Frankenstein pipe organ!

[rjsilva]

I've been trying to visit pipe organs in my general area and this morning I had the pleasure of seeing a rather Frankenstein-ian one.

This church inherited an 11-rank Moller and over the course of time it was expanded to 46 ranks with 3,266 pipes and an added 3rd manual. The console is a riot! It has buttons and switches that made me reminisce about when Michael Knight first sat inside KITT. Fairly hodgepodge looking. Many of the pipes are in need of maintenance, some didn't play, and some ranks are terribly out of tune, but it really was fun to play around with! A nice variety of sounds, including a 32' Grand Cornet stop.

Hearing pipes that need regulation was also educational for me in terms of how the pipe sound is produced—some pipes produced wrong harmonics, some reeds didn't start vibrating until a couple of seconds after the sound started, some pipes took a second or two to start playing a note, etc.

Really neat. Here are some photos of the console:

[myorgan]

I've been trying to visit pipe organs in my general area and this morning I had the pleasure of seeing a rather Frankenstein-ian one.
[snip]
Hearing pipes that need regulation was also educational for me in terms of how the pipe sound is produced—some pipes produced wrong harmonics, some reeds didn't start vibrating until a couple of seconds after the sound started, some pipes took a second or two to start playing a note, etc.

Rjsilva,

I'm glad to see you recognize the regulation/voicing needs help. Hearing a pipe organ like this is the best tutorial on how pipe organ sounds are produced. Often we discuss how a digital organ reproduces pipe organ sounds in other forums, but there is nothing like the real thing--no matter how Frankenorgan-sounding it is--to teach us how the tone is really produced.

Too bad you don't have an opportunity to be part of bring this pipe organ back to life. It would certainly be an education for me, if I had that opportunity!

Michael

[rjsilva]

It wouldn't have taken someone with a fine ear to hear issues with the organ :) It is still used for services and some of the stops are definitely usable. I think it fell into this condition because the original designer/technician passed away (I think he was a member) and I guess there was no one to keep it up.

I could probably be a part of bringing it back to life. The guy was keen to have me come and play it and give advice. Maybe I should ask, even some small things would be educational. Thanks for the thought!

[Darth-Car]

If you plan on adding so many ranks to an instrument, and desire more upscale features, it is time to invest in updated to a modern console to control the beast. This poor thing has been so cobbled together that it is very sad.