The Studio Acusticum Organ in Piteå

[Frederik Magle]

A unique pipe organ is being build in the Studio Acusticum Concert Hall in Piteå, Sweden.

It will have 208 voices including an unusual "Harmonics Division" (with more "advanced" harmonics than the similar named division in the West Point Cadet Chapel Organ), tracker action (!), and much more. When completed it will be, I believe, the 5th or 6th largest pipe organ in the world!

Official website with specifications, etc: Studio Acusticum Organ

I applaud this project. It's wonderful that such a triple E: Exciting, experimental, and extravagant pipe organ can be build today, and I'm looking much forward to hear it when it is completed.

My only concern would be the size of the Piteå Studio Acusticum concert hall where the organ is being installed. According to what I have read it can accommodate an audience of up to 600 people.

Now, this is perhaps not so much a concern but rather a question as I haven't been in the hall (and if I had been maybe there would be no question), but the question is how well an organ of such immense size will balance with the relatively small hall and speak through the likewise relatively small facade.

The organ could easily be too subdued. Yes, you read right! Subdued.
In order to avoid the full organ (or large registrations) to completely overpower the hall, some individual voices or divisions could be voiced too softly, thereby potentially depriving them of character. Also, there's an awful lot of pipes that will have to speak through a - from the looks of it - relatively small front, which also could have a dampening effect.

With that said, obviously the competent people involved in the planning and construction of the organ has considered this and come up with a solution. Hence my "concern" being more of a question rather than an actual concern.

A very exciting project!

[Ghekorg7]

Greetings Frederik !
Great news and many thanks for the info and link.

I'm sharing your questions, though. Such a big organ for 600 people place.... hmmm
Acoustics..... As I played in Sweden (piano) in different halls, all of them had the same excellent acoustics but without reverb..... anyway small reverberant places all of them.
And I wonder how an organ will sound with no or small reverb tails....?
I know a bit the Gronlunds 3m/p organ in Pitea music school, which is modern and kinda flat sounding, but very clear and powerfull. The Hall has small reverb tails though and I would like to hear this power in a bigger place.

Anyway, Acousticum's gonna be (as I read) one of the best modern organs it seems, with many extras and an instrument that 21st century deserves !

All my best regards
Panos

[dll927]

This reminds me of the famous expression, "pulling out all the stops". It basically means making every effort to get something done.

But wait a minute --any organist knows that doing such a thing (including all the couplers) with an organ of any size would probably drive everybody out of the building. The sound would be more than anyone's ears could tolerate.

There are usually stops that are not meant to be played in combinations -- tuba mirabilis, state trumpet, grand cornet, etc. etc.

But I agree that this case sounds like overkill for a room for seating 600. Well, maybe the seats only take up a part of the room.

[Corno Dolce]

As an organist I'm not particularly sold on a "Harmonics Division" - Yes, you can get tons of colors, yes, there is West Point Cadet Chapel - But, when I think about the pioneering work done by the consummate master Cavaille-Coll, even in the specification plan for the unbuilt organ for St. Peters Basilica, I wince when pondering about the "perceived benefits" of the project in Piteaa. I will posit, however, that Jean Guillou will take a liking to the scheme and he will undoubtedly extol the "rainbow palette" of color offered by the instrument.

A classic symphonic instrument like St. Sulpice or the hypersymphonic Wanamaker WonderMachine or the Liverpool Cathedral Beauty by Willis will provide the sounds that people will fondly remember long after the Woehl instrument will become just another museum piece for which to recall human hubris.

My $0.03 cents worth........

[FinnViking]

the Gronlund instrument will become just another museum piece for which to recall human hubris.

My $0.03 cents worth........

This is not a Grönlund but a Woehl organ.

[dll927]

And here again is that obsession with tracker action. Somebody above mentioned about the 5th or 6th largest organ -- yes, and not one of them is tracker action.

It seems pretty hard to see how that could work with such a large instrument - some of the moving parts would have to be bent all over the place -- but I'm not an organ builder.

I somewhere have a CD done on an organ someplace in Finland (of all places) that claimed to be the largest tracker ever built -- but there is also one in Australia that makes that claim.

As has been said, there are forty that are the largest and 138 that are the best organs in the world. To each his own.

[Corno Dolce]

Deleted Posting

New Inclusion: I do so very much like Woehl's instrument in the Thomaskirche in Leipzig - The so-called "Bach Organ"

[Ghekorg7]

This reminds me of the famous expression, "pulling out all the stops". It basically means making every effort to get something done.

But wait a minute --any organist knows that doing such a thing (including all the couplers) with an organ of any size would probably drive everybody out of the building. The sound would be more than anyone's ears could tolerate.

There are usually stops that are not meant to be played in combinations -- tuba mirabilis, state trumpet, grand cornet, etc. etc.

But I agree that this case sounds like overkill for a room for seating 600. Well, maybe the seats only take up a part of the room.

Hi DLL927 !

Just a small observation for discussion.
This "pull out all the stops" maybe works different in smaller baroque instruments, where reeds are from one to few and of course no celestas ect.

I mean, if you're seating on Smecno's 1585 console and want a big plenum for a forte part you would draw all the stops this organ has : Principal 8', octava 4', superoctava 2', quinta 2'2/3, Mixtura, Cimbeln and also Salicional 8', Quintadena 4', Copula 8' and copula 4' on the manual and the three pedal stops Subasus 16', Octavasus 8' and superoctavasus 4' with manual to Ped coupler on.

Doing so in Smecno I don't believe will tolerate audience's ears, on the contrary, will create a heavenly euphoria inside this small church....
What do you think?

Best
Panos

[dll927]

I'm sure that's true, but I'm mainly referring to modern instruments with lists of stops that go all over the place. Hold your ears!!

[Krummhorn]

It's all in the way it will be voiced after installation. We had an organ here of about 30 ranks that was installed in a narrow Anglican church.

It was affectionately known as the "Holtkamp Hamonica" even with its horizontal reed (which wasn't much louder than an oboe stop) until it was enlarged and revoiced.

It will be interesting to see the construction phases when assembling the tracker action.

Anyone know where the current largest tracker organ lives?

[Frederik Magle]

As far as I can tell, it will not be a 100% pure tracker organ. The "floating" divisions (Harmonics) will be electric action, so whether it will be the largest tracker organ in the world I don't know.

Currently, the largest tracker organ in the world is the organ in the Sydney Opera House (specs) . It has 131 stops and 200 ranks, and I believe all but one or two are operated by means of tracker action.

[FinnViking]

The facade is not totally unique: http://www.orgelbau-woehl.de/Muenchen_gr.jpg

[mathetes1963]

I shall be following this project with great interest. I shall particularly be interested if the instrument itself lives up to the hubris it appears to be generating (as Corno has pointed out).