Cadet Chapel organ

[Austin766]

Now, I know that graduating classes from West Point routinely donate ranks to the organ, but, what I want to know is several fold; do the graduating cadets decide what they are going to add, or do they simply leave the money to add additional ranks and then the organ staff work out amongst each other and with an organ builder what to add to the stop list? who made the original core of the instrument?

[Clavier]

I know the console is a Moller. That's about it.

[Austin766]

I believe you mean one of the former consoles, I do know that the current cnseole was designed by R.A. Colby and is of a draw knob design.

[Clavier]

Maybe we are thinking of two different things. </p>

This is the one I'm thinking of is this:</p>

http://theatreorgans.com/walnuthill/west_point_003.jpg</p>

[Austin766]

Upon second examination, it would seem I was thinking of the console/organ at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, but here is the console for the Naval Academy http://www.usna.edu/Music/Accessable/organ1.JPG

[Austin766]

I only realized my mistake when I went to R.A. Colby's site, and it said that it was the console for the USNA, and not West Point, as I had mistakenly thought.</p>

Perhaps ChaplePipes might know as to if the graduating cadets themselves decide what ranks to donate or just donate money.</p>

[Clavier]

Upon second examination, it would seem I was thinking of the console/organ at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, but here is the console for the Naval Academy http://www.usna.edu/Music/Accessable/organ1.JPG
</p>

Now that's a console.
</p>

[ReedGuy]

That is a totally WICKED CONSOLE! Oh, what I'd give to play on that one! [:D][:)][Y]

[sesquialtera16]

I do not think that each class donates to the organ per se. Most of the support for organ improvements come from the Alumni Association.</P>


Recently two such individuals donated a generous sum for expansion of the Old cadet and New cadet organs. Any structural problems affecting the organ such as infrastructure are handled under separate sources of monetary support. Presently the West End is the place where additions are being centered; namely a Great and also expanded enclosed swell and pedal.</P>

[stentordiaphone64]

Now, now boys - calm down, drink some piping hot Chamomile tea and reflect and ponder.* The USNA chapel is a biggie, yes, but there are shiploads of borrowing and duplexing involved - giving us the overload of drawknobs that we see.* I used to have a fetish for consoles with 1000 drawknobs but it really is unpractical.* Yes, my avatar is the biggie at St. Sulpice in Paris but there is no borrowing or duplexing there.* When organs go mega-large like at the USNA chapel it is more practical with tilting tabs so that, like when you play a glissando, you can with a swipe of your fingers over a row of many tilting tabs thereby control many more stops.* Granted, with combination actions we can all pre-program stop changes.*<DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Cheers!</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV>

[sesquialtera16]

Duplexing and extension are not a problem per se. In the case of the Cadet organ it was so for a good reason.</P>


</P>


The 1950 console still there now had NO combination action until the 1970s. So the original organist </P>


designed the console for ease of registration. There were some tabs with four 8ft diapasons on just </P>


one stop. Once a combination action was finally had the , duplexes and units were already there </P>


and historical so they remained.</P>


</P>


In 1954 the original 38-rank organ was up to 213 ranks with additions made as per Audsley's advice to</P>


Mayer who followed closely the plan for ancilliary sections of specialty tone [ i.e. viol, reed, vox, </P>


harmonic, orchetsral, echos, several greats and several pedals ].</P>


</P>


Today this same console controls 340 plus ranks with additions pending to around 380 or 390 ranks</P>


in the future. The console has a newer combination system with multiple memories. There are</P>


plans at least for a temporary west console of modest dimensions. The additions prepared for in </P>


the chancel console are for a new great in the west end and an expanded swell and pedal back there. </P>


There is a new high-pressure Cornet V on 10 inches of wind atop the chamade chest under the rear </P>


window above the entrance.</P>


</P>


The original 1911 swell boxes are of concrete ala Hope-Jones and the organ was sold to West Point by</P>


the then Moller rep Seibert Losh who went on to become a partner in the Midmer-Losh Co that built </P>


the Atlantic City Main organ.</P>


http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:tHMT6oqrrg8J:www.ondamar.demon.co.u k/essays/block5.htm+%27%27julian+rhodes%27%27+west+point+gr eat+organ&amp;hl=en&amp;ct=clnk&amp;cd=1&amp;gl=us</P>

[KleinErzahler]

* *Fascinating information, thanks.* Are there any chamber shots of this organ anywhere on the net??<div><br class="khtml-block-placeholder"></div><div>* ** *- Nate</div>

[sesquialtera16]

There are no known internal pics at this time. HoweverI was bewildered when I was escorted through the more </P>


accessible portions as to how in the world it is so compact. Behind the baroque-type short reed ranks</P>


is the 32 wood open with a low cut-up such that the sound has some edge to it andI asked the current </P>


organist to try it alone in the very few lowest notes underneath an ethereal spire flute celeste and by golly</P>


it sat so nicely under that combo that it purred like a kitten big a stop as it is and did not overpower.</P>
<P mce_keep="true"></P>


The 1930 harmonic section has at least 75 ranks and counting and is stacked on SIX levels one atop the other.</P>


It is mind-boggling and has 3 separate complete choruses of moller, bonavia-hunt and cavaille-coll pipes and </P>


also a rank from belgium and some new pipes of late with wide 2/7 mouths. Rumor has it that eventually some</P>


building maintenace will require some or all of the chancel organ to be removed, stored, overhauled, carefully restored</P>


and then later after the infrastructure has been rebuilt as needed, return the organ but possibly with some </P>


revisions in its layout to improve its overall effectiveness.Time will tell how that will all play out.</P>
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Meanwhile if you have the time the Class of 1936 is sponsoring their Distinguished Artists Series with Fred Hohman</P>


a concert virtuoso of rare talent . Check the website for details.</P>

[KleinErzahler]

* *At first I cringed at the thought of Gress-Miles work in that organ, but I must say that a little G-M I tune has a nice Great 8' Principal on it.* Was the Dutch-styled instrument their Shtick?<div><br class="khtml-block-placeholder"></div><div>** ** *- Nate</div>

[sesquialtera16]

At CadetI was told that Gress was trained under Aeolian-Skinner and then he trained then curator Gary Ferguson</P>


who worked for Gress in 1974 when the new organ was installed in the transepts. ThenGary stayed on at West Point </P>


and did excellent tonal work as a flue voicer of new pipes ordered unvoiced. The Gress pipes aren't bad at all but the </P>


Ferguson sound is superior. The new tonal resources slated for the west end sections is all Kimball/Gress from another </P>


organ that is compatable with Cadet Chapel.</P>

[KleinErzahler]

Greetings,

If I were to ask which CD recording of the Cadet Chapel instrument would be a good introduction - what would it be? Is there any sort of demonstration CD available like the 2-CD Newberry Organ set? I'd like to get a good CD of the organ.
</p>

</p>

- Nate
</p>

[sesquialtera16]

<U><FONT face=Eurostile size=4>
<P mce_keep="true"></P>


Nate:</P>


Your continued deep interest in the organ is duly noted. Maybe</P>


it will lead to your becoming a future builder of symphonic organs.</P>


As for New Cadet; I have several unpublished CDs and demo </P>


CDs that were given to me. These showcase the organ quite</P>


well and also allow for stop by stop demo and chorus by chorus.</P>


I can try to burn these and send them as a gift to you.</P>


If you wish send a mailing address to my box.</P></U></FONT>

[KleinErzahler]

<div>* *Thanks for the offer - if you want to E-mail me at "Erzahler@sbcglobal.net" that will prevent me from accidentally posting my address on the Forum and inviting people to "take out a hit" on me.* (C:</div><div><br class="khtml-block-placeholder"></div><div>* *I know that I make a lot of assumptions and oftentimes they turn out to be wrong - but I can't help but feel, at least from what I pick up from the organ community and publications, that the Cadet Chapel instrument is not really embraced as other instruments, such as say, Wanamaker's.* This may in fact be completely unfair, but on a personal level I have not experienced much of any evidence of external support for the organ.* Am I anywhere near accurate on this?* You tell me.</div><div><br class="khtml-block-placeholder"></div>* *I have however heard boatloads of negative information about the instrument, and perhaps not surprisingly from people who haven't seen the organ any more than I have (which is never thus far).* I think that the Cadet Chapel organ gets more than its fair share of hard knocks, and I don't think that this is necessarily deserved.* This organ represents a unique situation where the instrument is totally loved and supported, is well-used, and really presents an opportunity for the organ community to try new things.* Lots of folks snicker at all of the additions but firstly, the money is there.* Secondly, is there no place anywhere for such an instrument?* Of course there is, and I'm happy to say that I don't live all that far from it!* (C:**<div><br class="khtml-block-placeholder"></div><div>* *A great deal of assumptions are made that somehow the organ has been and is being haphazardly assembled merely to satisfy requests for memorial stops.* And yet, at least on paper each division has a unique identity and clear purpose.* It is rather curious then that the Cadet Chapel instrument is ridiculed for being ever-expanding because "it's not according to some set-in-stone tonal plan" (which I'm not sure is true, is that true?) when in fact in the "real world" we can not resist the urge to constantly "improve" each others' organs rather than leave well enough alone.</div><div><br class="khtml-block-placeholder"></div><div>* *The Cadet Chapel instrument has in its very nature the potential explore areas where builders rightfully fear to tread, and also where Churches probably have no business spending money - and that seems to be exactly what is wanted of the instrument, and what is provided by it.* Individuals want to give a memorial stop and presumably they want that stop to make a statement.</div><div><br class="khtml-block-placeholder"></div><div>* *There is no sound on earth like a big organ, and this is one of the few places where this sort of instrument can be built and experienced "guilt-free" because that is it's very reason for being.</div><div><br class="khtml-block-placeholder"></div><div>* ** ** *- Nate</div><div><br class="khtml-block-placeholder"></div><div>* *</div>

[sesquialtera16]

The present director of music has a comparitively open-door policy at New cadet as opposed to his predecesors.</P>


If you have the pull to get him an invitation to Newberry he will reciprocate with one for you to both see, hear and play</P>


the New Cadet organ. I made a pilgrimage there more than half a dozen years ago specifically to satisfy my own </P>


interests and curiosity concerning this unique pipe organ. As to the attitude of the masses, well, they are asses.</P>



Ihave never heard a more glorious ensemble that coalesces so successfully anywhere else on earth.</P>


The write-up that I deliberately chose NOT to read by the AIO was less than friendly I am told. The reason now-a-days</P>


is that if an organ is not a one-time installation and pure-bred,-one builder only- it is then a hodge-podge of different </P>


''styles''. The conventional wisdom is proved to be foolishness. Gary Ferguson is a gifted voicer and there is a voicing </P>


room with voicing machine at Cadet and he had voiced that organ to an amazing perfection. All of the diverse elements </P>


fit like a glove in a grand scheme like Wanamaker where it was assembled piece-meal BUT voiced by Till so that no</P>


organ in the world sounds like it.</P>


</P>


AllI can say is that Moller did their very best at New Cadet and way better than normal to come up with equisite symphonic </P>


timbres. The French Cavaille-Coll/Mutin material sparkles. The later work from Holland and Germany all fits in. When you go </P>


there and hear it , feel it, play it, your eyes are bound to be opened and you will be in another dimension. I will contact you </P>


privately from my Sesquialtera16 email shortly.
</P>

[radagast]

Upon second examination, it would seem I was thinking of the console/organ at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, but here is the console for the Naval Academy http://www.usna.edu/Music/Accessable/organ1.JPG
</P>


Now that's a console.
</P>


</P>


Colby has a lot of nice and interesting looking consoles on their web page. There is one that is designed to look similar to the Wanamaker organ, and another that has 6 manuals and was the largest drawknob console in the world until this Naval one was done. What isn't clear is whether this new one is all pipe or not.</P>

[Jason E]

Greetings,

If I were to ask which CD recording of the Cadet Chapel instrument would be a good introduction - what would it be? </p>

</p>

Try Joyce Jones at the Cadet Chapel on Motette 11491. It should not disappoint! </p>

[KleinErzahler]

If memory serves, pipe list discussions at the time suggested that the enlarged console pictured above was to provide for the addition of digital voices.</p>

Incidentally, I found the woodwork section of that R.A. Colby site to be very interesting to look at.</p>

Thanks for the CD tip Jason!
</p>

- Nate
</p>

[sesquialtera16]

The console above controls Hutchings, Moller, Gillett pipes and Walker technical digitals.</P>


I am estimating that a cool million will buy a sister model of the organ shown down below; West Point's</P>


present famous 1950 Moller 4m console with 875 stops and 1999 Syndine Combination system will cost at least</P>


as much or up to twice as much to rehab/rebuild; as the million I am estimating for an ALL-NEW 6M -notice</P>


the bottom manual has 2 rows of pistons and the keycheeks all have multiple pistons to control whole </P>


divisions on/off. I think this consolewould be more elegant for the likes of West Point even if some </P>


of the unit design may have to be reduced to fit this 6m beheemoth.</P>


http://by141fd.bay141.hotmail.msn.com/cgi-bin/saferd/Untitled01?_lang=EN&amp;hm___tg=http%3a%2f%2f65%2e55%2 e152%2e124%2fcgi%2dbin%2fgetmsg%2fUntitled01&amp;hm___ qs=%26msg%3d9EE84812%2dB54A%2d4936%2dB2E3%2d595E97 36FEFE%26start%3d0%26len%3d87566%26mimepart%3d6%26 curmbox%3d1EC96634%2d3F6E%2d4882%2d8420%2d3857710C C31A%26b%3d73f2ecd300a99f68c1f737d4b4049f66%26disk %3d10%2e1%2e106%2e116_d2083%26login%3dyfd44%26doma in%3dhotmail%252ecom%26_lang%3dEN%26country%3dUS&amp;h m___cacheh=1&amp;file=Untitled01&amp;domain=hotmail.com</P>

[KleinErzahler]

** *I may be asking for it, but what write-up in the AIO is in question - is there any useful information to be learned in it or is it mud-slinging?<div><br class="khtml-block-placeholder"></div><div>** ** *- Nathan</div>

[sesquialtera16]

<DIV>
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<H1><FONT size=4>The Little Thunderer</FONT></H1>
<DIV class=byline><FONT size=4><SPAN class=timeStamp>Monday, Oct. 18, 1954</SPAN> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV id=articleCopy>
<DIV id=articleTools><FONT size=4>Generations of U.S. generals and lesser officers can still hear the thunder of that West Point <B style="COLOR: black; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(153,255,153)">organ[/B] —the thunder and sweetness that greeted them on their first tour of the Point and each Sunday in chapel. Braided veterans come back again and again to hear it and to talk to the thunderer himself. He is Organist and Choirmaster Frederick C. (for Christian) Mayer, one of West Point's major institutions. For 43 years, regardless of what changing taste in church music might dictate, Mayer chose such rousing processionals as Onward, Christian Soldiers and America, the Beautiful so that his cadet choir could march in properly. He remembers all the boys who sang in the choir (including General Matthew B. Ridgway, Lieut. Generals Lyman L. Lemnitzer and Frank F. Everest) and claims he can recognize the fathers in their sons' voices.</FONT></DIV>


<FONT size=4>Last week at 72, Organist Mayer found himself the center of a major ruckus that involved socialites and Senators, a fair share of Army brass and two Presidents of the U.S. The crux of the matter: Mayer is past the compulsory retirement age for civil servants, and he is not ready to retire.</FONT></P>


<FONT size=4>Executive Order. The Ohio-born or ganist and his <B style="COLOR: black; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(153,255,153)">organ[/B] arrived at West Point simultaneously in 1911. The instrument was a three-manual affair that cost $11,500. It was a fine <B style="COLOR: black; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(153,255,153)">organ[/B] for its day, but before long, Fritz Mayer began to hanker for new tone colors and started a drive to get new stops. Families of old grads began to donate memorial stops—a double open diapason here, a contra bombard there, a <B style="COLOR: black; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,102)">tuba[/B] <B style="COLOR: black; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(160,255,255)">sonora[/B], a tromba batalla or a vox angelica.</FONT></P>


<FONT size=4>In 1920 the expanding <B style="COLOR: black; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(153,255,153)">organ[/B] had more stops than the console could handle easily, and a new, four-manual console was installed. The chapel <B style="COLOR: black; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(153,255,153)">organ[/B] became one of West Point's points of interest. Organist Mayer's baby kept on growing. Thousands of pipes were crowded into the <B style="COLOR: black; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(153,255,153)">organ[/B] lofts, and the three basement rooms became filled with the complex wind and control machinery, e.g., five electric motors, coupler relays, etc. Besides the ordinary stops, Mayer acquired such theatrical effects as a cymbal crash, a tympani roll, a drum stroke. In 1950, a wealthy alumnus gave Mayer a second new console, a $35,000 item that contained 1,622 parts, including 757 stop keys, 218 combinations and 248 miscellaneous gadgets (e.g., a toe-touch stud that brings on a soft stop with one kick, adds a louder one with the second and turns both off with the third).</FONT></P>


<FONT size=4>When Fritz Mayer reached his retirement age two years ago, his magnificent instrument (current value: $350,000) was still incomplete: the highly complicated piston controls—for quick changing of the 757 stop keys—were not hooked up. Under the energetic leadership of Manhattan's Mrs. Courtney Campbell, veteran of Washington politics, Mayer's friends went to work, lobbied through Congress and right up to the White House. Result: President Truman's Executive Order 10,334, exempting Mayer from compulsory retirement "in the public interest . . . for an indefinite period." Organist Mayer went right on supervising the completion of his <B style="COLOR: black; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(153,255,153)">organ[/B] —but last week the blow fell: on the recommendation of the Army, President Eisenhower announced in Denver that Mayer's retirement would become effective Dec. 31.</FONT></P>
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<FONT size=4>Military Paraphrase. So far, production has started on only a few of the prize "adjustable combinations,"* with their 34,000 contact points. Bugs still had to be ironed out. Organist Mayer and his friends, who had formed the Committee for Retention of Present Organist Until Completion of the Cadet Chapel Organ, pleaded that only under his guidance could the job be finished. President Eisenhower, who remembers Mayer from his own days at the Point (and whose son John sang in Mayer's cadet choir), ordered that the organist be kept on as a paid consultant.</FONT></P>


<FONT size=4>Organist Mayer is a slight, white-married little old man who trots about West Point as if he owned it, lovingly patting each cannon. He can still set the "battle-thunder" stop and play his rousing "military paraphrase" on the West Point Alma Mater, which is a whole musical war, including artillery, heavy bombers and bugles. But Mayer's own losing battle is with the hard facts of Government service. "I sometimes wonder," he reflects on his past, "how an artist came to spend his entire life on a military post."</FONT></P><SUP>


<FONT size=4>* By which the organist can automatically and instantly bring into play a pre-set combination of stops and couplers by merely pressing a controlling piston.</FONT></P></SUP>
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[ReedGuy]

Sorry to ask this, but where exactly is the Naval Academy located? </P>


Thanks, ReedGuy </P>

[Clavier]

West Point.</p>

EDIT: Scratch that, the Cadet Chapel is at West Point. The Naval Academy is in Maryland.
</p>

[ReedGuy]

So, the console in Austin 766's post is from the Naval Academy in Maryland and the other one is from Cadet Chapel at West Point? </P>


Just wondering, as we might be heading over to Virginia and for some reason (I could be way off base here)I thought one of those two organs would be there. </P>


Thanks, ReedGuy </P>

[Clavier]

You are correct. The Naval Academy shouldn't be more than a few hours from anywhere in Virginia. </p>

</p>

[davidecasteel]

The Naval Academy is at Annapolis, Maryland, which is east of Washington, DC.</P>


If you are going to Virginia, you might check out the "Stalacpipe Organ" in the Luray Caverns. It's not a pipe organ, or really an organ at all--it is a keyboard instrument that plays tuned limestone stalactites. It's kind of interesting and has a unique sound.</P>


David</P>

[ReedGuy]

Hmmm...I'm wondering if they'll let me play on it. It would be so nice if I could. Maybe they have a website somewhere..time to try Google! [8-|]</P>
<P mce_keep="true"></P>

[Clavier]

http://www.usna.edu/Music/Accessable/new/organ.html

[soundboarddude]

stentordiaphone64,</p>

Actually, there isn't as much borrowing/duplexing as you would think about the USNA organ. Maybe this is the wrong thread for this, but since it was mentioned, I'd like to say a few words about it.</p>

It's a nice organ, but about half of it is digital. If you read the stoplist (http://www.usna.edu/music/Accessable/brochure_R1.pdf)(15 MB), it shows which stops are digital and which ones aren't. However, when I was given console time, I was shocked - it was just as the organist had said. I literally couldn't tell which stops were real and which ones weren't. The speaker system was the best of any electronic organ I've ever heard. The website says "15,688 equivalent pipes," but there are only about 6,500 real pipes - the rest are just, well, equivalent.</p>

It also has a great celestial division, with the speakers located in the dome.</p>

And talk about an awesome crescendo!</p>

Here's my photo album of my trip from last October: http://picasaweb.google.com/superoctave/Annapolis. I was given about an hour and a half of uninterrupted time to play! I've got a video of me playing the Widor toccata somewhere as well.</p>


About the Cadet Chapel organ, I don't know much about it other than that it's the largest organ in a worship space in the world (or was?). I know Joyce Jones recorded an album on it years and years and years ago... I'd be happy to ask her about it the next time I see her...</p>

Thanks,</p>

-sbd
</p>

[ReedGuy]

Hi soundboarddude, </P>


Who may I ask did you contact at the Naval Academy in Maryland, so that you could play on the organ? </P>


P.S. The photo album is lovely.</P>


Thanks, ReedGuy </P>

[soundboarddude]

Reedguy,</p>

Thanks for the compliment on the photo album. I should have some more pictures up in the next few weeks - the regional AGO convention is in Dallas this year so I'll be bringing my camera along.</p>

A good friend of mine is in the Naval Academy - he sings in the choir and spends a couple of hours personally with Monte Maxwell (the chapel organist) each week. Monte is a very nice guy, and was more than happy to lock me in the chapel for a few hours. I would imagine that anyone that e-mails him and asks to play some time would be welcomed just as I was.</p>

- sbd
</p>

[davidecasteel]

soundboarddude, one of the AGO recitals in Dallas this year will be on our new Klais instrument (First UMC, Richardson) and I expect to attend it (of course!). Will you be there? We are very excited to have our organ showcased this year; the dedication concerts were not too well received, I'm afraid, and we are hopingthings will gobetter this time.</P>


David</P>

[soundboarddude]

David,</p>

I'm planning on being there for the entire thing - and I'm really looking forward to it. For whatever it's worth, I'll probably be wearing a bowtie sometime during the convention... Are you going to be there on Saturday? I noticed the FUMC website about the new organ within the last several months - it looks very nice! (By any chance, is this church right next to Epiphany Episcopal Church?)</p>

Perhaps this should move to a private message? ;)</p>

-sbd</p>

</p>

[stentordiaphone64]

Hi Soundboarddude,<DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Thanx for sharing about that monster at the Naval Cadet Chapel.* I admit to finding such a huge console tantalising. I bet they use the word *equivalent* euphemistically.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>&lt;;-D</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Had I seen that many drawknobs on a console when I was fifteen, I probably would have started salivating uncontrollably.* These days I'm a little more reserved.* Any console with more drawknobs than the organ at St. Sulpice is for me overkill.* It seems better with tilting tablets.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Anyhoo, thousands of thanx and kudos to you for sharing your photo album from last October.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Cheers!</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>P.S.* It's only a matter of time before we see something bigger.* There's always gonna be some really generous patron(s) who will see to it that the world will get yet another colossus.* Hey, the more the merrier.</DIV>

[soubasse32]

Monte is a very nice guy, and was more than happy to lock me in the chapel for a few hours.</P>


I'd be more thanhappy to lock a few people in a chapel for a few hours (at least), but that doesn't necessarily make me a nice guy! [6][:D]</P>


[edit]</P>

[soundboarddude]

stentordiaphone64,</p>

No problem. Aside from the video I mentioned, I have a nice picture of me playing it, but I can't find it. I could win an award for being the most dis-organized person alive!</p>

Actually, the pictures really just don't do justice (even the ones on the official website). I've seen a fair share of massive organs (and played a fair share of those), but after seeing it in person, I had to watch my drool.</p>

Personally, I think that no organ should have tilting tablets, even though they are easier to turn on/off without registration aids. And, they probably make more sense on larger organs, but the drawknobs in my opinion, make it even more wonderful! Hmm, maybe I should go make a poll: drawknobs vs. tilting tablets...</p>

I agree, though, a new organ is going to be built with even more. However, the ACCH (err, Boardwalk, whatever it's new name is) organ isn't doing so great, and probably the only reason why the Wanamaker (Macy's) organ is doing so well is because the store is famous and the organ is played regularly. I know it costs an arm and a leg for the maintenance of a large organ such as this!</p>

- sbd</p>

[ReedGuy]

I'm pleased to hear that Monte is a very nice guy. I can't wait to try that organ. Maybe I can do a recital there sometime. </P>


davidcasteel, the dedication concerts were not too well received? What happened? Can I do one there? [:$]</P>


Sorry folks, I'm on abit of a concert high right now. I just finished that organ dedication concert I mentioned in another post and I got a standing ovation. Thanks be to God for being so good. God deserves all the credit, though. Our gifts are not our own. I just look at the cross and say, "you did it. Not me. You did it." </P>


It was a wonderful experience and I'd like to share my fun with this instrument with someone else. Oh well, guess I'll have to wait for now. Darn! It was fun! I also learnt a lot about myself at this concert, something I will incorporate into the next one. </P>

[stentordiaphone64]

Blessed sbd,<DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>In my youth I was mesmerised by huge drawknob consoles but now at 45, I'm maybe a bit *floored* by 500+ drawknob consoles.* By all means, construct a poll about drawknob v. tilting tablets.* I'd be interested to see the outcome.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Cheers!</DIV>

[soundboarddude]

Reedguy,</p>

I can't speak for him, but I bet he would be happy to let you do a recital there. And considering his accomplishments there as an organist (and the success of the annual Halloween concerts), you would probably fill the place.</p>

And that is a wonderful thing to keep in mind. He gives us the gifts (and passions) to play the organ, but it's always a great idea to keep in mind the being that gave it to us! Maybe I should start a tradition of praying prior to every recital or concert I play in just to thank God for the awesome gift of music!</p>

stentordiaphone64,</p>

I put a post in the "Poll" forum, but I couldn't get the poll feature to work. Last time I checked, though, the drawknobs were winning :)</p>

-sbd
</p>

[Clavier]

Monte is a very nice guy, and was more than happy to lock me in the chapel for a few hours.</p>


I'd be more thanhappy to lock a few people in a chapel for a few hours (at least), but that doesn't necessarily make me a nice guy! [6][:D]</p>

</p>

As long as the organ is on! [:D]</p>

[soubasse32]

The chapel I might lock you in may not have an organ! [:D]

[soundboarddude]

The chapel I might lock you in may not have an organ! [:D]</p>

Heh, these days, anyways... It's such a shame that that is true...</p>

Has anyone played the Cadet Chapel organ? Did it sound as good as it should? Who was the builder, by the way?
</p>

[sesquialtera16]

</P>


When I was afforded some access to the Cadet organ it was rated at IV-317 </P>


and not IV-340s like at present or IV-380 or 390 as it is presently projected to </P>


become. The sound is AWESOME. The previous now retired curator was an</P>


excellent pipe voicer and had a shop downstairs equipped with a voicing room</P>


and during my visit he was working on a huge 16ft metal principal.His expertise </P>


has contributed to an ensemble of rare quality. All of the components are very </P>


comfortable with one another and blend nicely in spite of the variety in pedigree. </P>


The original is 1911 and has solid concrete swell-boxes and was sold by Moller rep</P>


Seibert Losh who later went into business with brother George and together built the </P>


now Boardwalk Hall VII &amp; V 448 at Atlantic City.</P>


</P>


Additions to Cadet included a 1920 IV manual console with preps for many ancilliary sections</P>


as per Geo Ashdown Audsley who specified the Great manual on the vey bottom. In 1923</P>


the ORCH was added;1927 the VIOL; 1929 the VOX; 1930 a six-decker HARMONIC of 72 ranks </P>


including pipes from Belgium, England and France. The SOLO was put in between 1919-1928</P>


including in 1920 a unit 32 wood open and unit full-size metal 32 bombard-trombone-- </P>


both stops enclosed. 1931 the REED section. 1940 the SOUTH great diapason chorus by </P>


Richard O. Whitelegg of Moller;1950 the present conso;e of under 900 stops </P>


but minus a working piston system. 1950 original plans for a full-size wood 64 were scrapped </P>


and instead another 32 reed by Aeolian-Skinner unit up to 4 ft hooded. 1955 rebuild of the</P>


Cavaille-Coll French trompette by Aeolian-Skinner removing the double block but retaining </P>


the original voicing which is dynamite! 1962 new principal chorus by Schopps' for the Echo.</P>


1968 complete revoicing of the stops in the REED division by Moller's Adolf Zajic. 1970 the </P>


scrapping of the French pipework in an unenclosed great due to metal fatigue and a new</P>


Dutch great from Stinkens in Holland. 1974 new Transept organs by Gress-Miles with pipes</P>


built in Germany. Circa earl 1970s a combo action by Allen Organ Co. 1985 a new chamade </P>


in the back in honor of Jack Davis' long tenure 1954-1984. 1988 new swell principal chorus. </P>


1990s new NAVE divisions; tonal revisions to the SOUTH GREAT; REED division addition; </P>


2000- additions from comparable Gress-Miles pipes that were made possible by alumni </P>


donations--and more to come....</P>
<P mce_keep="true"></P>


There does exist the <U>possibility</U> that some maintenance to the fabric of the chapel itself </P>


MAY require for reasons of protection of the organ that some portions in the area where </P>


work will be undertaken that the pipes be temporarily stored for safe-keeping and if </P>


circumstances permit some overhaul simultaneously such that there may be some revisions </P>


in the present layout or stop configuration that would coincide with the building </P>


repair/maintenance program.</P>

[davidecasteel]

ReedGuy,I am not the right contact for potential recitals. The person to contact is our Music Director, Mike Lightfoot at 972-301-0123 or the Organist, Mary Lightfoot at 972-301-0126 (she actually controls who is allowed to play the instrument). Our church does plan to have organ recitals from time to time and I'm sure they would be interested in learning of organists who would like to play it. We don't have a huge amount of money set aside to pay, though.</P>


The instrument in question here is the Klais organ in First United Methodist Church of Richardson, Texas--not to be confused with the organs about which this thread is focused.</P>


You have a PM. soubasse32, you have one, too.</P>


David</P>

[davidecasteel]

(By any chance, is this church right next to Epiphany Episcopal Church?)</P>


Perhaps this should move to a private message? ;)</P>


-sbd</P>
<P mce_keep="true"></P>


</P>


Yes, it is. FUMCR owns the 8 acres just north of Epiphany Episcopal on the west side of Custer Rd. and the 14.5 acres across Custer Rd. from that parcel. The new buildings are on the larger plot, between Custer Rd. and Central Expressway.</P>


I have sent you a PM.</P>


David</P>

[Clavier]

The chapel I might lock you in may not have an organ! [:D]</p>

</p>

Nooooooooooooooooooooooo![:O]</p>

[soundboarddude]

Ah, found the picture I was looking for:</p>

http://a659.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/9/l_6784d47ae7974eed69bd0a09a3c2d6f2.jpg</p>

-sbd</p>

[soubasse32]

I've got a video of me playing the Widor toccata somewhere as well. </P>


Well - - don't keep us waiting![:P]</P>

[soundboarddude]

Heh, I don't even know where to look for that - it may still be on the film and I'll have to transfer it to the computer. I'll see what I can do...</p>

-sbd</p>

[ReedGuy]

davidecasteel, I've sent you a PM. </P>


soundboarddude, looking forward to hearing the Widor [:)]</P>

[Austin766]

I'm also looking forward to that Widor, and that picture of you (I'm assuming that is you in the picture) at the console makes you realize just how big that console really is, I mean, you're totally engulfed in the console[:D]

[ReedGuy]

Ilike the pianist Glenn Gould's description of what it felt like to be at an organ console. It feels like you are in a womb. [:D]

[soubasse32]

Ilike the pianist Glenn Gould's description of what it felt like to be at an organ console. It feels like you are in a womb. [:D]</P>


Hmm, since I don't think any of us can remember that experience, and that is not a place I want to be when I'm about to play [:D] - I prefer this statement, made by a colleague:</P>


When you first sit at the organ you must make your "nest".</P>

[KleinErzahler]

Heh..* *And what a nest the West Point console is.* I admire the fact that it has four manuals - I think that was well-placed restraint on part of the designer.* The stop keys are also quite cleverly shaped for use on such a large organ.<div><br class="khtml-block-placeholder"></div><div>* * ** *- Nate*</div>

[soundboarddude]

I'm assuming that is you in the picture
</p>

Yup, that's me. The engulfed feeling is a nice one, that's for sure!
</p>