Organ Buildings Techniques To Be Avoided

[Guest spottedmetal]

But surely, on a recording, pipes and speakers will sound much more similar when coming through the speakers on your CD player. It's in the actual hearing live that the differences are far more detectable.

Yes - quite agree - in normal circumstances. However I use a very old but wonderful design of speaker with strong magnets and the lightest weight cones with nothing getting lost in a crossover. These actually make instruments sound live and just "there", to the point of my being able to provide sound reinforcement to a string group, for instance, without anyone being aware of the electronic assistance or aural degradation. So whilst not having heard Carlo's organs live, I would not expect the sound through those particular loudspeakers to be misleading. No doubt anyone who has heard the Trono organ will be able to disillusion me in due course . . . another of the recordings is "The George and Wilma Van Wesep memorial Organ at LaGrave Avenue Christian Reformed Curch, Grand Rapids, Michigan". The other CD is a pure digital at Mission Dolores San Francisco. However, on one of the three one wonders if one is listening to an orchestral synth at times.

 

Having said that, I am finding that electronics can now compete well with pipes for 16' stops both on tonal grounds and, in the case of open pipes, on commercial grounds. It's the higher frequencies that seem, to me, less convincing.

 

Yes - on most digital sound production sources the top octave always appears to lack the full harmonic tonal development of the sound making electronic versions of Diapasons and some reeds detectable in an area where our ears are particularly discerning and right hand chords become masked by left hand chords underneath, the upper notes having not enough useful to add. However, for high pitched upperwork, the harmonics soon exceed the aural spectrum so one might expect hybridisation to work quite well in those areas?

 

Leaving this aside, it's through long term longevity and ability to blow organs by hand again that toasters, and possibly high pitched crisp or pop-corn makers for air-shifters, will be seen to be irrelevant.

 

As on other threads people have reported even tracker instruments of comparatively modern construction not lasting as long as they should, I'm hoping that people who have seen early failures will continue to report the causes in terms of materials and designs on this thread so that the longevity of pipe organs can be assured in the future.

 

Use lead solder! It's quite legal for repairs and modifications to equipment built prior to the legislation. It might take some tracking down though.

Um. Yes: "some tracking down" might be the understatement of the century!

 

Best wishes

 

Spot