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Vuvuzela Chorus


DouglasCorr

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Clearly Vuvuzelas appeal to the masses. Then let us seize the moment and have a Vuvuzela Chorus 16 8 4 on every organ. Have thousands at recitals!... Crowd control... black market in recital tcikets..... :rolleyes::lol: :lol: :lol::D

 

Brass resonators, horizontal of course; open, un-leathered shallots; low pressure with very thin

tongues; no tuning required, pitch and temperament undefined. Sole aim is to get the coarsest

possible noise with a maximum of rattle.

 

Pierre

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Clearly Vuvuzelas appeal to the masses. Then let us seize the moment and have a Vuvuzela Chorus 16 8 4 on every organ. Have thousands at recitals!... Crowd control... black market in recital tcikets..... :rolleyes::lol: :lol: :lol::D

 

 

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It's been done before.....lots of brass resonators, thousands listening; even microtonal mutations long before Sweden thought of them.

 

It was a "Fair Organ" on a cold day.

 

MM

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It would be the cheapest chorus ever. The way most people play them, you would only need the - is it a B natural? - I'm a long way from access to a keyboard here in Jo'burg. So three pipes should do it for a full 16 8 4. Just put a weight on the appropriate pedal all through the hymn.

 

Driving through Jo'burg before the opening match, there were vuvu's everywhere with a real party atmosphere. I took advantage of the gridlock to hold a vuvuzela-blowing volume competition with some bystanders on a street corner through the car window. Actually, the gridlock was rather frustrating as I was trying to get to a railway signalling centre to help the announcer operate the new departure display boards at Soccer City (Nasrec) railway station. I think the supporters all got on to the right trains after the match.

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I think the way to implement the Vuvazela chorus is like this:

 

The important thing with the Vuvazela chorus is that it is all enveloping and you can't escape the braying, honking sound. You can't turn it off and you can't escape its pervading tones. The idea of the vuvazela is to frighten and intimidate the opponent - in this case either the congregation, the audience or the clergy.

 

I can think of some organs that already meet this description.

 

However, to install your vuvazela chorus:

 

Firstly, all the pipes should be made as cheaply as possible. Moulded thermo-plastic is the correct material - spun brass is an unnecessary expense. If a pipe breaks, just replace it with another one ordered off the internet. It would be historically correct to paint the pipes too - the more garish, the better.

 

Secondly, placement is very important. Although the chorus has a single note - a little way off Bb (actually, pitch isn't really that important), it stills follows many pipes will be needed for a proper chorus. And they shouldn't be shoved out of the way into a corner with the rest of the organ, either. No, there should be batteries of Vuvus placed all round the auditorium - several on each wall so they surround the opponent - sorry, listener. There should also be vuvus in other places too - the choir vestry, several in the clergy vestry, quite a few in the parish office, the Crypt, the Cathedral Green, a couple in the kitchens and several in the lavatories. If possible, they should be installed in every room of the Rectory too. There should be no escape anywhere from their presence!!

 

Any experienced organ builder will tell you that winding here will be an issue. However, the vuvus can each be powered by a small, individual air horn, connected to the organ by electrical or wireless connections. Harrisons may only build them with a small double-rise reservior for each vuvuzela but this is an unecessary expense, saved only for Rolls-Royce installations, where cost is no objective. If possible, for an authentic effect, they should come on and off randomly, at random intervals but this is probably only going to be implemented on top-end historical reconstruction organs - most of us will have to suffer them on all the time if we can't afford a John Brombaugh or Bill Drake vuvuzela chorus, although purists will argue hard for the improved effect of the historically correct vuvu chorus.

 

The next thing is control of the vuvazela chorus. As you can never escape them, they don't really need to be played from the keys. They could be turned on from a stop knob, like a Cymbelstern or Vogelsang, but this would be plainly wrong. They should be on all the time, from the time the organ is turned on until somebody turns it off, with an axe if necessary. On really authentic organs, they should remain on, even when the organ is turned off.

 

I'm sure they'll catch on in places like St. John the Divine, where they already have that enormous Kazoo on Speed, which is probably the closest anyone has to a Vuvazela on an organ.

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Not the "chamade on a turntable" as mentioned elsewhere on the forum, if I remember correctly, by pcnd ? :lol:

 

No, its going in the pit in the screen above the 'additional' pedal stops so it will sound into Nave and Choir. Well thats the theory so I'm told

PJW

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No, its going in the pit in the screen above the 'additional' pedal stops so it will sound into Nave and Choir. Well thats the theory so I'm told

PJW

 

Ah, thank you Philip. I'd missed altogether the news that there is to be a new addition at Gloucester. Do you have any details please? I'll be going to at least one of the 3 Choirs recitals later in the summer which should give a chance to hear it.

 

P

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Guest Patrick Coleman
Sorry everyone, but could someone please let me into the secret? What exactly IS a Vuvuzela? I couldn't find it in the online dictionary of organ stops.

Obviously you soon will... :lol:

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Ah, thank you Philip. I'd missed altogether the news that there is to be a new addition at Gloucester. Do you have any details please? I'll be going to at least one of the 3 Choirs recitals later in the summer which should give a chance to hear it.

 

P

 

I do not wish to steal anyones thunder but I am not aware of any announcement yet so I expect it will be introduced at the 3 Choirs by which time it will be voiced and settled in (I'm told it is being installed at the moment). A donor has provided funds for Nicholson to install a new solo reed, and higher pressure blower, to be voiced in a french manner. I and several of the Gloucestershire Organists' Association await the result with interest. This may be the same donor who has paid for the free recitals this year (a big vote of thanks) and the excellent TV projection system in use in the Nave for the recitals. It is very interesting to see who just uses the stop stepper function, who does not need a page turner, and those who obviously accompany choirs and do far more hand registering. Marks are awarded by the panel for snazzy socks, clean shoes, not showing too much bare leg and actually using pistons and the 4th manual (rather like playing sermon cricket)!!! I wonder if in time some of these 'TV' celebs will be worrying about the lighting (the Gloucester keys on the TV can look nicotine stained) and whether they have a make up department. Is it all getting out of hand; do you get paid extra?

PJW

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Guest Patrick Coleman
Not if they have no television/radio and do not follow football.

PJW

 

...and don't go to the church where the new stop is installed... :o

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And hood it to keep out the flies and other debris.

 

...Not necessary, because this stop has to be "en chamade", even in 32',

down to C.

As for the debris, it is common sense to open all doors and remove all windows

before drawing that stop; moreover, before adding it to the organ, it is the whole

building that must be complertely checked and reinforced, wherever necessary,

in order to be able to cope with a Richter level of at least 6.

 

Pierre

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