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Which Are The Best Consoles?


MusingMuso

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Well this console looks a bit different (and in England too), controlling an organ in a dustbin - sorry baked bean can! http://picasaweb.google.com/ColinRenatus10...orMichaelFarley .

PJW

I played this organ this morning. Once you have adjusted the hydraulic seat and got it level (at first I ended up with a distinct list to port) it really is quite comfortable to play. However a big, bold black mark to whoever had the bright idea to have stainless steel stop knobs with black lettering: they are almost completely unreadable. I found myself wondering whether white lettering would be any better. I wasn't sure it would.

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I played this organ this morning. Once you have adjusted the hydraulic seat and got it level (at first I ended up with a distinct list to port) it really is quite comfortable to play. However a big, bold black mark to whoever had the bright idea to have stainless steel stop knobs with black lettering: they are almost completely unreadable. I found myself wondering whether white lettering would be any better. I wasn't sure it would.

Are you able to move it closer to, or away from the console? It looks as if one can only raise or lower it.

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Are you able to move it closer to, or away from the console? It looks as if one can only raise or lower it.

Yes, there are a couple of runners at either end that allow you to slide the seat backwards and forwards a bit. The movement was sufficient for me, but it possibly might not be for those who like to sit quite tight up to the pedal sharps.

 

I see the console was designed by a firm of architects. I think that knowledge alone would have made my heart sink before I ever saw it.

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After viewing the pictures, I was left thinking "Why?"....

Well, yes. The church has just been gutted and totally refurbished inside for a seven-figure sum - and really nice it is too.

The photos linked above give a slight feel, but the reality is much nicer. The console both fits in and looks futuristic at the same time. It is eye-catching, but that it is no bad thing. Just do something about those stop knobs!

 

My wife says that it looks as if the console is supported by a Zimmer frame! :lol:

Just made for me then. :blink:

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After viewing the pictures, I was left thinking "Why?"....

 

My wife says that it looks as if the console is supported by a Zimmer frame! :lol:

 

Tell me I'm thick if you like, but I can't see where you put your music. Someone must know!

 

R.

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It is not shown in the photos, but the console has a perspex music desk.

 

I did take one or two close-up photos of the console and the stop jambs (which clearly show the reading difficulty). I might upload them somewhere later if I can work out how and where to do it.

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Well, yes. The church has just been gutted and totally refurbished inside for a seven-figure sum - and really nice it is too.

The photos linked above give a slight feel, but the reality is much nicer. The console both fits in and looks futuristic at the same time. It is eye-catching, but that it is no bad thing. Just do something about those stop knobs!

Just made for me then. :lol:

 

Has anyone got a spec. for this instrument please?

 

AJJ

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I see the console was designed by a firm of architects. I think that knowledge alone would have made my heart sink before I ever saw it.

 

Perhaps in future organ advisors should stick to employing car firms to design organs. I mean, could anyone fail to be wowed by what happened when Porsche (yep, the car manufacturer) generously offered to design - and fund - an organ for St Nicolas Leipzig? It's enough to make me want to go out and buy a Porsche right now (ooops, sadly can't as the toaster ate up all my savings).

 

I'm not kidding, here's the link:

http://www.porsche-leipzig.com/en/porschel...ulturelles.aspx

 

And discussion on it on this forum:

http://web16713.vs.netbenefit.co.uk/discus...p?showtopic=713

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For what it's worth, I like this design. From the photos it seems at home in its environment, and dropping pencils between the pedals will never prove a problem. If it works as a musical instrument I don't see what there is to complain about.

 

The one thing that did seem incongruous was the umbilical cord. I take it WiFi is not an option.

 

Best wishes

 

J

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...mind you, even less suitable tools have been used on organ pipes. Edited highlight of a NPOR suurvey that I completed in 2000.

 

 

Cheshire, Winsford--Wharton, Christ Church [D08196]

c1988 Unknown

rebuilt, against DOA recommendation

 

Department and Stop list

 

Pedal Key action TP Stop action Me Compass-low C Compass-high f1 Keys 30

1 Bourdon 16

2 Bass Flute 8

Great Key action TP Stop action Me Compass-low C Compass-high c4 Keys 61

3 Open Diapason 8

4 Claribel Flute 8

5 Principal 4

6 Flute 4

7 Fifteenth 2 c1988, on Dulciana slide

Swell Key action TP/El Stop action Me Compass-low C Compass-high c4 Keys 61 Enclosed

8 Geigen Diapason 8

9 Rohr Flute 8

10 Salicet 4

11 Fifteenth 2 c1988, TC, on Celeste slide

12 Mix II sic, c1988, actually a 12th

13 Oboe 8

14 Tremulant

 

Accessories

2 combination pedals Great, 2 Swell

balanced swell pedal

 

Further information

Organ only just playable;

Pedal organ only partly functioning;

The Mixture rank is in fact a 12th which has been hacksawn to length

from a 15th rank.

There are holes for an additional rank but these

have been sealed up with blu-tac.[/

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Well this console looks a bit different (and in England too), controlling an organ in a dustbin - sorry baked bean can! http://picasaweb.google.com/ColinRenatus10...orMichaelFarley .

PJW

It does...

I'm not sure that Zimmer frame idea is all that clever. At a pratical level it is an obstacle course for the organist getting on it (just imagine a slightly unsteady organist tripping over that metal bar 4 inches off the ground getting on or off the console) and it makes the already fairly bulky console take up a lot more space than it needs to. The churchwardens will love it in time to come!

 

At a design level, the zimmer frame rather defeats the objective of making the main portion of the console appear to "float" in mid-air by getting rid of the case work between pedalboard and manuals - it makes it solidly cemented to the ground via those rather heavy, clumsy semi-circular bars connecting to the ground via those rather humdrum castors (I hope the castors have brakes to stop it moving about). It just looks like rather muddled thinking to me.

 

Also, wouldn't it be better from a concept viewpoint if the bench had just one hydralic ram? Plus there's no bar to hook your heels out of the way...

 

It just looks rather ordinary in its detail - it's more like a Ford trying hard to be special than that beautifully detailed Porsche console in Leipzig....

 

When I saw it for the first time, I thought it would be fun to play it while being pushed arouind the church, a bit like a 10 year old in tescos with a supermarket trolley. Shades of Hope Jones, me thinks. I could have hours of fun with it though - just think, you could spin the organist on the spot while he was playing after a service until he's sick!!

 

Since I've given most attempts at a modern organ console a hard time, I like the mobile console on this organ:

 

http://www.dobsonorgan.com/html/instrument...stallation.html

 

and http://www.dobsonorgan.com/html/instrument...76_console.html

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At a pratical level it is an obstacle course for the organist getting on it (just imagine a slightly unsteady organist tripping over that metal bar 4 inches off the ground getting on or off the console) and it makes the already fairly bulky console take up a lot more space than it needs to.

I never thought twice about getting onto the console and I'm not exactly fit. You just sit on the seat and swing your legs over.

 

Space is not a problem in the church. It's unlikely ever to be an issue except conceivably if the organ is ever to be used with an orchestra and a packed house is expected. Even then I suspect finding room for the audience would be more of a problem than accommodating the musical instruments.

 

My only real concern is the metal stop jambs which reflect light and, as I said, are virtually unreadable. I do wonder about the hydraulic bench, but perhaps needlessly. I have heard one or two tales about office chairs of the gas-lift variety collapsing under people with resulting compensation claims. I do not know whether the organ bench uses a similar system, but even if it does I imagine the potential drop is much less.

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Guest Nigel ALLCOAT
You just sit on the seat and swing your legs over.

 

Which reminds me of the time I was stopped completely in my tracks when I went to rehearse on a new 5 manual Marcussen (1995). One had to sit in a fine 19th Century arm chair that was left from a previous 19th century organ and upon which many-a famous bum had wriggled over the years. And against all odds, it was remarkably civilized and comfortable.

 

All best wishes,

Nigel

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Also, wouldn't it be better from a concept viewpoint if the bench had just one hydralic ram?

 

or fit the hydraulic ram to the organist(!) as possibly could/has been done here: http://www.allposters.co.uk/gallery.asp?st...=&SearchID=

We hear a lot about toasters replacing pipe organs but I don't think I've seen threads about robots replacing organists. I wonder how well it all worked.

PJW

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