actually happened with some disused churches! I'm not sure how 'populated' such a large building could become, though, bearing in mind the lack of any areas of large population in the neighbourhood.