The Organ Forum

 The ranks any good Theatre, Ballroom, or Municipal organ shouldn't be without.

WurliTzer usually gets credit for the "best sounding" Tibia. However in my experience, there are just so many variations on this one rank that this automatically becomes subjective. Personally, I can't hear much a difference between the Wurly and Morton versions. Barton seems more fluid to my ears, maybe even a different harmonic structure altogether. Still...
 

I have to say, the most beautiful Tibia's I have ever heard were on the Ballroom Kimball in Atlantic City. Unlike many theatre organs, the tremulants were much milder. It was certainly more symphonic sounding than the traditional "Al Bowlly Orchestra" sound that I think of when I think of a Tibia, Vox, or any rank with a throbbing tremulant. In fact, the entire organ is voiced this way -quite a refreshing listen, I might add.

What is your favorite Tibia?

 

 

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Nathan Wilcox

I don't have a favorite, however I have one I struggle with, not just the tibias but the whole organ in general, and those would be the Comptons. They sound so different to me, something about them, they're just completely different from the Wurlies. I can't put my finger on what it is, the tremulants or the voicings, but I really am not too fond of the Compton sound.

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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.

Most of my TPO playing has been Wurli, but I grew up on a 3-10 Compton. Their tibias are indeed different and I don't think the trems throb in the same way, but a lot has to do with how they're set up. I've played a couple of real horrors (I won't name names to avoid any flak) but I have also played some beauties that really have been set up superbly well. There's a tiny 3-6 in Plymouth, Devon that sounds much bigger than it is, especially when you add in the electric Melotone voices, and the best one I've played is the 5-14 at the Odeon Leicester Square, London. There's a great hybrid Compton/Christie/Wurli/Barton etc etc at Portslade Town Hall in Sussex that's a dreamy mix of lots of flavours.

Put me on the spot for favourite Tibia? Morton, I think.

Andy

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It's not what you play, it's not how you play. It's the fact that you're playing that counts.

I haven't heard enough to really know, but I do like the sound of the Marble Arch regal/odeon Christie (famously played by Sydney Torch). That hybrid you speak of Andy sounds like a lot of fun.

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Once you can tie your arms into a pretzel and your legs into a knot, you've got it under control

Room acoustics make a big difference, too.  The Wurli in the Castro Theatre is San Francisco has this incredibly lush, rich tibia sound that is not duplicated anywhere, and I think the auditorium's acoustics make much of the difference.

Also, the 2/12 Wurli in the Mt. Baker Theatre in Bellingham, WA has a set of tibias that just have to be heard to be believed!  Lovely theatre, too!

In general, I'm not a big fan of the super-fast "chattery" sound that most British installations originally had.  Fortunately, most of the recordings of somewhat recently-restored British organs that I've heard tell me that modern restorers have gotten away from that sound for the most part, slowing 'em down just a bit and deepening the trems a bit, also.

 

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Q: How do you make a theatre organ sound like a church organ?

A: Take out all the GOOD stuff!