The Organ Forum

I just about died when I saw that Casavant! It is gorgeous if you ask me!

---

The aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul. - Johann Sebastian Bach
Baylor University School of Music

http://cgi.ebay.com/two-E-M-Skinner-pipe-organs_W0QQitemZ7419422943QQcategoryZ16219QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

"I have two E. M. Skinner pipe organs. One is from 1931, the other from 1952 (the next-to-last instrument that the old man did himself!). Both are three manuals. Some chestwork. All the classic Skinner sounds from the orchestral oboe to the triangular flute. Two trucks worth! "

ok, who wants to go in on those with me.. one I could handle storage wise..... but 2? (laughing)

---

www.nycfarmboy.com
www.reuter822.com

Do any of you pipe enthusiasts ever re-voice a pipe organ when you buy a used one?  How much does that cost?  Simply buying and installing a pipe organ isn't going to guarantee it will sound good.  In fact, without re-voicing it, it will probably NOT sound very good.

---

I am NOT a PC programmer. I program on Mainframe computers!

Non omnes qui habemt citharam sunt citharoedi

I've never touched the voicing on my Reuter. Its original to 1948 when it was built.



Once you start messing with voicing it loses any historical authenticity (just my opinion).

If it was a collection of ranks of pipes that were not "together" as by one builder etc then it would be another story of course.


What I've done is "revoice" my house to the organ, instead of the organ to the house. Having hard wood floors installed downstairs etc.



Even when the space was 100% dead with all the carpeting the organ still sounded heavenly because you feel a pipe organ as much as you hear it. Now that I have some echo it is of course even better!

---

www.nycfarmboy.com
www.reuter822.com

http://cgi.ebay.com/ORGAN-CHURCH-VERY-RARE-AIR-ORGAN_W0QQitemZ7421119577QQcategoryZ16219QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem Montreal, Quebec

---

www.nycfarmboy.com
www.reuter822.com

I find that the original voicing of my pipe organ is quite satisfactory. The blend is excellent. The only issue is that the higher pitches appear to be louder in a home installation due to the close proximity to the pipes.  The major work that made the organ sound good was a cleaning of the windways of the pipes with a small paint brush. This restored the regulation of the pipe work. Only a very few pipes which had become bent in moving needed to be adjusted. Since this is a historic instrument (79 years old), both myself and the organ builder feel that everything should be kept as originally designed as much as possible.

If you are creating an instrument out of various pipe work, revoicing and regulating may be the only option to getting a good sound. My instrument has all the original pipe work and chests so that the issue of creating matching sounds does not arise. The most critical issue is mounting the pipe work so that the sound blsends before it reaches your ears. At least in my case, the main listener is the player so that the console needs to be located away from the pipes but not too close to a wall. 16' tone needs room to expand, so that ideally the player should be about 8' from a wall. Usually this is not possible, so I placed the back of the cosole toward a wall putting the player furthur from the wall (which acts as a sound node) making the low pitched notes weaker near the wall.

---

Style D Wurlitzer Pipe Organ
http://www.bluemoonwalkinghorses.com/Style_D_Description5_rev2.html

3 rank Moller, Fox Lake, Illinois http://cgi.ebay.com/M-P-Moller-Pipe-Organ-1969-2-Manual-3-Rank-Opus-10687_W0QQitemZ7424222724QQcategoryZ308QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

---

www.nycfarmboy.com
www.reuter822.com

Small wicks II/4 "theatre" organ in Ohio. Comprised of Flute, diapason, viol and vox humana. Looks more like a classical organ due to the 7" wind pressure (vox on 4").

http://cgi.ebay.com/Wicks-Theatre-Pipe-Organ-Theater-Organ-II-4-chimes-NR_W0QQitemZ170005868991QQihZ007QQcategoryZ16219QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

5 rank 1879 california redwood pipe organ (of sorts):

http://cgi.ebay.com/1879-GEORGE-N-ANDREWS-OAKLAND-CALIFORNIA-PIPE-ORGAN_W0QQitemZ290009565234QQihZ019QQcategoryZ16219QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

---

www.nycfarmboy.com
www.reuter822.com

nice 2 manual 2 rank wicks in Missouri:

http://cgi.ebay.com/1926-Wicks-unified-organ-restored_W0QQitemZ130012492320QQihZ003QQcategoryZ16219QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

---

www.nycfarmboy.com
www.reuter822.com

http://cgi.ebay.com/PIPE-ORGAN-PARTS-ANTIQUE-2-STORY-DISASSEMBLED_W0QQitemZ330014100582QQihZ014QQcategoryZ16219QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

It looks like a pile of junk, but you never know what you'll find... I spot a 16' Open Wood... I think

Greetings,

The action is Kilgenesque but it may or may not be one.

- N

---

Like to read about pipe organ parts? - http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/organfixers/

Some real nice organs. That Casavant from FugueBWV582 is lovely. I was aghast when I read this comment about it on Ebay,

"We have just purchased this church and have no use for this organ. I talked with the Casavant organ folks here in Montreal and they told me the replacement cost on this organ is $400,000. Yes, I was shocked too." 

Nothing shocking here. Just someone who really does not know what he/she has. Kind of depressing to hear someone say the have no use for this organ, of course who knows what the circumstances behind the whole thing is anyway.

replacement cost of a NEW pipe organ for almost any extant pipe organ is extremely expensive. I got a quote for insurance reasons on my home pipe organ and it was an amount that shocked me (over 200k)..... but the reality is you can get a simlar "used" organ for a few thousand (not including moving/setup/refurb...but still a fraction of that ammount)...but for insurance reasons it is probably a good idea for the churchs to insure at the new full amount maybe?

---

www.nycfarmboy.com
www.reuter822.com