P DeVile
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Posts posted by P DeVile
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As you say, a better microphone would improve things, but just like Hi-Fi, it’s the law diminishing returns. To get a microphone that is twice as good as your Sony, you’ll spend considerably more than £120. Then it comes down to, what do you want the recording for, can you justify the expense etc? If (like Hi-Fi) you’re bitten by the bug you’ll always be saving for the next upgrade and have a very empty wallet.
I record a fair amount of our choir and organ and use an Audio Technica AT825 Stereo mike which though it retails at about £250, I got on Ebay for £80. I have been using an aged Sharp md recorder and the results are astonishing. I have used a Sony mike, but the lack of Bass was a real problem. What I like about the Sharp is that the record levels are manually set. The Sony md recorders are auto levelling by default and you need to mess about going through menus to switch it to manual...... which only stays like that until you turn it off.
Peter
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I have often wondered whether meths would have a deleterious effect on some key coverings so often don't use it.
A small amount of Meths on a cloth is fine, though too much can melt the glue underneath the ivories.
P
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No No No......Meths tastes better
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Get a duster and dampen with some Meths. Wipe the keys, which will kill the grease from grubby organists fingers. Job done!!
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I was born in Brecon and was one of Hazel Gedge's first piano pupils when they moved there, so have known the family for many years. I spoke to the Dean of the Cathedral this afternoon, who told me that he is steadily improving, but still hasn't got much use of his left arm. He told me that David did announce his retirement..... but not yet!
Stubborn lot, organists!
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though possibly the ones that were installed in Norwich are still lying around in the triforium
No, none of the old echo organ survives in Norwich, I'm afraid.
Peter
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Maybe the third manual was to power the Kazoo-en chamade?
P
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Try 'Music for a Grand Organ' STH organ played by David Drury on ABC Classics.
AJJ
Or to my mind even better, "Pomp and Circumstance" - David Drury at the Sydney Town Hall organ - ABC Classics as well.
1. P and C no. 1 Elgar
2. Air on a G string JSB
3 and 4. Canzona and Scherzetto from C minor Sonata Whitlock
5. F and F on "Ad Nos" Liszt
6. Nimrod Elgar
7. Impro on a Theme of Peter Sculthorpe Drury
8. Trumpet Minuet Hollins
9. C de Westminster Vierne
It is a cd that I never get tired of and the liszt is wonderful
There are about 6 cds out of the instrument, but another good one is played by Willibald Guggenmos on Motette (CD 12591), which amongst many other things he plays the "American Rhapsody" by Pietro Yon. Great Fun.
As far as I know, Thomas Heywood hasn't recorded on it yet.
Peter
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Brian raises many interesting points here.
As an individual, I have a huge sense of fun, but I can be deadly serious also, and rather intense from time to time.
These are all aspects of a WHOLE personality, and not just one particular aspect which I may care to wear as a persona.
Music, in all its' guises, is quite capable of expressing all that and more....Mozart being the perfect example of a composer who could musically delight, entertain, make us giggle and, without doubt, make us weep.
The idea that music must have "depth" is actually a rather protestant standpoint, and one suspects that the Brazilians might have a different view. To them, fun and laughter are every bit as deep as religious sobriety.
If people really KNEW their organ-history, they would know that there is a parallel
world of organ-entertainment, which has certainly been around since about 1700 as a specifically identifiable entity. I think the earliest cafe organs, using barrel machanisms, come from this period.....possibly earlier still in Austria.
By the time Mozart died, automatic player-organs were becoming very popular, to which his great "organ works" bear witness. Haydn did similar things, but in a very light and attractive style; as did Beethoven.
By about 1900, the great mobile Fair Organs were churning out popular tunes, and in the Dance Halls just after the start of the last century, people danced to the splendid Mortier organs.
Then came the great organ transcriptions in the Town Halls, which had begun long before, in places like St.George's Hall, Liverpool, and which would include almost anything; not least, popular melodies such as "Moonlight and Roses" and excerpts from Gilbert & Sullivan.
The use of the "theatre" organ as both substitute wartime dance-band and interval entertainment, reached almost legendary status during the 1930's, with organists paid as much as pop-stars today.
It's a great tradition in its' own rights....make no mistake...and sometimes every bit as virtuosic as that found in the classical world.
So why on earth have we allowed the organ to become an "intellectual" instrument only?
The ONLY answer must be the snobishness of those who set themselves upon pedastles, and claim the high moral-ground of music-making.
Now this is not to say that one cannot enjoy the historically informed Bach recital on an authentic instrument.....the very reason I go to Holland as often as time and money permit.
But why the hell should I apologise for enjoying a Mortier Organ, or a Wurlitzer in full flight, or Carlo Curley entertaining ordinary folk?
If the truth be known, it was Reginald Dixon who first got me interested in the organ, and it is to my shame that I now rather despise his bouncy Blackpool style, as I have moved "up market".
Not everyone was drawn to the organ in church.....I certainly wasn't, because I do not come from a "church" family at all.
I personally think it despicable, that anyone should choose to criticise Carlo Curley on the basis that he dare to entertain. I think it is even more despicable that someone as brilliant as Hector Olvera should feel compelled to abandon the theatre-organ "because it was damaging his credibility as a classical organist" in America, where he lives.
I'm delighted to report, that as a rounded human being, I can be just as thrilled by old recordings of Frank Sinatra as I can be by those of Pavarotti. At least they both had style!
God forbid that we must be seen to be part of a musically "politically correct" clique of "art-organists".....I'd rather eat glass!
MM
Amen to that
Peter
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Carlo Curley has probably done more for the organ over the last thirty or so years than anyone else that I can think of. His concerts are well attended because he does a good show and knows generally what people want to hear. I remember going to one of his Albert Hall spectaculars in the late 70s and he virtually filled the place.... perhaps he should do another.
Peter
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"How can you possibly yawn at this programme?
It goes without saying that David Goode is one of the finest organists in the world; so let's take a stunning recital performance for granted prior to the start"
Yes, OK I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. A really spine-tingling performance.
P
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There used to be a record/playback system that enabled an organist to go down into the Cathedral to hear what the organ sounded like to the listener. It can be a salutary experience but all takes up rehearsal time.
FF
The organists mainly use the divided Choir sections for evensongs and build on that. They dont go much beyond Great piston 4, because apart from the choir the organ speaks west. The result is that to get any audible increase in volume from the choir stalls, you need to add great clumps of stops. Even if you are getting noisy when accompanying, it is still worth keeping an 8,4,2 coupled from the positive because the choir cant hear the westbound volume and can still tend to go out of tune. Oh, and for some reason the Pedal reeds are on the South triforium and the 32ft bottom octave is right behind you on the North, so dont jump!
The record/playback device still works well.
P
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COLCHESTER TOWN HALL.
Tell us more mr DeVile. I never knew there was an organ there. I looked this up on the NPOR, but they are notoriously unreliable in their information at times and it said that it was tuned in 2005. Now you say it is in a state of total collapse. There are plans to rebuild it with electric action and add pedal reeds I understand. Can you add anything more up to date ? Maybe you could correct the NPOR entry.
I tuned the organ - well as much as was possible - last year, though the leakage was such that it was difficult to hear properly inside the instrument!
Between February and Easter this year we had an extremely dry spell (as many organ builders will tell you) which caused havoc to many organs, especially pneumatic ones and more especially exhaust pneumatic ones, which cypher when leaking rather than simply not working.
When I turned up to tune in April, there were so many leaks that the bellows wouldn't rise and when I managed to get one to do something, all of the pneumatic pistons jammed half on. I know when I am beaten!
As I said earlier, it is a great shame because it is in a hall with a barrel-vault ceiling, thus creating a perfect accoustic and the organ when going makes a very good sound and deserves to be kept playing. I have given numerous quotations to the council for restoration or electrification and each time they have made excited noises, but then forgotten about it.
If anyone feels inclined to give Colchester Borough Council a prod, please do!
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Sorry to go slightly off topic but can anyone point me in the direction of the sheet music for Lemare's arrangement?
I'm not sure but you could try this site:
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Where can I get this CD from, I’ve tried looking on the internet, but no where seems to sell it.
Download and register with iTunes. Once you have done that, search for Latry. It should then show 4 cds with a separate list of tracks which can be purchased individually, including Carillon De Phwoar.... and yup, the kitchen sink goes in. Another good one is Widor's 6th... Each track is 79p. The only drawback is that each track is stored as a protected file, so you can either transfer them from your harddrive to an ipod or play them on your computer.
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I emailed them this morning - no reply as yet.
I cant believe that the organ could have been scrapped without someone picking up on it
I worked on it maybe 15 years ago, when the main breakdown bellows in the blower room needed to be releathered. It was a vast reservoir, with 150 weights on it! the only way to get it out of the building was to cut it in half and then releather it as two linked units. Less than five years on from that I heard that they disconnected the console (which was a four manual HNB horseshoe type) and had no plans to reconnect...... The rest of the organ may still be there as it was reasonably high up on pillars.
Another instrument is the 3 manual N & B in Colchester Town Hall. Sadly I had to give up on it earlier this year as it has so many leaks, the bellows wouldnt go up. A shame because the Council obviously dont really care whether it works or not. And what an accoustic!
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Here at Saffron Walden, our assistant organist - Cyril Coe died on Easter Day, having been at the post for a few months short of 60 years. He was a very quiet man, but superb musician who could play virtually anything from sight.
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One of the instruments that I look after is the Christie Cinema organ that is now in The Gordon Craig Theatre, Stevenage. Bill was one of the organists that opened it, following its move from a nearby social club. He was a regular there and always performed a great concert that covered every genre of organ music - from memory. I remember one time in particular when he appeared about an hour and a half before the concert, sat at the console to set up his pistons..... 3 I think... played through Dieu Parmi Nous and then went to the bar. He'll be sorely missed
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I too was at Dame Gs recital and was in the upper circle bang opposite the organ. I think that though she was not on top form at first, she noticably improved in the second half. She may even have started off a little nervous, knowing that there were one or two rather self-opinionated people ready with their notebooks to fire off as soon as they got home. It didnt bother me in the least that there was a bit of out-of tuneness..... it is a very large instrument in a very busy building. The tuner simply doesnt have time to check through everything, especially with industrial hoovers to contend with and other delights.
The problem with recordings is that they can be put together in little bits, resulting in perfect performances. People hear these and expect the live playing to be the same.
Oh and there was the cypher............ so what? Someone said it took a long time to be stopped.... Good God, it was a Bourdon and most of the time she was playing loud. Not easy to find in the dark.
Generally speaking, the first half was OK and the second half apart from the one fluff in Nimrod was superb.
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Osmonds became part of the Christie group (which also owned HNB) in the late 1970s. They carried on until early to mid 90s, when a number of the staff left to become the Deane organ builders.
Peter
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I purchased the CD over the weekend. Simply stunning.
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HNB ceased trading in June 1998. The tuners that were left - Myself, Reg Lane and Colin Jilks were given (not sold) our tunings so that we could continue under our own steam. The other tuner who continued until that point was Neville Newby who retired.
A little while after the closure, Bernard Whitmill of Heritage Organs purchased the name but doesnt seem to have done anything with it.
Peter
Digital Recording
in Nuts and bolts
Posted
You dont get a true picture, especially with sudden loud chords (sfz) in pieces. You can easily hear the volume change, while the auto changes the level to avoid overloading. Far better to manually set the level to the loudest bit and when listening later, turn the volume up for the quiet bits if you cant hear it.
Peter