John Robinson

Exactly. I have recorded some of my favourite organ LPs on to minidisc for exactly that reason, but also for the convenience of being able to listen to them in bed (you can't easily play LPs in bed) - listening using headphones, of course, so as not to disturb Marge!

Hear hear.

Yes, I can believe it! I really hope that they begin making these again (though I doubt it) because if and when my Minidisc turns its toes up I shall desperately want to replace it. Perhaps, if it does pack up, a repair might be possible.

Just my four penn'orth, but I have a Sony Minidisc which I find perfectly good. I understand from reviews, etc, that it isn't exactly hi-fi, but with my high-frequency hearing loss (discussed elsewhere) I can honestly say that I can't hear the difference (using good headphones) to my hi-fi system with four-way speakers! It's also far better than my old tape cassette player (now ditched) which medium, I have to say, has always been hopeless what with low quality reproduction, tapes stretching and getting tangled up.

I'm pleased to see that Leeds seems to be a forward looking city with regard to the organ, what with this, the proposed alterations and additions to the Town Hall organ and the continuation of free lunchtime recitals there as well.

Our last vestige of hope? Yes, certainly the Christian church is dying out in this country and some believe that the organ may die out with it. On the other hand, we still have concert hall organs which appear to attract some sort of audience and, of course, we still have cathedrals and Oxbridge colleges in which organ music is still heard. In fact, there must be still some support as both Canterbury and York cathedrals are presently having their organs rebuilt (per a thread on this web site!). To be perfectly honest, as an atheist, churches being closed down doesn't concern me too much, accepting that they are closing because people appear not to want them. That sort of sounds fair. Sad, though, that organs are also disappearing locally. So what is the answer? I'd like to think that if the Dutch can do what they're doing, perhaps we can. Unfortunately, I can't think how we'd go about that. When a primary teacher, I did attempt to instil some sort of early interest in the organ among my charges. I have no idea how successful or otherwise I was.

Sadly, I have never had the opportunity to directly compare a 32' Wood with a 32' Metal, but I had assumed that the metal pipes would have more harmonic development than the wood ones, giving the metal ones more 'drive' as you describe it, and the wood pipes possibly being more weighty and 'foundational'. I'd be interested to know whether or not that is, in fact, the case.

Yes, unfortunately I have never been able to develop the necessary skills to play. If a genie should ever offer me three wishes, one of them would be that I was able to play the organ well. I have not yet considered the other two! My Christmas music consisted, this year, of only two sources: the King's Nine Lessons and Carols and a CD of their Christmas music. I was pleased to find that their standard of music has remained, under their new musical director, as excellent as it was under the distinguished Stephen Cleobury.

King Jesus Hath a Garden Quittez Pasteurs (No, I didn't play them. I'm not an organist. I enjoyed listening to them. I'm very good at listening!)

That's interesting, and it prompts me to ask whether coupling a more local division to a remote one might help with this sort of thing. Perhaps attempting to pay more attention to the local sound might help with 'ignoring' the slightly delayed remote sound. I should point out that I am not an organist, so please don't be afraid to point it out if I am talking a load of tripe!

As with most things, it is a good idea to compare different options. Many hearing aid outlets offer a trial period (mine did, anyway - Boots) and, presumably, you can try a pair here, try a different brand elsewhere, and so on. To be honest, I didn't though. I went with the first pair - Phonak, but on reflection perhaps I should have tried different ones.

I'm sure I've read other threads on here regarding unequal temperament before, but I think here is as good as any. What I find hard to believe is that unequal temperament is not employed more widely in organs. Perhaps not concert room organs which are required to work with orchestras and many other instruments, but why not churches and cathedrals. How often do we see cathedral instruments being used with orchestras? Surely, it is far more usual - normal, in fact - for them to be used with choirs. I'd go so far as to say that a cathedral organ retuned in an unequal temperament like Kellner would not even be noticed as any different by most people, whereas many are likely to find that they like the sound in preference to how it was.

An interesting phenomenon exists whereby one can 'turn down one's own ears' physically when bombarded by loud sounds. I'm not sure how I achieve this, though I believe it involves tensing muscles attached to the auditory ossicles which, in turn, moderates their movement when transmitting sound from the eardrum to the oval window in the cochlea. I can't even explain how to do this, but I think it can happen involuntarily when we hear particularly loud sounds. On the other hand, I have learnt how to do this voluntarily and I'm sure I'm not alone. However, I also turn my hearing aids down (left ear button) if the ambient sound is generally too loud, or up (right ear button) if I can't quite hear something clearly.

I didn't know about that. I assume that the main door was originally facing the adjacent Princess Road. The main entrance is now at the south-east (liturgical) corner of the building. Very fortunate compensation payment, I'm sure readily accepted! (Marge has asked me to recommend their choral concerts at the church - The William Byrd Singers!)

I'm afraid I haven't heard, or even seen, the toasters! The only organ used in the concerts I have attended has been the pipe organ. I can't speak for services, though.