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General Volume Shoe? Ideas?

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  • General Volume Shoe? Ideas?

    Alright, Buzzy gave me an idea in his recent post complaining about something or other concerning General Volume shoes and crescendo shoes.

    Ok here's a crazy idea for small home/church organs.

    Why not have a great box, and then put the swell box in that? In other words, a swell box inside a swell box. You put all the great (even the principal) in the box, and then have a box inside that for all your swell.

    Sounds crazy, but hear me out on this.

    Scenerio 1: You're at home practicing late at night for a service the next day, but you have to practice with hardly any stops because every one else is sleeping. Solution: A general volume shoe! You just close the box and wallah!

    Scenerio 2: The elderly ladies in the church are complaining about the "loud organ". Sadly, your congregation is made up entirely of these elderly women. Solution: A general volume shoe! You can close the box so that it's not as loud, but you still have the variety of stops. You get the same tone, just softer!

    And no, NEVER do this on a concert organ.

    But I mean, from what I can tell it seems like a great idea. You just put a switch on the console to turn the crescendo pedal into a volume pedal if you ever need it. Otherwise, those shades are always open. Put a nice facade in front of it, and no one ever knows.

    Ideas?

  • #2
    Re: General Volume Shoe? Ideas?

    It's already been done, maybe on a more limited scale.
    Schoenstein has done this on some of his recent organs.
    Other companies have also done it over the years.
    At least one example is the Cadet Chapel at West Point.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: General Volume Shoe? Ideas?

      Greetings,

      The term for your idea is called "double expression" where there is a box within a box. These arrangements are very popular with the modern Schoenstein company, and have also been found in older Austins, and even a Skinner or two!

      I'm pretty sure that the Eastman Skinner used to be enclosed in its entirety, Pedal and all, in addition to the normal boxes. Brick Church might have been the same way.

      Schoenstein seems to use the technique over Mixtures, Voxes and such.

      - Nate

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      • #4
        Re: General Volume Shoe? Ideas?

        *sigh*

        I am never going to be able to come up with an original idea!

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: General Volume Shoe? Ideas?

          You'll come up with something!

          Believe me, you don't want to know my organ ideas - they are quite scary!

          Best,

          - Nate

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Vox Humana p and f

            I forgot that so many organs were built
            with a box just around the Vox Humana
            pipes so it could be soft or medium
            relative to the other stops being used.

            When you see two Vox Humana stops
            in one division they are probably the
            same pipes, one stop with the little
            box open, the other with it closed.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Vox Humana p and f

              I've seen that before! I thought it was odd that the vox humana pipes were in their own little box, and I never knew what that was for! Thanks stevetil!

              Nate, your ideas can't be that scarry!

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              • #8
                Re: Vox Humana p and f

                I'm confused (not uncommon ...)

                Would the great box have shades on it as well? When you wanted to practice quietly at home you would open the great and close the swell? Or would it be a solid box with an expressed swell inside of it? - Jim

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                • #9
                  Re: Vox Humana p and f

                  "Scenerio 2: The elderly ladies in the church are complaining about the "loud organ". Sadly, your congregation is made up entirely of these elderly women."


                  LMFAO

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Vox Humana p and f

                    I ran across a church in Akron Ohio (by Cleveland) that was like that. They were all very old folks. They had actually swapped churches with a growing one that needed more space. So they gave up their big building, got some cash and took this tiny little place that sat MAYBE 100 people in a pinch. But hey, they had a 50 stop digital organ so it was all good ... nevermind that half way up the crescendo pedal you couldn't hear anyone screaming at the top of their lungs because the building was too small.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Vox Humana p and f

                      *shakes fist at buzzy*

                      Don't look at my church... My church is filled with teenagers and young adults... Now, all the churches that I have played for are always filled with either ladies who like the organ, or complain about it, but either way they're elderly!

                      Bombarde32:
                      Just imagine a Great box, with the Great and Pedal inside it. Then add a Swell box inside that. That way, you can still use the Swell division as an expressed division, but the entire organ volume can be controled by the great box shades :)

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Vox Humana p and f

                        Hmm, I have seen completely enclosed great divisions, but, not a box in a box. I bet that having a box inside of a box could possibly keep the organ in tune with itself, for longer. I would be willing to bet the median age of folks who attend the traditional service at my church, is about 80. Im not kidding.

                        Comment

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