Ultimate Restorations: Atlantic City Midmer- Losh

[NoTalent]

Our local PBS station (WXXI/Rochester, NY) ran a series of "Ultimate Restorations" shows, one of which dealt with the restoration of a Midmer-Losh in Atlantic City, yet another "worlds largest pipe organ".

The first part is a tour of the insides of this thing, which really is a monster, replete with 64' pipes and a huge relay room. It then goes on to the dismantling and restoration of the Swell division, which is reportedly 5 stories. You can watch them remove and winch windchests from the ground on up to something like 50', with no supports!

Details at
http://www.ultimaterestorations.com/midmer-losh/

There is a video embedded there, which I can't get to play, so I can't tell if it's the show or just a trailer. Also some links to sites with more information.

Enjoy!
Greg

[indianajo]

I've watched a couple of episodes of this show at 0030 AM on KET-PBS. They have run the episode about the "fish car" a half dozen times, the one about the airplane a few times, and the one about the fire truck a few times. I've never seen even the listing of the episode about the pipe organ, which is shown briefly behind the credit sequence.
Right in sync, our local classical FM station will play JS Bach if you ask nicely on Friday afternoons during "listener request", but only on the classical guitar or in orchestrations. Pipe organ CD's are "not in the library". The Jacobs organ school is in Bloomington Indiana, and donors to KET don't call in from up there, it is out of the KET broadcast area. Dozens of KET donors are from Clark Floyd or Switzerland Counties, IN, Indiana PBS affiliates' signals do not reach south of Seymour (US 50 the national road).

[myorgan]

NoTalent,

Saw it, loved it. Hope to see it this Summer if we can get there on a Tuesday. Thought about posting about the show, but you beat me to it. Great show.

Michael

P.S. The link is a teaser--only 4:25 long.:-(

[Jan Girardot]

No Talent and all;

I believe you will find the Wanamaker's organ is the largest "playable" organ in the world, while the Atlantic City Midmer-Losh is still under restoration. The Ultimate Restorations series can be found through Google and includes a marvelous rebuild of a classic yacht.

. . . Jan
the OrganGrinder

[myorgan]

Saw it, loved it. Hope to see it this Summer if we can get there on a Tuesday.

It figures!X-( We finally made arrangements to be in Atlantic City next week on Tuesday, but Behind the Scenes Tours have now been moved to Wednesdays at 10:00! How frustrating!:mad: We need to be in South Carolina by Wednesday evening to meet with someone about another pipe organ there.

As a consolation prize, I guess I'll just have to attend the noontime 1/2 hour concert with 1/2 hour tour (probably just the console) with the masses. At least it's free. I was really hoping to have an opportunity to see, and get photos of the pipes. I didn't dare hope to get the opportunity to play, but I don't think that'll ever happen.

In any event, we plan to be there at 12:00Noon next Tuesday to see what we can see. The tolls alone will add $20-$30 to our trip. I'll try to get some good photos of the console/stops--at the least--to share here.

Michael

[AllenAnalog]

Having worked on both the Midmer-Losh and the Kimball organs at Boardwalk Hall several times before the current regime took over, I'd like to recommend the online version of Stephen D. Smith's definitive book Atlantic City's Musical Masterpiece. It is the result of two decades of research and is an amazing read. It was my technical reference for my work but beyond that it tells the great story of the construction of the two instruments with lots of great photos from the famous Fred Hess collection taken while the organ was under construction.

http://www.boardwalkpipes.com/

[myorgan]

Folks,

Visited Boardwalk Hall a couple of weeks ago and took the attached photos. I had high hopes of possibly being able to assist in some way with the restoration (i.e. financial donations, labor, etc.), but I have nothing good to say about the visit, and I'll leave it at that. I should have known better than to have expectations. I hope you enjoy the photos. My camera batteries died while there, so I only have 3 of the Midmer-Losh console.

Early Console (3 Photos)


Kimball Theatre Organ in Grand Gymnasium--errr, Ballroom


Michael

[myorgan]

Photos of the Midmer-Losh Console. Currently, according to the "tour guide," only one chamber is complete and working.

Current Console of the Midmer-Losh Organ

Now, if they were just the right way 'round! My computer automatically rotated them based on the EXIF information, but I guess the Forum doesn't. Let me try to get them rotated and re-posted.

Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to get close enough to the console to get good photos of the stops, so I had to take the photos from about 3-4 feet below the level of the organ. The 8' Flute Major tab down on the Solo Division (photo of the right) was the rank they were tuning while the Kimball organ was being demonstrated.

Michael