Pedalboards and long legs

[myorgan]

I placed blocks underneath the organ bench on both organs at the Church where I work. Problem solved! I boosted myself about two inches, and it's nearly perfect.

Word of caution, though. Just be careful not to make the blocks too high, as that will put your knees into the bottom manual on most AGO organ consoles.

My professor at college also provided a set of blocks on all organs with two levels on all of them. I'll see if I can use my CAD program to draw up a diagram of them. They were in an "L" shape with the lower height being about 1" off the floor, while the higher side was about 2" off the floor. They did have a hollowed area for the legs of the bench to fit.

When the low side was used, the higher side was toward the outside, and when the high side was used, the lower side was toward the outside, lending stability to the blocks as the weight shifted on the bench.

Michael

[bnelson218]

Johhny Seng was a terrific organist back in the late 60's and early 70's. He was well known in the theater organ circles and was also an occasional product artist for Thomas and Yamaha. Johnny stoof 6'7" tall and would typically cross his legs when he played, using his left foot on the expression pedal and right on the pedals. It was a strange thing to watch.
I am 6' tall and find most benches too low for comfortable playing, so I went out and scouted bar stools. I prefer the vintage barstools that have the padded seat and back, and also swivel, but they're getting hard to find. I just bought one from Target that does a pretty good job. You have to cut roughly 4 inches off the front legs so that they can rest on the back of the pedalboard assembly. I play mostly Hammonds and this works well with their sturdily built pedalboards. I usually also add the heavier rubber feet to the sawed off legs and also put a rubber pad on the pedalboard back (like the ones you place under sofa feet to protect the carpet). Anyway, barstools have worked great for me for 30-some years now.
Bruce

[twnelson]

Sounds like a homemade version of a Howard seat :-).

--- Tom

[Cymbell]

I have used a set of blocks for many years now. I have one set that stays at the church and another set for supply work and another set on my home organ bench.
They are 2 x 4 of which I had to add another 3/4 inch board on top. I have stained and finished them so they look ok in places where the console bench is exposed to the congregation. I also have a bag for easy carrying.
Just make sure they are long enough to handle most bench sizes as some bench feet can be wider apart than others. I also have one very large set for one organ bench (Aeolian) where the bench feet are really splayed out.

[hartleymartin]

Report:

At my parish church I found that placing a disused congregation hymnal under each of the 4 legs boosted the height of the organ bench put me at or close enough to the perfect height for pedalling. I suddenly found playing pedal accompaniment to hymns much easier. It also helps to know the manual part well enough to focus attention to the pedalling. I'm looking forward to developing my pedal technique, and experiencing the identity crisis of the left hand! LOL!