MOTM

If anybody is ever in the DC/VA area, I would highly recommend going to
Luray Caverns. There is an underground cave housing what I believe is
the world's largest pipe organ. The pipes are made of stalactites--or
stalagmites; I always get them mixed up. It's quite impressive, though.


Paul Schreiber wrote:

> From: "Paul Schreiber" <synth1@...>
>
> >
> > > but you can't argue with a pipe organ! Nor a huge modular.
> >
> > Heh heh! It's very cool playing some French impressionist like
> Langlais or
> > Dupre, or maybe a little Bach on a big pipe organ in an empty church
> in
> the
> > middle of the night.
>

> but you can't argue with a pipe organ! Nor a huge modular.

Heh heh! It's very cool playing some French impressionist like Langlais or
Dupre, or maybe a little Bach on a big pipe organ in an empty church in the
middle of the night.

There's an old pipe organ record by Keith Jarrett called "Hymns, Spheres",
in which he uses it like a synthesizer. Very long pieces with basically no
melodies, just tone poems where the sound changes over several minutes by
gradually bringing pipe ranks in and out of the mix. Very trippy.

Dave

I love that album. It *was* released as two separate CDs, "Hymns" and
"Spheres," which I think was a mistake because the flow on the original
two-album set with the tracks mingled was wonderful. Great music to read by.

He got great effects out of the instrument by pulling stops half-out. See?
Analog. You need knobs!

		-----Original Message-----
		From:	Dave Bradley [mailto:daveb@...]
		Sent:	Tuesday, February 01, 2000 3:02 PM
		To:	motm@onelist.com
		Subject:	[motm] Pipe organs and modulars


		There's an old pipe organ record by Keith Jarrett called
"Hymns, Spheres",
		in which he uses it like a synthesizer. Very long pieces
with basically no
		melodies, just tone poems where the sound changes over
several minutes by
		gradually bringing pipe ranks in and out of the mix. Very
trippy.

>
> > but you can't argue with a pipe organ! Nor a huge modular.
>
> Heh heh! It's very cool playing some French impressionist like Langlais or
> Dupre, or maybe a little Bach on a big pipe organ in an empty church in
the
> middle of the night.

I used to sneak in the small Presbyterian church at school late at night to
play
their Rodgers organ. A "cheap" Allen organ, basically a sampler.

There is a German company that sells a fully MIDI-ed, sampled pipe organ. A
friend of mine in CA bought one. Costs like $25K. This company was smart
about
7 years ago: they went to every famous cathedral in Europe and got *signed,
exclusive contracts*
for sampling the organs/ambience!

>
> There's an old pipe organ record by Keith Jarrett called "Hymns, Spheres",
> in which he uses it like a synthesizer. Very long pieces with basically no
> melodies, just tone poems where the sound changes over several minutes by
> gradually bringing pipe ranks in and out of the mix. Very trippy.

He plays a "tracker" organ: one that is 100% mechanical action from key
press to
valve opening. Also, older organs (pre-solonoid) you can "half-stop" the
voices by
pulling the stop knobs out partially. This is used to great effect on this
album.
Highly recommended!!

My father's business in Houston was across the street from Visser-Rowland
PipeOrganBuilders
(now I think they are VR Associates, lost track). They built the organ in
the Bates Recital Hall
on the campus of UT-Austin. 3rd largest tracker organ in the world. These
guys were 100%
"vertically integrated": wood and pipes came in Door #1, and pipe organs
rolled out Door #2. They
used custom NC lathes made from Commodore PETs! I would sit in there for
hours and hours
(if I promised to not get in the way) and just watch them work.
Mind-boggling!

Paul S.

Anyone in the vicinity of St. Louis should travel to Highland, IL (about 40
miles), and get a tour of the Wicks pipe organ factory there. I showed up
unannounced and talked my way into one. They had a 5 rank organ in a self
contained box with glass sides ready to go into a home, and I got to play a
30 rank 3 manual set up in a room with a 40 foot ceiling. The hand
craftsmanship is just amazing on everything from the console woodworking to
the guy sitting in a room by himself voicing pipes by ear. They make their
own pipes too from the raw sheet metal and wood.

Dave

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Paul Schreiber [mailto:synth1@...]
> Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2000 2:26 PM
> To: motm@onelist.com
> Subject: Re: [motm] Pipe organs and modulars
>
>
> From: "Paul Schreiber" <synth1@...>
>
> >
> > > but you can't argue with a pipe organ! Nor a huge modular.
> >
> > Heh heh! It's very cool playing some French impressionist like
> Langlais or
> > Dupre, or maybe a little Bach on a big pipe organ in an empty church in
> the
> > middle of the night.
>
> I used to sneak in the small Presbyterian church at school late
> at night to
> play
> their Rodgers organ. A "cheap" Allen organ, basically a sampler.
>
> There is a German company that sells a fully MIDI-ed, sampled
> pipe organ. A
> friend of mine in CA bought one. Costs like $25K. This company was smart
> about
> 7 years ago: they went to every famous cathedral in Europe and
> got *signed,
> exclusive contracts*
> for sampling the organs/ambience!
>
> >
> > There's an old pipe organ record by Keith Jarrett called
> "Hymns, Spheres",
> > in which he uses it like a synthesizer. Very long pieces with
> basically no
> > melodies, just tone poems where the sound changes over several
> minutes by
> > gradually bringing pipe ranks in and out of the mix. Very trippy.
>
> He plays a "tracker" organ: one that is 100% mechanical action from key
> press to
> valve opening. Also, older organs (pre-solonoid) you can "half-stop" the
> voices by
> pulling the stop knobs out partially. This is used to great effect on this
> album.
> Highly recommended!!
>
> My father's business in Houston was across the street from Visser-Rowland
> PipeOrganBuilders
> (now I think they are VR Associates, lost track). They built the organ in
> the Bates Recital Hall
> on the campus of UT-Austin. 3rd largest tracker organ in the world. These
> guys were 100%
> "vertically integrated": wood and pipes came in Door #1, and pipe organs
> rolled out Door #2. They
> used custom NC lathes made from Commodore PETs! I would sit in there for
> hours and hours
> (if I promised to not get in the way) and just watch them work.
> Mind-boggling!
>
> Paul S.
>
>
>
>
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>

Slightly off topic, but all of you organ afficianadoes might get a kick out
of reading Bruce Sterlings "Cryptonomicon".  The lead character in one plot
becomes fascinated with organs at an early age.  Mind you, that's not what
the book's about, just an aspect of a character.

--PBr

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Dave Bradley [SMTP:daveb@...]
> Sent:	Tuesday, February 01, 2000 12:02 PM
> To:	motm@onelist.com
> Subject:	[motm] Pipe organs and modulars
> 
> From: "Dave Bradley" <daveb@...>
> 
> > but you can't argue with a pipe organ! Nor a huge modular.
> 
> Heh heh! It's very cool playing some French impressionist like Langlais or
> Dupre, or maybe a little Bach on a big pipe organ in an empty church in
> the
> middle of the night.
> 
> There's an old pipe organ record by Keith Jarrett called "Hymns, Spheres",
> in which he uses it like a synthesizer. Very long pieces with basically no
> melodies, just tone poems where the sound changes over several minutes by
> gradually bringing pipe ranks in and out of the mix. Very trippy.
>

quote of the day:
> 
> > but you can't argue with a pipe organ! Nor a huge modular.
> 

Quite so! I'm doing a pipe organ project here at home as well. I'd offer
a link to my web page for some pix of the console under construction but
in my switch to speakeasy I haven't yet re-established a web presence.

Frank Vanaman
Baltimore, MD

In a message dated 2/1/2000 1:40:02 PM, ben@... writes:

> The pipes are made of stalactites--or
>stalagmites; I always get them mixed up. It's quite impressive, though.
>

Stalactites I think. Stalagmites are miniature German prison guards.

Been waiting thirty years to use that one!
JB

In a message dated 00-02-01 15:39:59 EST, you write:

<< Luray Caverns. There is an underground cave housing what I believe is
 the world's largest pipe organ. The pipes are made of stalactites--or
 stalagmites; >>



ben,
i live in maryland and have been to luray several times. i don`t think that 
the organ is the worlds largest but it does sound awesome in that cavern. it 
would be neat to be able to access it to play some "space music" ( for lack 
of a better term ) late on some dark night........
best,
dave