Richard McVeigh -- "Beauty in Sound" -- "Virtual Church" -- Interesting concept

[jbird604]

I'm becoming a fan of this guy. I think I read in one of his posts here or on Facebook that he is either the organist or one of the organists at a Cathedral in the UK, though I'm not familiar enough with the lesser-known churches to know where it is. But his big thing seems to be his YouTube channel and his regular on-line performances, most of them live-streamed. He does a weekly "virtual church" program as well as special events. Today he did a "marathon" of sorts -- 12 hours of continuous live organ playing! (To be fair, he stood up from the bench now and then to grab some music or make adjustments to the organ, and his wife was bringing him refreshments from time to time. I assume he had a few bathroom breaks as well.)

Most of his streaming is actually done from home, where he has an elaborate Hauptwerk setup. A beautiful console controls the system, and he also has some Launch Pad devices and other doo-dads that can be seen in the frame. He uses a variety of Hauptwerk sample sets, so he evidently has quite a bit of money invested in the setup. And it sounds like a million dollars (or 10).

His playing seems superb to me, but of course I'm not a qualified organ critic. I am impressed not only with his marvelous hymn-playing, but with his performance of grand recital pieces and other music. At least he's a quantum leap above me, so he seems quite good to me.

Anyway, I've watched parts of several of his livestreams and uploads, and enjoyed it so much I subscribed on Patreon, sending him a few dollars a month. He wants to buy better recording equipment and he and his wife are about to have a baby, so they need money for the nursery as well!

Here's the recorded version of today's 12-hour live-stream marathon. You might skip around and get some samples of what he does and see if you enjoy it as much as I did.

[voet]

His playing seems superb to me, but of course I'm not a qualified organ critic. I am impressed not only with his marvelous hymn-playing, but with his performance of grand recital pieces and other music. At least he's a quantum leap above me, so he seems quite good to me.

John, I think you are emminently qualified to evaluate someone's organ playing. A number of the best critics of my playing over the years have been people who may not have had much formal music training, but they had a good ear and good musical instincts. In addition to your technical acumen, your postings reveal passion, interest and discernment. I always enjoy reading them.

[myorgan]

He does well, John. Thank you for sharing the video stream!

Michael

[jbird604]

I was impressed when he played HYFRYDOL early in the program. Since he has a separate camera on his feet, I was able to see how he pedaled it, and pleased to see that he does it just like I do ;-)

Sure does have a fine-sounding Hauptwerk setup, and he should, considering the level of his investment. One of the sample sets he used today apparently costs as much as 1000 euros, depending on the options. The others may have been just as expensive, but I only looked up one of them because I enjoyed the sound of it so much.

[clhammonds]

I'm with you John. I listen to him regularly and I happen to catch part of his 12 hours marathon today as well. I think playing hymns for leading church services requires a very special talent and is a fabulous gift. He is an amazing sight-reader. I have not been on the forum in some time and plan to start a thread on a problem I am having with the ADC-8000. We need to plan some time to tell me about your Hauptwerk experiments.