Johannus 220

[Guest]

Our Johannus 220 (2 manual) has served very well for many years in our home. Now it is time to find a new home for it. It has crossed my mind that IF we could add auxiliary speakers perhaps we could gift it to the local symphony. We are thinking of orchestral works featuring organ such as the Saint Saens, Poulenc and arrangements of organ concerti by Vidor or Rheinberger. Does this plan seem to be feasible? Any thoughts and advice welcomed.

[Kurzweil]

That looks like a serious organ but your question would get more knowledgeable response on the Classical part of this forum. I would think that their (the Symphony folk) receptivity might be affected by their size (small town vs. large), condition of the organ, and whether they desire to play that type of literature.

[DrBen]

This analog organ from the 1980s is probably showing its age and could act up at any time. I think it has an auxiliary stereo output that could be used for external speakers. It is basically a practice organ for home use although some were used in SMALL churches.

[andyg]

True, Dr Ben. Neverthless it's a classical model, so I'm going to move the thread to the correct part of the forum.

For the record 'Home Organ' is intended to mean entertainment organs from the likes of Lowrey, Thomas, Yamaha, Kawai, Gulbransen et al.

[arie v]

Hi,

You've got to be joking that a symphony would want such an instrument, even for free.

This model dates back to about 1980, and was a bottom feeder model. Lots of stops, little ensemble, 2 channels of audio. But the sound was mediocre at best.

Johannus did make better analog organs than that, some that may have been suitable to accompany a symphony.

But this one, really is a home organ, suited for basic practice.

Donate it to some family who would use it for a practice/enjoyment instrument.

AV

[Guest]

Arie V. No, we are not joking, just thinking "out of the box". Knowing that most of the orchestral parts for arrangements (organ and symphonic ensemble) utilize a lot of duplication on the part of the orchestra, it seems the Johannus 220 would be adequate IF it had external speakers. At the time of purchase in the 80s, those speakers were available but seemed unnecessary for our intended home use. So our question really is " will new external speakers make that difference for a 800 seat concert venue", a very modest venue. For home use the Johannus has ALWAYS been just fine. Ir is with great sadness that the time has arrived to place it elsewhere.

Rodi27

[Kurzweil]

Some symphonies have probably even used a synthesizer. I saw Phantom of the Opera in Atlanta over a decade ago and instead of employing the large Moller theater pipe organ (which has a sizable classical organ contained within), they used a single manual synth for the signature organ parts. The characteristic organ sound of a full pipe organ is probably more important than any versatility or variation or tone colors. So it might work very well with a couple of good amplified speakers, if the desire is there to make it work. Some have alluded to maintenance issues too, of course.