John Robinson

Whether you like Carlo Curley's Style or not, there is no disputing the fact that he seems to fulfil his stated aims of encouraging the interest of the general public in the organ. John

Sennheiser HD 25-1 II (but do not confuse with the HD 25-SP II). I think mine cost about £100 a few months ago. Excellent sound (using hi-fi - the only toaster I possess makes toast) and keeps out/in most of the sound. John

I was sure that the Dome department already had a cymbal (though not of the Polish variety!). So I checked. In my booklet which, I believe was published not long after the Mander alterations in 1977, there is a Mixture IV and a Cymbel III. Now, on the Mander web-site specification, are two stops called 'Mixture', one of IV and one of III (the latter 22 26 29). So, yes, I think a bright cymbel would do nicely - perhaps even the untuned Polish type. Although I have never heard one, MM has described them as powerful. Why was the original Cymbel III changed to a Mixture, anyway? John

And, as has recently been mentioned on this forum, organ music appears to be much more popular amongst the general public in Germany than it has been for a long time in this country, if attendance at organ recitals is anything to go by. John

I disagree. If an end of service voluntary is merely background music to accompany the congregation departing/having a chat, why not put on a CD of some typical 'supermarket music'! If someone is making an effort to produce something of artistic merit, it would be nice if people did him/her the courtesy of listening (or at least keeping quiet so that others may). Whether it is 'part of the service' is, in my opinion, irrelevant. John

I am not an organist, but if I were, and if people started to chatter during my final voluntary, I should immediately cease playing and leave them to it! I agree that it is the height of bad manners - would you expect the audience to begin to converse during the final piece of a symphony orchestra's concert? Sadly, bad manners now seem to be commonplace in this country. John

Thanks, Nick. Sound advice. I think, bearing in mind that this is really the sole reason for our visit, we shall go as soon as they let us in! I don't know whether it is anything like many places in the UK, where they close up for daytime visitors, kick everyone out, then re-open for the recital. If possible, we'll go in for a look round in the afternoon, then pitch our tent right at the crossing! I don't know about the feasibility of cushions, though. Thankfully, both my wife and I are quite well padded where it counts. Also thankfully, my wife doesn't visit this site! John

I have persuaded my long-suffering wife to accompany me on a three-day break to Cologne this summer, specifically to attend the organ recital on Tuesday 5 August. According to their web site, organ recitals are held every Tuesday over the July - August period, starting at 8pm and finishing at 9pm. On the web site, one is advised to arrive early because of the popularity of these recitals. If anyone is familiar with these events, could you tell me what an 'early' time would be? Also, I'd be interested to know who is performing and the programme: these details are not provided on the web site. Many thanks for any advice. John

No, B flat and D.

No, my design does not, in fact, assume an end-pivot. The spring pallet is fixed at the distal end and 'peels' away from the opening. I must apologise for the lack of quality in the diagram which may not make this clear (try clicking on the diagram and enlarging - it works with Firefox, anyway!). The addition of a separate pallet spring was an afterthought. Initially, I thought that the pallet would possess enough 'spring' to close itself firmly - assisted by the pressure of wind, of course. However, I added a separate spring just to make sure! As I mentioned earlier, such things would have to be ascertained by experimentation, and I do not have the means to do that. Also, the shape and position of the 'V'-shaped cut-out would have to be determined empirically. The inclusion of a 'V'-shaped cut-out, incidentally, was not to ease the opening of the pallet, but to provide greater control of attack and release. As for the diagonal movement of the proximal end of the pallet, I did not think this important as there could be a flexible connection between tracker and pallet. I am grateful for your interest in this proposal, and your comments. Whether it would work or not, I found it an interesting hypothetical exercise! John

Yes, indeed. I should love to experiment in this way - given the necessary facilities. Anyone got an old organ (or a bit of one - I only need a small windchest, a blower and a few representative pipes!) they don't want? John

I can't think of anything that is, except a Harrison Tromba! John

Back in June 2006 I asked the builders, Klais Orgelbau, about the (then) new west-end tubas at Cologne Cathedral. Their reply was: "The two Tubas in Cologne are different in tone color. One is rather on the dark side like an English Tuba - in the direction of a dark Willis. The other one is much brighter, rather like a bright Skinner. The two* high pressure reeds in the transept organ are again brighter than the two new horizontal ones. So we have four Tubas in the entire instrument ranging from very dark to very bright." (* There are actually three here: 16' 8' 8') So at least one of the west-end tubas is voiced to sound English. I'm afraid I haven't heard them, but I hope to ... one day! John

Many thanks for the feedback, David. I should have realised that all methods of lightening the touch would have been fully explored by now! My intention was not to remove all traces of any 'pluck', as I realise how important this is, but that by varying the degree of flexibility of the spring-steel pallet and also the shape of the 'V'-section of the opening it might be possible to reduce the weight of touch at the expense of some of the 'pluck'. I suppose my idea is just an extension of the 'pallet-in-two-parts' (sorry, I don't know the correct name for this!), whereby initially just a short section at the end of the pallet pulls down, equalising pressure on both sides and allowing the rest of the pallet to be opened more easily. Presumably, this system works effectively. Moreover, I realise that in many situations a 'traditional' pallet works perfectly well. I was thinking more of the bottom end of the compass or, perhaps, with higher wind pressures. John

I should be very grateful for any comments on this idea for an improved design of pallet in which the conventional wooden pallet is replaced by a strip of spring steel with a felt backing to seal the opening to the channel when closed. A refinement to this opening is a 'V'-shaped extension at the end adjacent to the tracker. Its operation is as follows: 1. The pallet is closed and the spring holds the pallet firmly against the opening. 2. Slight pressure on the key pulls down end of pallet, which begins to bend. At this stage, the pallet is just beginning to uncover the 'V' section of the opening, allowing a small flow of wind to pass into the channel. 3. Further movement of key causes the pallet to bend further, admitting a greater wind flow. 4. Key fully depressed: pallet fully open. (Release of the key reverses this sequence.) Because the pallet 'peels' away from the windway the force required to open the pallet, and the 'pluck', are lighter. Due to the 'V'-shape of the front of the opening, and the fact that the pallet gradually curves away from the opening, it should be possible to more easily control the attack and release of the note. As this design of pallet is probably of a lower mass than a conventional one, it is likely to possess lower inertia, permitting quicker response and repetition. Note that only the front quarter or so of the pallet (the end nearest to the tracker) needs to be flexible: the remainder need not be so. To summarise, the innovations I have in mind are: (i) a spring steel pallet, being wholly or partially flexible; (ii) a 'V'-section to the proximal end of the opening to the channel. Unfortunately, I do not have the facilities to try this out in practice but, intuitively, I imagine that it could work successfully. I should be most grateful for any comments or criticisms, especially from those familiar with organ construction or repair. I hope this works: I have never tried to post images on here before! John

Many thanks. I shall do that when I have a few minutes. John

Thanks, Pierre Ah, I see that the image needs to be on another web site. That could be a problem. Its just that I would appreciate comments on an idea I have for a pallet whose design could provide both a lighter touch and more control of the onset of speech. I haven't come across anything similar in existing designs. It would be completely tracker - that is, no electric or pneumatic assistance. I have no means of trying it out to see whether it would work and, of course, I could be barking up completely the wrong tree. I think it would be best if I could provide an image to accompany the explanation of function. I have drawn a CAD image which I have saved as a bitmap. Any ideas? John

Sorry to stray off-topic, but how did you get these pictures on here? (I'd like to do this for another topic). John

Of course! I had forgotten the John Scott Whiteley (how could I? I bought the CDs and can't wait for the next series to be issued - still haven't heard anything, though.) The Howard Goodall programmes were excellent, but were done by Channel 4, I think. (Some amazing throw-away lines too: I don't know whether you remember the "He is six feet, going on seven feet" description of the rather tall nobleman possessing a table organ in a 'Sound of Music'-type alpine castle?) I'm afraid that other posters on this thread are quite correct about the unlikelihood of the BBC ever repeating the Gillian Weir, hence my reference to flying pigs. What a shame. All part of British 'dumbing down', perhaps? I'll just have to be content with my old recordings. Maybe they'll be worth a fortune in a few years! John

Speaking as the one who first mentioned the "Lieblich Gedeckt = lovely thoughts" matter, it certainly sounded to me like a mistake rather than a deliberate pun. Nevertheless, I did not intend a major criticism; I just wanted to point out a minor mistake that, if anything, I thought was slightly amusing. I should like to echo the sentiments of others that the BBC did themselves proud in providing (at long last!) such a programme. Thank you BBC. The last time I remember seeing anything on the BBC of interest to organ buffs was Gillian Weir's 'The King of Instruments', of which I have an old, grainy recording on VHS. Now I have a brand new PVR and DVD recorder, could we have a repeat of that series, please?! Better yet, how about more organ programmes of the same kind. (Watching out for porcine air travel) John

Who?!!! Seriously, I am sure it will be brill! (although Messiaen isn't really my cup of tea). John

Yes, a good programme. Anything that publicises the organ has got to be good. BUT... "Lieblich Gedeckt = lovely thoughts". Eh?!!! John

Did anyone see tonight's programme from St George's Hall, Liverpool? A young man who works for Willis was featured, having brought along some photographs of the organ pipes in 'storage' along with an original Willis nicking knife. (As an aside, would two of these implements be known as 'a pair of knickers'?) His name wasn't mentioned. Did anyone recognise him? (Dr Wylde?) John

Me too, but only Star Trek TNG and Star Trek Voyager (principally because of 'Seven of Nine'!) John

PRDVD1 Priory Records Ltd, 3 Eden Court, Eden Way, Leighton Buzzard, Beds., LU7 4FY Tel: 01525 377566 www.priory.org.uk sales@priory.org.uk John