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Foot Piston Question


Vox Humana

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The Klais organ at Himmerod Abbey in Germany has a foot piston labelled "P.U." Could someone please tell me what this stands for and what it does?

I guess you didn't have time to try it out and see?(!)

One could always make doubly sure by dropping Klais an e-mail.

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I was in the organ loft of Notre Dame a week or two ago and saw, rather worryingly, that there was a foot piston labelled 'SOS'.

 

It was clearly different from the sequencer advance piston, labelled 'SEQ'.

 

Any suggestions ?

 

Incidentally, if any members have played at Notre Dame (and I think a few have), could they kindly let me know if there is a sequencer advance thumb piston under the keyboards. I know there is one on the right hand stop jamb for an assistant, but I could not see one actually within the player's reach.

 

Many thanks.

m

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I was in the organ loft of Notre Dame a week or two ago and saw, rather worryingly, that there was a foot piston labelled 'SOS'.

 

It was clearly different from the sequencer advance piston, labelled 'SEQ'.

 

Any suggestions ?

 

Incidentally, if any members have played at Notre Dame (and I think a few have), could they kindly let me know if there is a sequencer advance thumb piston under the keyboards. I know there is one on the right hand stop jamb for an assistant, but I could not see one actually within the player's reach.

 

Many thanks.

m

 

The SOS toe piston is a reversible for the sostenuto - one of the rocker tabs beneath the music desk.

The pistons (which are the 18 generals) can be programmed so that any one of them is the advance for the stepper - so I had them all set as the advance, making pretty sure I couldn't miss or get the wrong one! Even then, the toe pistons still relate to the numbered generals for emergencies!

The most difficult thing I find about setting up organs with only generals, as is often the case on mainland Europe, is that all of the stops have to be pulled out manually - in this country one can usually use the divisionals and adjust from there. eg sw 8 = full swell then add or take as desired for the general...

P

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I was in the organ loft of Notre Dame a week or two ago and saw, rather worryingly, that there was a foot piston labelled 'SOS'.

 

It was clearly different from the sequencer advance piston, labelled 'SEQ'.

 

Any suggestions ?

 

Incidentally, if any members have played at Notre Dame (and I think a few have), could they kindly let me know if there is a sequencer advance thumb piston under the keyboards. I know there is one on the right hand stop jamb for an assistant, but I could not see one actually within the player's reach.

 

Many thanks.

m

 

Could that be a legacy tool to reboot the computer from when they first installed some fancy digital thingumy controls in the Notre Dame organ that proved to have a less than sterling track record in reliability?

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Do you mean the token ring network?

 

I should imagine it's been replaced with ethernet now - but I wish I knew the IP address range!

 

How mega cool would that be! Play the organ at Notre Dame from your home PC with a Midi keyboard! What fun one could have. For example, slip a few extra notes into the beginning of the organist's improvisation and see if they are incorporated into the development by the organist. Or just play the organ when the cathedral is empty at night. Record your own You Tube video without actually having to be there.

 

This is more fun than thinking of what to do with the proceeds of a lottery that I'll never win!

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Incidentally, if any members have played at Notre Dame (and I think a few have), could they kindly let me know if there is a sequencer advance thumb piston under the keyboards. I know there is one on the right hand stop jamb for an assistant, but I could not see one actually within the player's reach.

 

Many thanks.

m

 

Not as far as I can recall. There is, however, an advance toe piston (champignon) to the right of the crescendo pedals.

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How mega cool would that be! Play the organ at Notre Dame from your home PC with a Midi keyboard! What fun one could have.

Sounds remarkably like a software program which I try to refrain from mentioning on this board (for which ND de Paris isn't yet available, but ND de Metz is).

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How mega cool would that be! Play the organ at Notre Dame from your home PC with a Midi keyboard! What fun one could have. For example, slip a few extra notes into the beginning of the organist's improvisation and see if they are incorporated into the development by the organist. Or just play the organ when the cathedral is empty at night. Record your own You Tube video without actually having to be there.

 

This is more fun than thinking of what to do with the proceeds of a lottery that I'll never win!

 

Actually I reported earlier this year how I had managed to hack into the Worcester Cathedral ethernet and play the organ there remotely, and if you follow the thread you will read more about how it will soon be possible to experience the organ ot Salisbury Cathedral from the comfort of your PC (or Mac)...

 

http://www.mander-organs.com/discussion/in...mp;hl=salisbury

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