gazman Posted August 1, 2007 Share Posted August 1, 2007 <post deleted due to trolls> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwhodges Posted August 1, 2007 Share Posted August 1, 2007 our three cats: Sesquialtera, Clarabella and Sifflet. Good names! I once called a raucous Abyssinian cat Schalmei (he had a twin called Refety - anyone who gets that reference deserves respect!) Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Clark Posted August 2, 2007 Share Posted August 2, 2007 Good names! I once called a raucous Abyssinian cat Schalmei (he had a twin called Refety - anyone who gets that reference deserves respect!) Paul Well come on then Paul ..... I tried Google but got nowhere! (BTW I hope you're not smirking at we lesser beings!) P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazman Posted August 2, 2007 Share Posted August 2, 2007 The reference eludes me too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwhodges Posted August 2, 2007 Share Posted August 2, 2007 The reference eludes me too! Like Gollum, you can complain that the question is not fair, in that it is not an organ-related reference. The definition of the computer language Algol-68 is written in a meta-language that defines and uses a large number of portmanteau words, of which one is REFETY, meaning "reference to, or empty". The cumulative effect of these words becomes almost poetic at times, as in this sample teken from the first line of a rule defining one type of array reference: REFETY ROWSETY ROWWSETY NONROW SLICE We had thought of naming the cat Rowsety, for the noise it made (hence Schalmei for the other), but Refety seemed a nicer name. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazman Posted August 2, 2007 Share Posted August 2, 2007 Like Gollum, you can complain that the question is not fair, in that it is not an organ-related reference. The definition of the computer language Algol-68 is written in a meta-language that defines and uses a large number of portmanteau words, of which one is REFETY, meaning "reference to, or empty". The cumulative effect of these words becomes almost poetic at times, as in this sample teken from the first line of a rule defining one type of array reference: REFETY ROWSETY ROWWSETY NONROW SLICE We had thought of naming the cat Rowsety, for the noise it made (hence Schalmei for the other), but Refety seemed a nicer name. Paul Ah! It's so obvious now! I wonder why I didn't get it immediately!!! Thanks for enlightening us! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJG Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 My name is John Gilbert. I was born in 1957 in West Cornwall. I have just returned to 'Invision' after a long absence, (February 2013). Having forgotten I'd written this post, I've put another one with updated information about myself elsewhere on this board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Newnham Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 My name is John Gilbert. I was born in 1957 in West Cornwall and had my first organ lessons on the Conacher (The 'Old Firm, Huddersfield') at Camborne Centenary Methodist Church. (Unfortunately, because the instrument is not in anything like its original condition, it cannot be regarded as of historic significance, and is therefore not eligible for certain grants). Hi John Welcome to the list. There are a hanful of clergy here. I synpathis with the funding problem. We were fortunate here at Heaton Baptist, Bradford, that the organ is a small chamber organ, and the church had some funds in our "legacies fund" which has covered around half the cost. Every Blessing Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJG Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Hi John Welcome to the list. There are a hanful of clergy here. I synpathis with the funding problem. We were fortunate here at Heaton Baptist, Bradford, that the organ is a small chamber organ, and the church had some funds in our "legacies fund" which has covered around half the cost. Every Blessing Tony Hi - thanks very much for the words of welcome Yes, money is a big problem. With 33 speaking stops over three manuals the organ at my church is hardly a chamber organ, I'm afraid and now requires a very thorough overhaul, since it did not receive one when it came fom Upper Norwood in the 1970s, but was simply installed as it was. Indeed, it is a minor miracle that it works as well as it does. Harrison's inspected it in the 1980s and said it was in imminenet danger of collapse and that the best thing was to throw it out and replace it with a worthy redundant organ: but it has foiled that prediction and almost twenty years on continues to work reliably with the minimum of maintenance and it makes a superb sound into the bargain. An experienced tuner from Willis's has told me that much of the pipework is of very high quality; this would seem to be confirmed by the amazing stability of the tuning - even of the reeds. When the temperature rises and the reeds and flues part company, the remarkable thing is that when the temperature drops again, everything falls more or less back into place and the whole instrument comes back together once more! Rarely (if ever) have I known an organ do that. But this one has done so consistently over the eleven years I have been here. John. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre Lauwers Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 "it cannot be regarded as of historic significance" (Quote) ....But it is, tough! (maybe not "after the papers", but actually) And you say it makes fine sounds, is reliable despite condemnations, has those excellent, staying in tune english reeds....It "stinks" the "keeper" up to the other side of the channel. Does it really need a big restoration ? Or simply be carefully followed by Mr Wyld and his team, people who know and appreciate such instruments ? Pierre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcnd5584 Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 "it cannot be regarded as of historic significance"(Quote) ....But it is, tough! (maybe not "after the papers", but actually) And you say it makes fine sounds, is reliable despite condemnations, has those excellent, staying in tune english reeds....It "stinks" the "keeper" up to the other side of the channel. Does it really need a big restoration ? Or simply be carefully followed by Mr Wyld and his team, people who know and appreciate such instruments ? Pierre I think that it is more a case that this instrument does not qualify for any financial aid, because it is not officially 'historic', Pierre. The price quoted would in any case probably only cover the cost of urgent restoration - with perhaps a new action. It would be interesting to see a specification if possible, please; the only dedication to St. Jude which I can find on the NPOR, does not appear to be the correct place - certainly not the correct organ. One suggestion for raising capital: calculate the distance from the church to your nearest land-fill site. If it is within five miles (I think that this is the correct distance) then you may be eligible for some money. There is apparently some slightly odd legislation which states that land-fill site owners (or perhaps the local authority) are required to pay out a certain sum of money - I suppose that it is something to do with compensating the local environment. If anyone has less vague information than this, please post! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Barry Oakley Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 I It would be interesting to see a specification if possible, please; the only dedication to St. Jude which I can find on the NPOR, does not appear to be the correct place - certainly not the correct organ. font] It is rather strange that nothing exists on the NPOR for St Jude's, Hexthorpe, given that Chris Wren, the present DOA, was once organist there. I heard it last about 15 years or so ago and whilst it looked rather tired it did sound very acceptable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre Lauwers Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 " with perhaps a new action." (Quote) Why? Because pneumatic equals "bad" ? Just for the sake of it; Aubertin you rate high in Britain, isn't it ? And it is justified. Michel Gaillard, who is a member of the Aubertin team, does exceedingly good work with pneumatic action. He has rebuild entire organs with new pneumatic actions ! So... Pierre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcnd5584 Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 " with perhaps a new action."(Quote) Why? Because pneumatic equals "bad" ? Pierre No - but I was attempting to account for the quoted cost of the restoration. When the organ of Bristol Cathedral was maintained regularly, I always found the action to be quite adequate. It could certainly cope with fast pieces. However, I understand that, due to various reasons, it may not be quite so prompt these days. Having said that, one of the organs on which I learned had supply pneumatic action and it was dreadful. The response, particularly on note-repetition, was very sluggish. In addition, the keys were so sensitive that almost just looking at them could induce a note to play. This I would have happily changed, since the organ builder was apparently unable to adjust or improve it. It did make learning on the instrument quite awkward. I subsequently switched to a small two-clavier instrument with a good modern mechanical action. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Barry Oakley Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 It is rather strange that nothing exists on the NPOR for St Jude's, Hexthorpe, given that Chris Wren, the present DOA, was once organist there. I heard it last about 15 years or so ago and whilst it looked rather tired it did sound very acceptable. Ah, I think this is the organ which is now at St Jude's, Hexthorpe, Doncaster http://npor.emma.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch...ec_index=D07677 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcnd5584 Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 Barry Oakley said: Ah, I think this is the organ which is now at St Jude's, Hexthorpe, Doncaster http://npor.emma.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch...ec_index=D07677 This looks, on paper, to be an interesting instrument. Clearly, one cannot be certain without hearing and playing it. However, at the moment the only thing which I might be tempted to do, is to convert one of the Swell 4ft. strings to a C13 Céleste - something which would be easily reversed, since I would keep the old rack-board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry Willis Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 This looks, on paper, to be an interesting instrument. Clearly, one cannot be certain without hearing and playing it. However, at the moment the only thing which I might be tempted to do, is to convert one of the Swell 4p strings to a C13 Céleste - something which would be easily reversed, since I would keep the old rack-board. This was in it's former home - you need to look at the current entry: http://npor.emma.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch...ec_index=R00899 which I think is a little more to your taste! DW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcnd5584 Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 This was in it's former home - you need to look at the current entry: http://npor.emma.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch...ec_index=R00899 which I think is a little more to your taste! DW Great! I will take it. Can you gift-wrap it as well, please?!! Thank you, David! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJG Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 Ah, I think this is the organ which is now at St Jude's, Hexthorpe, Doncaster http://npor.emma.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch...ec_index=D07677 Yes, this is the same organ, now with a slightly different specification, different 'front' and various modifications. I realised only this morning that it does not appear on the NPOR and have rectified that - it should appear there soon! Christopher Wren is still the organist and still the DOA. He and I have done some work over the years (before Willis took it over) to keep it working, notably in doing some releathering of the action. We also added a pedal reed from a 'scrapped' Brindley & Foster in Sheffield, which sounds as if it were made for the instrument and has completed the scheme very appropriately. Thank you for the suggestions RE: grants. The present specification is as follows: GREAT ORGAN 1 Open Diapason 8 2 Stopped Diapason 8 3 Spitz Flöte 8 4 Principal 4 5 Wald Flute 4 6 Twelfth 2 2/3 7 Fifteenth 2 8 Mixture III 9 Tromba 8 Swell to Great SWELL ORGAN 10 Bourdon 16 11 Open Diapason 8 12 Hohl Flute 8 13 Keraulophon 8 14 Voix Celestes 8 15 Principal 4 16 Piccolo 2 17 Mixture II 18 Cornopean 8 19 Oboe 8 20 Vox Humana 8 21 Clarion 4 Tremulant Swell sub octave Swell super octave CHOIR ORGAN 22 Lieblich Gedeckt 8 23 Dulciana 8 24 Suabe Flute 4 25 Nasat 2 2/3 26 Doublette 2 27 Tierce 1 3/5* Tremulant Swell to Choir Choir sub octave Choir super octave Pistons to Pedal *Conacher, salvaged from a redundant organ. PEDAL ORGAN 28 Sub Bass 32 29 Open Wood 16 30 Bourdon 16 31 Octave 8 32 Bass Flute 8 33 Trombone 16* Great to Pedal Swell to Pedal Choir to Pedal *Brindley & Foster, salvaged from a redundant organ. ACCESSORIES 5 thumb pistons to Great 5 thumb pistons to Swell 4 thumb pistons to Choir Great to Pedal reversible Swell to Great reversible 4 Combination pedals 1 Great to Pedal reversible When Willis's took over the tuning and maintenance a few years ago, David Wyld advised that (at that time) a thorough overhaul/rebuild would cost around £50,000 if new action were provided and around £80,000 if the present pneumatic were retained. Since the present action is a veritable 'dog's dinner' with parts from various different instruments (with components of more than one compass!), there is no good reason for keeping it . Apologies for the fact that this thread is going seriously off topic! John. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJG Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 Lol - DW beat me to it.... sorry about the resulting duplication of information! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcnd5584 Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 CHOIR ORGAN... 27 Tierce 1 3/5* *Conacher, salvaged from a redundant organ. Thank you for this information. It is perhaps a shame that the G.O. Cone Gamba (a Hill speciality) has been either exchanged for or converted into a Spitz Flöte 8ft.; otherwise it looks to be interesting. However, I am amazed - you found a Conacher organ with a Tierce ?!! Weird. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJG Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 Thank you for this information. It is perhaps a shame that the G.O. Cone Gamba (a Hill speciality) has been either exchanged for or converted into a Spitz Flöte 8p; otherwise it looks to be interesting. However, I am amazed - you found a Conacher organ with a Tierce ?!! Weird. Hehe! The same redundant Brindley & Foster in Sheffield that provided the pedal reed had been rebuilt some years ago by Conacher, so the Tierce came from the same instrument. Christopher and I donned overalls and spent several days salvaging what we could from the wreckage of the redundant B & F. We then hired a van and brought the stuff back to base. We still have a Tromba and its chest in our church cellar, waiting for a good home. It was heart-breaking to see what had happened to that organ. It would not be diplomatic of me to say where it was - suffice to say it was in a significant building in Sheffield and had been replaced by a 'toaster' whose installers had done a LOT of damage inside the B & F in order to make room on the rackboards for their speakers. (Great pipework pulled out and just chucked back on to the pipes behind, for example). Discerning readers may be able to work out which instrument I am writing about. The 'owners' were, I think, very embarrassed about what had been done and in offering us anything we could salvage, were probably trying to make up in some small way for the vandalism that had taken place. J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Newnham Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 Yes, this is the same organ, now with a slightly different specification, different 'front' and various modifications. I realised only this morning that it does not appear on the NPOR and have rectified that - it should appear there soon! Hi It may be a couple of months - we're still trying to reduce the backlog (it has come down a long way already!). You should get an acknowldement from the office fairly quickly, and the info will come to me or one of my colleagues in due course. Every Blessing Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWAnderson Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 Having said that, one of the organs on which I learned had supply pneumatic action and it was dreadful. The response, particularly on note-repetition, was very sluggish. In addition, the keys were so sensitive that almost just looking at them could induce a note to play. We have a 1912 Nicholson & Lord organ here at a local church, but unfortunately there is no money to restore the thing. So think, a exhaust-pneumatic action that has not had anything done to it since that date. There is pretty much no repetition on the notes, so I don't think playing fast pieces like War March of the Preists works. JA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre Lauwers Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 We have a 1912 Nicholson & Lord organ here at a local church, but unfortunately there is no money to restore the thing.So think, a exhaust-pneumatic action that has not had anything done to it since that date. There is pretty much no repetition on the notes, so I don't think playing fast pieces like War March of the Preists works. JA An exhaust pneumatic system is entirely different from a supply one. If the system has not been maintained since 1912, we cannot judge its value today; it would be the same with a tracker action, anyway. Pierre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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