The Organ Forum

We've had a topic about bad playing habits, but now I want to know more about everybody's fussy playing habits (if they have any!)

For example, during a church service, I always have to make sure that I have an order of service which is EXACTLY the same as what the congregation are reading from. Before I play at a wedding, I might get given a draft copy, but on the actual day, I can't play happily unless I definitely know that I've got the real copy in front of me just in case something has changed!

Also, if I'm playing a hymn tune to different words, I always have to make sure that I have a copy of the tune I'm playing from AND an identical copy of the verses which the congregation are singing so I can be safe that I have everything worked out.

Also, I always have to press the general cancel piston many times before getting bored and fiddling with the keys, just to make sure that ALL the stops are definitely in, even if I can see that they are...

Jezza

---

"If you can't get the orchestra any louder, add the organ"

Jezza,

Can you say "OCD"? You're going to wear our your cancel piston! 

Fussy, well, I have to make sure all my music is going to stand upright on the music desk. Can't stand thin floppy paper that's going to curl at the bottom and make it hard to see the last lines, so I staple all my loose sheets of music to manila file folders. Then I worry about the file folders folding up on me in the midst of the piece, so I put big paper clips on the sides and clip the whole thing to a couple of other file folders laying horizontally. Then I worry that the music rack is getting too heavy and is going to tip foward, as this one is wont to do from time to time, so I run a piece of clear packing tape from the music rack back to the back of the organ. Then I worry that someone will see it, so I grab several hymnals and create "blind" of sorts, then I go the flower room and pick up a couple of faux potted plants and put them in front of the hymnals. But, the lady who does flowers may not like what I've done, so I get some black cloth that I keep in the choir room and make a short of Shroud for the top of the console. Then I find that I can't see the director, so I get two teenagers to help me swivel the console just a tad. Then I realize that I'm wearing one blue sock and one black one, and now my feet are in full view, so I go back to the flower room and find a large urn with ugly ferns and put it between me and the congregation, darn the flower lady anyway.

By then, I've missed the portion of the service I was going to play the music for, so I sit back and enjoy the sermon. Afterwards I take it all apart and wonder aloud if I could play the same piece next Sunday.

John

 

---

Rodgers 890 at church.
Baldwin D422 at home.
Scads of old organs in the shop! H E L P !!!

Somewhat off topic:  The order of priests that staff our parish are OCD; which stands for Order of Carmel, Discalced.  This does not mean that they do not get enough dairy in their diet (i.e., decalcified), but rather that they do not wear shoes.  Actually, while some of them wear sandles, they also wear shoes when appropriate.  Of course, I tease them about the other meaning of OCD.  It is a sad fact that one of them is so mentally ill with OCD that he had to be banished to a missionary parish in a remote location.  Oh well . . .

Fussy?  Me?  Yep!

I have two bulletins; one on each side of the music rack with my music helping to hold them in place.  All of the music that I will use for the service is to be in order on the rack unless I use some music that is in a loose leaf folder.  Nothing is to be setting on the console unless I put it there.  When I am not using the hymnal it will be on the right side of the console and after I finish a piece of music, it will be placed of the left side of the console.  Someone tried to put a flower on the console, it didn't stay long.  To keep the service "fresh" the ministers will try some new things.  That is fine.  If I am to be part of this, I want to know about it before it takes place.  It is OK to surprise the congregation, but not me.

---

Acts 2:38
Psalm 150 (KJV)

MenchenStimme:

Somewhat off topic:  The order of priests that staff our parish are OCD; which stands for Order of Carmel, Discalced.  This does not mean that they do not get enough dairy in their diet (i.e., decalcified), but rather that they do not wear shoes.  Actually, while some of them wear sandles, they also wear shoes when appropriate.  Of course, I tease them about the other meaning of OCD.  It is a sad fact that one of them is so mentally ill with OCD that he had to be banished to a missionary parish in a remote location.  Oh well . . .

Was this guy named "Monk" by any chance?

Sorry I couldn't resist!

---

First they came for the ABC consoles, then they came for the older consoles. When they finally got to the spinets, they were all gone.

Having the most updated order of service isn't fussy - it is common sense!  I also photocopy all the hymns (and some of the other pieces) and make sure all the music is in a three-ring binder, in order.  The service is broadcast so there is no margin for error!

Jezza, I think you've hit upon a rather interesting topic.  At first I thought "I'm not too fussy" but as I reflect on the topic I realize I have my bouts of OCD too. 

Before Sunday services I make sure the coaxial and power cables to the organ console are rolled up on the floor in a neat circle, especially as I invariably find them in a tangled mess.    A former sound engineer showed me the correct way to roll/wind/stow cables, and I always try to do some cable management.

I make sure there are only two pencils on the console (red, black) and they are 'upstage' from the congregation.  The only other thing I have on the console is a small pad of Post-It notes.  It fits perfectly underneath a small brass fixture, so I'm rather fussy about lining it up in its proper place.

I like the bench to be absolutely square to the keyboard, and centered.  Since the console is moveable, I like it to be squared-off as well.

Whenever I step away from the console I always make sure to tilt the expression shoes fully open.  I feel this helps equalize the tuning - especially if there is any heat buildup in the room.

The only other odd thing I sometimes do, is to manually cancel stops.  The general cancel can make quite a racket if a lot of stops are drawn, so I will cancel stops manually so as to lessen the noise.  Of course, if anyone is watching me during the prayers I suppose I might be more distracting than the noise of the general cancel!    But at least I'm having a good time doing what I'm doing. 

---

Soubasse32

diaphone32:

Also, I always have to press the general cancel piston many times before getting bored and fiddling with the keys, just to make sure that ALL the stops are definitely in, even if I can see that they are...

Yep, same here.  Also, when I change generals during a service: I press the piston like five times to set it, then let go of the set button and press it five more times to make sure the stops aren't going anywhere.  I think that's normal, though.  Right guys?  ...

Before I leave on Sunday, I always set the memory level to someone else's in case a guest decides to screw around with the pistons.  And other than that...hmm...there's a small space heater in the corner of the choir loft that I always make sure is unplugged before leaving.  

Normal? Down which rabbit hole? Oh, you mean "normal for organists" -- in that case, certainly.

My cousin Tay, in one of his substitute positions, plays on an Allen with a card reader and he's so quick with the cards that he sometimes loads them up in the middle of a piece. So, he stacks up all his alterable tone cards in a neat pile right by the card reader so he can pick them up in just the right order and insert at the correct moment. Once or twice this has backfired, like the time he accidentally picked up two cards at once then dropped the second one and it went down under the pedalboard. It was his Festival Trumpet card, and absolutely indispensable to the piece he was playing! He almost fell off the bench!

He was playing the best he could with his left hand (and fortunately he is left-handed) and struggling mightily to bring up that errant card from underneath the pedals, being somewhat tall and lanky with nimble fingers. Alas, it could not be retrieved and he frantically began leafing through the remaining cards, finally locating a suitably stout reed card. By this time, the choir had noticed his panic and a couple of the singers had come to offer assistance. He could only grunt and point with his elbow, causing the wondering choristers to believe he had injured himself in some unseen manner. If the piece hadn't ended right away someone would have dialed 911. At the end of the piece, Tay made a beeline for the restroom and did not reappear for the rest of the service. So much for fussy tone card arranging!

John

 

---

Rodgers 890 at church.
Baldwin D422 at home.
Scads of old organs in the shop! H E L P !!!

Fussy playing habits:

1) I always have to have a proper printed music list positioned on the far left of the music rack. No hymn numbers written on scraps of paper etc. it has to be clearly printed and in order, listing every sung piece of music whether its accompanied or not. I've tried the music list on the right hand side of the rack and it just doesn't work, it must be at the extreme left.

2) The bench must be exactly centred and in the right position. Luckily the organ sits on carpet, so I can quite easily reposition the bench by looking at the indentations in the carpet. I can instantly tell if the bench has been moved even by an inch if I sit on it and it will annoy me througout the service. Therefore it has to be in the correct position before I start.

3) There must be no music, sheet of paper, pencils, coffee cups etc. sitting on top of the organ or behind the rack. I like a totally clear and unobstructed view of whats going on beyond the console. Its difficult enough trying to conscentrate with people moving around the loft, and on the sanctuary without having to peer through piles of papers and coffee cups. So absolutly NO objects other than the hymnbooks stacked

Run out of time, more to come...
 

---

Currently own:
ALLEN TC-3S (#42904 - 3rd Feb 1971) with Sequential Capture System

Speakers:
x1 Model 100 Gyro Cabinet
x1 Model 105 Cabinet
x3 Model 108 Cabinet

jbird604:

Normal? Down which rabbit hole? Oh, you mean "normal for organists" -- in that case, certainly.

Of course, there's nothing normal about organists in the first place.  ;)

 

I always have to have a proper printed music list positioned on the far left of the music rack. No hymn numbers written on scraps of paper etc. it has to be clearly printed and in order, listing every sung piece of music whether its accompanied or not. I've tried the music list on the right hand side of the rack and it just doesn't work, it must be at the extreme left.

At our church, the hymn selections are always left to the last minute, and end up being written on a napkin or index card which is easily lost.  Once in a while, we (me, choir, cantor, music director) will figure everything out in advance and I'll print a nice program out to sit on the music rack.

 When there's no piece of paper with the hymns written in order, I start to panic.  What if I forget something?  What if I can't find the music when I need it?  ... 

I always have to have my music enlarged.  It bothers me when a song is chosen from the hymnbook outside of the service order.  Then the print is too small.  I also pile it up on the right side after I'm through playing it and then it all ends up in a pile on a shelf that I have to sort thorugh later.  I confess I'm guilty of ranting about too much Stamps Baxter but it was that way in my church before I started playing there.  I don't get my songs until late Wednesday evening if then which never leaves me enough time to practice.  So I end up playing by the seat of the pants many times.  Our pisnist has been playing those tunes longer than I've been alive.  I also press the cancel button alot and am always checking the transposer settings.     

 

---

Mark Pratt

Hammond 820 at church
Gulbransen President at home
Conn 628 Rhapsody gone

Only a bit fussy about score music. I want it to be printed in a book, no loose pages that can fall at the least inconvenient moment, on opaque paper and it has to open and stay open on the stand.

---

Expert in non-working solutions

I'm the same way on the cancel.  Except that if I'm coming off a hymn with a lot of stops I'll push them in, then press cancel several times.  Once that is done I'll push the crescendo down a few times to make sure it's off.  Then I'll push the shutters closed (it's digital so there's no actual open/close sound) several times in case there's still a stop on somewhere. 

My other one is practicing pieces I know by heart (especially before big services).  For example, for Sunday we will do He Lives.  If you blindfold me and sit me backwards on the bench I could still play it flawlessly.  Yet I have to practice it daily this week.  I will go over every phrase multiple times and fiddle with registrations that I know are already very well done - but maybe not perfect.

We're doing "He Lives" also on Easter. And I could certainly play it in the dark and with my hands crossed. But it's a lively old "evangelistic" song that makes a good greeting hymn for Easter.

John

---

Rodgers 890 at church.
Baldwin D422 at home.
Scads of old organs in the shop! H E L P !!!

He Lives is lively? Funny because a co-worker is doing that hymn on Sunday as well and was singing it quite a bit faster than I do it. Hold on 1 second and I'll tell you. . . 165-170 eighth note. And you guys?