What's the big deal about tracker organs?

[Guest]

Everyone gets so excited about tracker organs but few, if any, take the time to explain why.

That being said I have a church organist friend who plays a Fisk in a large northern city who says playing on a tracker does allow him to 'get in touch' with certain organ works in a way that electro-pneumatic organs do not.

On the other hand someone mentioned in another thread that when using couplers trackers require a great deal of effort to play.Which is why barker levers were used byC-C and other builders.

Trackers also tend to have flat pedalclaviers due to the mechanisms. The tracker in Roy Thompson Hall is a tracker, but there is also a detached and movable console from which it can be played. Their website has this to say:

Both of these excellent consoles offer different advantages: while tracker action offers the organist more precise control over the instrument, electric action offers more flexibility and increased visibility between performer, conductor, and audience.

Perhaps a better question would be "why give up the benefits of electricity?" We pretty much stopped using the horse and buggy for transportation once the automobile was developed.

I will pull on my asbestos suit and wait for your responses.

[m&m's]

Re: What's the big deal about tracker organs?



I have never played a large tracker organ, except for the old Ferris organ in Round Lake, New York, and that only briefly. That one is hard to play with couplers engaged. If I should play it in a concert sometime, I will play music that does not bequire coupling of the manuals. (It also has a hitch-down swell pedal!)

A small tracker organ is nice, but I could not imagine playing a large one every Sunday. To each his own, but I do not find a thrill in mechanical key touch. And, I do like to hear the organ that I play as it actually sounds, which can be hard to do with a tracker, expecially a large one.

I have no problems with the touch of an electric organ. Also, I have no problem with limited unification in the non-principal ranks-something that is very hard to accomplish in a tracker organ. I found it very interesting that a small tracker organ, on which I played a recital some years ago, had electric action in the pedals, probably because each of the three ranks was extended to the octave. Those who may say that only a mediocre builder would do such a thing might not be pleased to hear that the builder of this organ was Andover.

[bootchman]

Re: What's the big deal about tracker organs?



I served a church for several years which had a new tracker Holtkamp with tracker key action and electric stop action. True, playing with all manuals coupled to Great does require greater strength, but not an unreasonable difference. The Holtkamp did have an AGO pedal clavier.

The greatest thing about tracker action is the intimacy between the player and the instrument. One actually feels the "pluck" of pulling the the pallet open against the wind pressure in the chest. The amount of chiff can be controlled by the touch of the organist - a fast attack opens the pallet quickly, maximizing the articulation. On the other hand, playing with less velocity "smooths out" the initial speech of the pipes. This physical response is not possible with electric or electropneumatic actions, since the keys are just on-off switches for the action. I did not experience, however, that the tracker was more forgiving of poor technique than an electropneumatic instrument. In fact, perhaps it was a little more unforgiving.

Playing a tracker action organ (without couplers) is similar in feel to playing a harpsichord. While the harpsichord pluck is a plectra plucking the string, in a tracker organ the pluck is the resistance of the wind pressure holding the pallet shut.

So is a tracker organ better? A matter of personal preference. At present I play a 70-rank Casavant which is not tracker and it is a delight to play.

Roy

[Brandon Tuomikoski]

Re: What's the big deal about tracker organs?



I LUV trackers.

 Its that simple- you feel the organ that way. With an electric action, its just boring non weight keys. But on tracker, you feel FULL organ or a simple 1 or 2 stops. 

I played the organ in the picture to my left 2 or 3 times. It is a 66 rank tracker. And when having a large combo out coupled down 3 manuals, it gets heavy to play. But fun. 

And you know Bach, Franck, and Buxetehude played their music like this. 

Once I had a a full organ setting on the bottom, and a single reed on manual 3. Now imagine that. Left hand playing a heavy action, and the right playing a light one! Haha. It was weird but I do like it.

The trackers on this organ are very quiet actually. You hear the organ very easily.  

[Philip the organist]

Re: What's the big deal about tracker organs?

Brandon, go here: http://organforum.com/forums/81986/S...ead.aspx#81986 I took a visit to the amazing new (mechanical action/tracker) organ at Christ Church. For my church I would choose something more like the Riverside NYC A-S organ, but all the same it was an awesome experience.

[Brandon Tuomikoski]

Re: What's the big deal about tracker organs?



OOOOOHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! SO UNREAL!!!!!!! Why cant organs be built like that anymore!!!!!!!

 

That has to be one of the most well decorated organs I have ever seen. The colors are beautiful. Now this is an organ that in 200 years, we can be truly proud to have. 

 

I want to play it really bad! 

[soubasse32]

Re: What's the big deal about tracker organs?



I'ma skeptic when it comes tocontrolling chiff via touch. Over the course of many years I've experimentedwith this on trackersof every description;I'm not convinced it is effective in a musically tangible way - especially given that these subtleties are likely not detectable by an audience. Whenever I encounter a very sensitive instrument I also find disparities from note to note, stopto stop;it is toounpredictable.

A slider chest action with electric pull-downs can come close to a tracker 'experience', without the disadvantages.

Large trackers can beso difficultto play when fully coupled - especially if they are disposed towards playing romantic/symphonic repertoire. I've done an all-French program such instruments andfound stamina to be an issue;tendonitis too...

One benefit of the weight of a mechanical action-accidentally brushed notes might be less likely to sound. [:)] But I've also played tracker actions that are 'hair-trigger',exposing every flaw inone's technique. My hands tense up when playing those instruments. These do make excellent practice instruments.

The best trackers have actions that are neither too heavy nor too light. The pluck does give a very nice feel, as long as the action is silky smooth and predictable throughout.If I'm playing early music on a small to medium-sized instrument a tracker can be lots of fun; howeverI generalllyprefer non-mechanical instruments for most purposes.Amoveable consoledoes have its advantages.

[Kiwithrottlejockey]

Re: What's the big deal about tracker organs?



I was privileged to play the very first notes on the world's “largest” tracker-action organ in 1974.The instrument took ten years to build and the reason why I got to play the first notes was because I was the electrician who wired up the power supply to the blowers half-way through the construction period of the organ. I tossed a coin with the organ builder to see who got to play the first notes and I won the toss. I have since played the completed organ (which was finished in 1979) on three separate occasions.

It is a six-division instument (five manuals, plus pedals) with a grand total of 10,154 pipes contained in 200 ranks and 131 speaking stops. The organ was built byRonald Sharp. It is in the Sydney Opera House in Australia. The organ is a magnificent instument, but it is a shame about the accoustics of the concert chamber it is in which don't really do the organ justice.

[Kiwithrottlejockey]

Re: What's the big deal about tracker organs?

http://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/uplo...GrandOrgan.pdf

[soubasse32]

Re: What's the big deal about tracker organs?



Thanks for that link - it is quite interesting, as is your association with the Sydney instrument!

I'm quite curious about something however... with such a baroque specification I wonder ifyou feel it is really successful with orchestra? How does it fare with the Jongen Symphonie Concertante for example? I have one LP of that instrument, and I recall thinking itwas a bit bright.

Immensetrackers seem a bit oddfor a concert hall -especiallyif the acoustics are on thedry side (as they can be). I think of small, easily-placed portative trackers for things like Händel concerti/oratoriosand I think of large,romantically-voiced instruments for use in romantic orchestral works. A concert hall organ doesn't need to be large rank-wise,as much as it needs to put out a lot of fundamental power (which means big scales, high pressure - not good for mechanical action).

It makes sense ifthe organ is primarilya solo instrument, but then the issue is that most concert halls don't like to host organ recitals due to the low turnout and high cost. It is a catch-22 found in lots of concert halls unfortunately...

Still, it must be a fascinating experience to hear and play it.

[Guest]

Re: What's the big deal about tracker organs?



What is it about the accoustics of that concert hall that are not good for organs? One would think that they ought to work.

I attended a performance of Turandot in the opera house about 14 years ago, and a few days later took a conducted tour of the entire opera house complex. I'm pretty sure I recall the tour guide touting the concert hall as having something like the 5th best accoustics in the world.

[m&m's]

Re: What's the big deal about tracker organs?

[quote user="soubasse32"]

I'm a skeptic when it comes to controlling chiff via touch.  Over the course of many years I've experimented with this on trackers of every description; I'm not convinced it is effective in a musically tangible way - especially given that these subtleties are likely not detectable by an audience.  .[/quote]

The several times that I have played small tracker instruments, I have experimented with this, and have come to the conclusion that there really is nothing to it. If you can  really acheive this effect, still, what good does it do, and can the audience even tell the difference?

[quote user="soubasse32"]A slider chest action with electric pull-downs can come close to a tracker 'experience', without the disadvantages.[/quote]

Agreed. I am not an expert in this area, but I understand that voicing works out better on a slider chest, in that the pipes can be voiced for their maximum tone and beauty without blowing over to the octave.

[quote user="soubasse32"]Large trackers can be so difficult to play when fully coupled - especially if they are disposed towards playing romantic/symphonic repertoire.  I've done an all-French program such instruments and found stamina to be an issue; tendonitis too...[/quote]

This was my point about the Richard Ferris instrument in Round Lake, New York, which is the oldest surviving American-made three manual instrument. One of my friends, who played an entire recital on that instrument several years ago, told me afterward that he was exhausted because of the effort needed to play even two manual coupled, much less three. Having the original hitch-down swell pedal didn't help either. If I do end up playing on a program there this summer, I will not do music that requires inter-manual coupling or the swell pedal.

[Brandon Tuomikoski]

Re: What's the big deal about tracker organs?



Swell pedals.

 The pasi to the left. The swell pedal sure is something. It is like a hot knife in butter. I dont like the fact it is so easy to push it in too far and open the shutters with a bang. :)

It is kind of flimsy I think. Too easy to push down and if you push it too fast, all the doors fly open real fast and hit the backs with a loud bang.  

[Philip the organist]

Re: What's the big deal about tracker organs?

Brandon,
The mechanical swells I have encountered had the opposite problem. Opening the box was fine, but if you opened the shutters all the way, and then so much as touched the swell pedal with any sort of force, it would travel down-down-down and high up in the organ you would hear a bang like someone had slammed the doors of Alcatraz. The first time I did that I thought I had broken something.[:P]

[Guest]

Re: What's the big deal about tracker organs?



This thread has the most activity in a short time than any other. The secret to pipe speech on a slider chest is supposed to be the air expansion chambers under pipe feet that cushion the onset of air pressure to the pipe allowing the pipes to be voiced on the quick side. One of the few types of electro-pneumatic actions instruments that have the same type of chest construction (pallets and expansion chambers) is the Wurlitzer theatre organ. This construction allows for very quick speech of the pipes. My organ teacher tells me that she can outplay a pittman chest action (standard chest of today with individual disk valves under each pipe). On the pittman chest, the pipes need to be voiced slow due to the sudden onset of air pressure due to the lack of expansion chambers.

The Lawrence Phelps web site has an article discussing the issue of expansion chambers under the pipe feet.