No 4 foot flute stop

In a previous post I mentioned an organ problem. The usual technician was not available to fix it but suggested another tuner. This chap came and has reported that the repair will need a dedicated visit. Hang on - was this not a dedicated visit?

He apparently tuned the organ and fixed another small problem which ought to have been dealt with long ago but the Great 4' flute is still out of action.

I suppose I shall get through the carol service but it does mean the 4' principal will get used more than I should like.

Broken Stop

Yesterday the organ was playing up during the service. Afterwards, I investigated and found that the Great 4' flute stop could be pulled out, but was having no effect. As it is a mechanical action organ something in the linkage has broken. I think, that during the service it was starting to go and only pulling on half way; thus I heard out of tune pipes.

I have not seen one of these before

I found this on an organ I played recently. It is not just a guide to the note names, for a non-musician, which fits snugly over the keys. It actually tells the note holder what order to play the notes in so the tuner can do his setting out.

Starting with C he would go up to G and tune a perfect 5th, then from G to D a perfect 4th (although he would need to count the beats.)

Then the order is A, E, B, F#, C#, G#, D#, A#, and finally back to F. Organ tuners use sharps, not flats, as the pipes are set out on natural and sharp sides. Since equal temperament means that the octave cannot quite be divided equally, the skill of a tuner is to place the 'weirdness' where it does least damage; usually spread evenly over the octave. Bach proved this was possible when he wrote the "48"

My hands

Apologies. I am digging up an old topic. I stopped bellringing at my local church back in May.

I am clearly not missed and I am glad, in a way, that I stopped going because it has meant that the condition of my hands has not deteriorated as quickly as it might have done. Had I kept going just to ring the same old stuff I would now feel that the past few months had been wasted. I am no worse off for not having been to ring. I still know the methods I know and, in fact, I do ring at one church where I play occasionally.

The middle finger of my left hand has arthritis and has started to be painful. I am anticipating not being able to play the organ in a few years time.

Organ Repairs

I arrived at church today hoping to find the organ had been repaired and in good order. The tuners had visited last Monday and had had the pedal board out to fix the sticking notes.

They had also tuned the oboe but, oddly, the swell box had been left shut and one pipe was quite out of tune which was disappointing. They had looked at most of the other faults except one pedal pipe which was out of tune so I am slightly annoyed about that.

Anyway, although it is quite hard work to manage it is one of the best cared-for instruments I play.

Pipe or Digital

There is a bit of stink on Facebook because a church is having a recital - given by a famous person - on their custom built digital organ. Some people think they should have restored the pipe organ. The 'stink' concerns whether or not this person should be seen to be 'supporting' digital instruments. Really, the original poster is just moaning because a pipe organ has been discarded.

When one considers the cost of pipe organ upkeep it is not surprising that so many churches are turning to digital ones which can be far easier to play than a clapped out pipe organ.

Viscount Organ

Tomorrow I am playing at church which has a Viscount Envoy installed. It is a step up from the Cadet that I own although I prefer the sound of mine. I think I shall need to spend some time in the church another day setting up a 'User'- defined organ. Currently the settings are on Hill which I find quite rough.

I do not anticipate any of the hassle I have recently had, elsewhere.

Seeing the organist

If a church has an organist, it will fall into one of two kinds of church. 1 - where you can see the organist and 2- where the organist is hidden away, possibly in an organ loft. The latter is very often the case in cathedrals (except when they use a detatched console).

Now the job of an organist is to accompany the singing. I also feel the pre-service music is to add atmosphere (although I have known heard players destroy it). The post-service voluntary is not a concert. One goes to organ recitals to hear the organ alone although good manners dictate that one would listen and not chatter near the console.

Even at a recital one does not see the organist although more and more places are using large screens onto which they project what happens at the console.

I was extremely lucky as a young chap to go to Evensong every day and turn pages for my teacher. He controlled the organ well in the days when playing aids were few and far between (and with my help to pull out some stops!). These days instruments have banks of generals and sequencer buttons. I was always in awe of my teacher's playing and I aspired to be like him. However, there are some players today whose powers are superhuman, both in terms of playing from memory and technique.

Once such man is Nathan Laube. I recommend this video you. I am blogging about it because we ought to be glad that our cathedrals are looking after their organs and having them rebuilt if necessary. This recital is one to watch as well as to listen to. In fact watching gives me as much pleasure and as many goosebumps as listening. How does he do what he does?

Stop choices

Some of the organs I play these days can be quite hard work and so I have noticed that I use Swell-to-Great less regularly. Many Swell departments do not really add much and one can gain sufficient variety of tone and volume with just the Great alone. In fact, skipping onto the Swell for a hymn verse then becomes a further resource.

When accompanying a choir it is best to stay largely on the Swell because English organs usually have a woolly flute stop on the Great which clouds the sound.

In the county where I live there are many small instruments but some are surprisingly versatile and lovely to listen to: they fill the church with sound. Of course, one would not play cathedral-style post service voluntaries on them.

Will it stick?

I am playing for a big wedding tomorrow. Some of the music is on a CD and other pieces are being sung by the bride's friend while the couple sign the registers. I am tasked with playing the hymns and the outgoing music.

The organ is quite small and, although it was completely overhauled in 2020, it takes a lot of effort to play it. I had not had a long practice session on it before yesterday but some faults had become annoying during services and I found out about these during those services!

Yesterday middle C# on the pedals started to stick towards the end of my practice. I discovered that there is not tuning contract with the people who worked on it. I presume the church people think that now it has had money spent on it, that's 'job done'. (Many churches round here do not have tuning visits and some only have one annual visit.)

I emailed the builder but he is abroad and quoted a substantial fee, in his reply, for a service visit had he been able to come.

As I have mentioned before, with falling congregations and services held only one a month, the amount of cash a church takes in is seriously compromised. Organ tuning is not a priority.

I can only hope the C# does not stick on Satruday.

Foreign Organs

I would have thought that the C of E would want to support English organ builders. It seems that Pershore Abbey commisioned a new Ruffati organ in 2017 which is just coming into use after delays caused by the pandemic.

Buckfast also has one.

I have no doubt that these instruments are excellent and the organists will enjoy playing them but what encouragement does it give to native organ builders?

Worcester Cathedral had a new organ by the late Ken Tickell which I have heard. It is not often that a new organ is built although Manchester Cathedral recently had one, also built by Ken.

For further organ discussions see the Mander forum.

Big ones and small ones

What attracted me to the organ was the glorious sound of the Peterborough Cathedral organ. It is still the one I like best although several others have nearly replaced it as 'top dog'.

In the main, parish church organs (to make some sweeping generalisations)

• are small
• are old
• lack brightness
• are dirty (inside)
  
• have untidy (dusty) consoles
• have pedal boards of various kinds
• are not positioned in the best place

It is small wonder that fewer people are taking up the organ. Those who do aspire - as I did - to play the most difficult/impressive repertoire and preside over large instruments. There are also many more ladies taking up the organ (I may have blogged on this; I forget).

There is nothing as good as hearing a huge organ being played well but the reality is that most organists will find themselves in charge of a modest example. Therein is a skill which I feel I have always had. To make the best of limited resources.

Many organs only have a pedal Bourdon 16'. My first organ teacher once said that he used to draw it as little as possible so that, when it came on, it was a real event.

Size isn't everything.

Bellringers' Outings

Bellringers like to go on outings and I join a group once a month. We visit 2 towers in the morning, have a pub lunch, and then visit 1 in the afternoon.

On Wednesday we started with a lovely ring of 6 where I have been once before. Next was an OK ring of 6 but I didn't like them as much, although they were not particularly hard work. I did not go to the 3rd tower because they are such hard work. (It turns out that it was as well I didn't go or have lunch because DHL had left me a parcel in direct sunlight and in full view of the street)

It is a sad fact that, when we visit some towers, we find evidence of past bands of ringers and a set of lovely bells: the church has no longer has a ringing band.

At other places the bells are so heavy and badly maintained that no learners would ever cope, so a band cannot be taught. It all comes down to money again.

I have noticed one thing in common with organs. IF money is sent on an organ overhaul, then it is just an overhaul and the instrument does not always become easier to play, although it will go on for longer. I have also known bells and fittings to be overhauled but then they are not actually any easier to ring and they do not sound any better.

Luckily, many organ and bell projects do yield good results and are worth the money spent. It is up to the church to ensure that they obtain value for money. Simply cleaning an organ does little real good if the action is shot.

What you find around organs

On Saturday, when I played for the renewal of vows, the organ console was behind a curtain which meant I was not on view. In general I refer to be tucked away as one would up in an organ loft.

It is also sometimes necessary to work out where one is going to put ones music. There isn't always room on the organ bench. At a recent funeral I found the blower was in a soundproof box right next to the console. On top there were many very old hymn books which had probably been there since the organ was installed! I had to play 'Tetris' (as it were) with the books to create a level surface for my music.

 

90 minute rehearsal

Over the next few weeks I am filling in at a church where I have not played before but I have tried the organ. I felt I ought to go to choir practice last night as there is a big anthem on Sunday which I will come to in a moment.

I took all the music which has been issued to me and I had already learnt or revised most of it. After a few warm-up hymns we tried the Franck anthem for this coming weekend. After that we went over more of the up-coming anthems including some of those which I am not down to play (as I have to be at another church, so 3 organists are covering the organist's sabbatical).

I had a real blast using my sight-reading skills and was pleased that I am still able to cope with whatever is thrown at me. "The Father's Love" by Simon Lole is really lovely but I had not encountered it before. It starts in E major and suddenly goes to 7 sharps, a few bars later [enharmonically] changing to 4 flats. That kept me on my toes.

I also played "Give us the wings of Faith" and "Be thou my vision" (on the organ which makes it a little harder). To be honest I was in 7th heaven but I could not help remembering the skills passed onto me and encouraged by my organ teachers. I have been extremely lucky to have been taught by them.

When I took up the organ it really mattered if one played the correct notes and it became a matter of pride that I would strive to do so. Consequently, when I won an organ scholarship to a university in the south-west I felt the responsibility of the position. I do not think church music is as highly regarded in some places/parishes as it once was although there are many pockets of excellence around the country and our cathedrals still foster high standards.

In my youth we sang Franck's Psalm 150 at Peterborough and I had wanted to do it at university. The choir laughed and poured scorn on the piece so we never did do it. I have not played or sung it in 50+ years. I do agree it is, perhaps, a little turgid but that was Franck's style: it is good fun.

The Solitary Organist

As a bit of a loner I suppose I was always destined to play the organ. One has the power to play quietly or very loudly - I would not be a good flautist. I think I enjoy pulling the stops, pressing pistons, combining timbres and colouring the verses of hymns. In short I like to be in control.

Therein lies a problem. During a service I am captive. There are long periods (such as the sermon!) when I do not play anything and I cannot affect what is going on. At those times I am a nobody.

Other than the hymns I play pre- and post-service voluntaries but people talk during those. I understand my playing is not a recital at those times, but it used to be the case that a congregation would gradually hush as service time approached. Indeed they would have been 'trained' to calm themselves and get into the right frame of mind for an hour of devotion and praise. Would you chatter about the weather, the latest supermarket deal or Mrs Onion's rheumatism moments before meeting the Queen? Why do it just before an encounter with God?

An organist is likely to have been brought up as a chorister and to have had certain kinds of training, as well as having learned by example back in the days when things were done differently. Many of us are not happy bunnies and we feel undervalued. Oddly, we do not necessarily seek more money nor do we want folk to be profuse in their verbal thanks. In my case I want people to say nice things about me behind my back. The sad fact is that the treatment we get leads us to suspect that we are not positively discussed, if we are discussed at all, and that many a church would rather have a praise band (that's link is just to a random one)

More organists are turning to YouTube for satisfaction as they 'Can't get no satisfaction' in church. With the advent of digital organs this easy to do: in my youth when the notion was unthinkable as there was no internet!

Even YouTube does not have all the answers because a chap can fail to attract an audience and the necessary views which will make all the effort worthwhile.

I belong to an Organists' Association but it is made of up of - well - other organists and I don't find some of them very attractice people to be around: I'm sure they think the same about me.

So all this comes down to self image. These days unless one is young, brilliant and probably female the world is not going to pay you much attention.

We chaps just have to get used to it. Perhaps I should change religion.

Not all the same size

This is the keyboard of the organ I played yesterday for a funeral. It struck me, during one of the spoken parts of the service, that the keys are not all the same width. Look at the G and D for example, which seem to be the widest. The C is very narrow. The thing is, I think, that the centres of the keys are equidistant and the C does have large gaps by the sides.

Curious though.

Funerals

I played for a funeral yesterday at a lovely church which only had a small organ on a balcony. There were 5 stops (but 6 knobs, as one stop has Bass and Treble which is very common because the bass is shared). The organ did not produce a great deal of volume but I was very happy with my playing: rhythm and purpose in playing can lead a congregation better than volume. I played for a good 15 minutes before the service: the congregation had started to arrive 30 minutes early but I let them chatter for a while.

Sad to say the hymn singing was poor, at least up in the balcony where the overflow congregation was seated. 'Crimond' was not too bad but the dreaded 'All things Bright and Beautiful' was dire as was the requested 'The Old Rugges Cross'.

The service was taken well and without awkward pauses. I have another one to play for at the same church next week.

Different organs

Today I am trying out 2 organs. One is in a church where I am filling in for a few weeks until August (not every week) and is 17 miles away from me. It is a nice 2-manual extension organ with a pleasant touch. The stop tabs are arranged in a non-standard order in that the pedal stop tabs are in the middle:; the Swell are on the left and Great on the right.

I am writing this before going out to church #2 which is 17 miles in another direction: I don't usually give places but it is, in fact, at Cold Ashby. It is a small 1-manual organ with very few stops. Essentially they just want hymns for the funeral. Three are sung and there is one each for the entrance and exit.

I have been warned that the organ is not played much and could well be dusty!

Organ bench comfort

During my organ playing career I have usually found that wooden organ benches are, well, wooden and smooth. Occasionally I have seen examples which have fixed padding and I have not enjoyed playing these because the friction between trousers and padding makes it difficult to move about - not that one does so a great deal but even necessary slight rotation is compromised.

Now that I am over 60 and I have had to lose weight for medical reasons, the fat has vanished from my backside and I cannot sit on an organ bench for very long before I experience pain and discomfort.

So I have taken to using a cushion at home, on my digital organ, which is not fixed to the bench and I will need to invest in a cushion I can take around with me when I visit elsewhere. So the bench below would probably be OK