Pierre Lauwers Posted June 7, 2007 Share Posted June 7, 2007 As it is blantantly evident, all organs, whatever quality may have been built in, are to be replaced every forty years in order to adress "King customer today's needs", maybe it is time to reconsider the whole thing after a "sustainable growth" perspective. Oak etc are precious woods we should not provide lightheartly, while something like an electric/ electronics parts-filled console is a very, very polluting waste. As far as lead is concerned, well, we all know it should be replaced with something else. So cardboard, Gyproc, recyclable pipe materials (OK, lead is!) and fourth-rate wood should be used; we could calculate, for example, windchests to be eaten by worms in about forty years. This point is of peculiar importance to organ advisers; they also should care no console exceeds 50 kilogrammes. Why? The reason is quite simple: imagine Mr Advisor walks in the nave while the folks on the organ loft, say in west-end position, are busy removing the console or a big windchest from a 40 years old organ that is to be dropped on the scrapyard. -"Mr advisor, good morning". -"Moïen' " -"Would you mind please walk just two metres towards the right, please ?" -" OK, here I am, but WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW" (Game over) Pete flowers :angry: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcnd5584 Posted June 7, 2007 Share Posted June 7, 2007 ... Why? The reason is quite simple: imagine Mr Advisor walks in the nave while the folks on the organ loft, say in west-end position, are busy removing the console or a big windchest from a 40 years old organ that is to be dropped on the scrapyard. -"Mr advisor, good morning". -"Moïen' " -"Would you mind please walk just two metres towards the right, please ?" -" OK, here I am, but WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW" (Game over) Pete flowers :angry: Mm-hmm. Pierre - were you thinking of anyone in particular? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre Lauwers Posted June 7, 2007 Author Share Posted June 7, 2007 Mm-hmm. Pierre - were you thinking of anyone in particular? :angry: We deal with a West-end position of the organ, so would I think about a particular place, this would not be in the UK anyway! Pierre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre Lauwers Posted June 7, 2007 Author Share Posted June 7, 2007 Back to our ideas -and bodies- timely limits; the belgian govt. enforced a new law two years ago: the coffins must be biodegradable. But in a country like this one, as you can imagine, nobody can even take such a rule seriously, so excellent it is as a joke. (We're actually still laughing while the politicians fall in tears.Mind you, even dead, the belgians still resist against any authority!) :angry: Pierre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MusingMuso Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 As it is blantantly evident, all organs, whatever quality may have been built in,are to be replaced every forty years in order to adress "King customer today's needs", maybe it is time to reconsider the whole thing after a "sustainable growth" perspective. Oak etc are precious woods we should not provide lightheartly, while something like an electric/ electronics parts-filled console is a very, very polluting waste. As far as lead is concerned, well, we all know it should be replaced with something else. So cardboard, Gyproc, recyclable pipe materials (OK, lead is!) and fourth-rate wood should be used ============================ I'm not sure if the humour travels very well, but I think I understand it. However, there is little doubt in my mind that very high-quality timber (more than metals) are likely to become ever more expensive as time goes on, and whilst some of the organ-building fraternity may have found my topic of "re-engineering the organ" a challenge to their traditions and working-practices, at the back of my mind was exactly the ecological ideal, for the simple reason that really high-quality timber, as used in windchest construction, could be vastly reduced with no loss of efficiency or duarability: in fact, quite the contrary. Ah well! That's life, I suppose. MM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre Lauwers Posted June 10, 2007 Author Share Posted June 10, 2007 From an "umwelt", ecological point of view, we should build with high quality, natural materials, and make them last very long. Equally important is to ensure woods come from well-managed forrests, not too far away. But if we want the organ to be replaced every generation because we'd accept each generation does "better", then we must precisely avoid high quality materials. (CAUTION: belgian philosophy) Let us feed the worms with our organs just before feeding them with ourselves. http://www.hymnsite.com/lyrics/umh626.sht Pierre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MusingMuso Posted June 10, 2007 Share Posted June 10, 2007 From an "umwelt", ecological point of view, we should buildwith high quality, natural materials, and make them last very long. Pierre ========================== Natural materials which grow don't last especially long, surely? MM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre Lauwers Posted June 10, 2007 Author Share Posted June 10, 2007 ==========================Natural materials which grow don't last especially long, surely? MM I have fifteen (15) oaks in my little garden -of course estate prices here have nothing in common with those in the UK- and they were planted 150 years ago. Should I sawn them tomorrow, and then wait: -15 years, I could build fair windchests with their wood; -40 years, I could build good windchests. Compare that with the quickly changing fashions in London or Paris.....It is clear we live not on another planet here in the Ardennes: it is another galaxy. We live here since 17 years, my neighbourgs call us the newbies. Guess what the people here think of new materials against oaks? Pierre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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