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I've died and gone to heaven

Contratrombone64

Admiral of Fugues
Ask and ye shall receive. That's how the proverb goes. I emailled the delightful Robert Amp (City of Sydney's organist) and asked it he might take me and a friend on a tour of the insides of the monster. It happened yesterday. I've got some photos ... problem is you can't get far enough away from the internal pipes to get really good photos, nevertheless, I've got some nice ones I'll try and post.

This monster is just so enormous (at least by Australian standards) that it's on three levels, all accessed by the most charming set of sturdy wooden staircases with railings. I must say, peer down to the floor level from the top of the monsterous central pipe (google images Sydney Town Hall organ and you'll soon find a picture) is not for the feint of heart!! Fascinating stuff, even got to play the monster, couldn't resist pulling the 64' Contratrombone and hear it fart ... most amusing.
 

Krummhorn

Administrator
Staff member
ADMINISTRATOR
Wow ... I am quite envious of you Contratrombone64. We're looking forward to seeing some of the photos.

Someone else on this forum referred to that 64' stop as sounding like the 'flatulence of an elephant' ... :rolleyes:
 

Soubasse

New member
Bottom C on that stop sounded (and felt) like a jackhammer I seem to recall :) That was from the console though - don't know how different it would sound at a distance. So you got to see the perspex panel in the boot of the 64 then? There's something strangely alluring about wandering (or crawling) about the insides of a large concert instrument - how many other musical instruments can you actually walk inside?!
 

Argoth

New member
Bottom C on that stop sounded (and felt) like a jackhammer I seem to recall :) That was from the console though - don't know how different it would sound at a distance. So you got to see the perspex panel in the boot of the 64 then? There's something strangely alluring about wandering (or crawling) about the insides of a large concert instrument - how many other musical instruments can you actually walk inside?!

Thanks to some info from a link Contratrombone64 gave me I got to do the same sort of tour of the Melbourne Town Hall organ when I was in Australia. It is of similar scale I believe, minus of course the beautiful trappings and the larger pipes, but I'm glad they included it as part of the tour of the hall for all visitors, and at the end there's a little room (they called it the "organ museum" if I'm not mistaken), which had some historical images of the organ, big posters, and most interesting was a miniature scale design of the organ, complete with mini windchests and a performer at the console! It was enclosed in a glass case and was probably about 2 feet tall the most. It really put into perspective the scale of these enormous instruments and I wish I could find a picture of it somewhere online, promotion of such things would really help spread interest in the instrument among people who seem to think an organ is those little portable electronic keyboards.

Back on topic, I couldn't get even close to the Sydney Town Hall organ when I visited unfortunately, because that room was undergoing repair so I had to be satisfied with seeing it from near the entrance to the room. Hopefully, they would start a similar thing as in the Melbourne Town Hall to give visitors a perspective of the Sydney organ. How I envy you! Please post whatever pics you got!
 

Soubasse

New member
That's good to know Argoth - I haven't seen or heard the new/restored Melbourne instrument yet, but I do remember the old one. Strangely enough - given what we're talking about - you actually had to walk through the guts of the instrument to get to the console. There was even a little couch to sit on a few metres short of the hatchway to the console (in case you got tired or lost or something I s'pose :grin:).

Yes, pics please CT64.
 

Udyret

New member
Wow, that's an impressive organ. 64 foot stops are non existent in Denmark. Gotta go to Australia someday! :cool::D
 

Contratrombone64

Admiral of Fugues
Thanks for all the replies so far ... I'll attempt to get these photos downloaded soon. Quite amazingly, the insides were rather spacious in places and rather crowded in others (not surprising) but it has a full sized workbench AND kitchen sink ... made me smile. The commissioned organ maintainer keeps his tools in there and bits and pieces.

Also - jackhammer perfectly describes the noise the bottom C vomitted at me from the insides - and painfully noisy!!
 

Udyret

New member
Good job with the danish language (I am being serious) contra, where did you learn

that? I don't mean to insult you, but the danish word for smoek is smukt (you were still

closer than many foreigners who have lived in Denmark for some time). Sadly my

economy currently doesn't allow such a trip, but are there other fascinating instruments

in Australia?

Cheers Peter
 

Corno Dolce

Admiral Honkenwheezenpooferspieler
Hi Peter,

A fascinating instrument down-under is the Didgeridoo - A sound quite unlike anyother.

Cheers,

Corno Dolce
 

methodistgirl

New member
Those pipe organs were beautiful. The more modern looking one was
really beautiful. Now I need to email one of the musicians at church!
Wow! How extremely beautiful. Like I said I love big things!
judy tooley:grin:
 

Krummhorn

Administrator
Staff member
ADMINISTRATOR
Hi Peter,
A fascinating instrument down-under is the Didgeridoo - A sound quite unlike anyother. Cheers, Corno Dolce

Corno Dolce,
Interesting you mention this instrument - years back we had this guy perform a concert at the church on native instruments such as this. I was fascinated by the Didgeridoo - and the amount of wind it took to make it sound. Indeed, a unique sound beyond all imagination.
 

Corno Dolce

Admiral Honkenwheezenpooferspieler
Yep, the worlds largest. Oh how I wish it were fully functional. Sometimes it seems that it will suddenly be torn out of the Convention Hall. Oh what a loss that would be. Supposedly, at least $1,000,000 should get it into rough working order with another $1,000,000 to really put it in concert-class / recording state.
 

Contratrombone64

Admiral of Fugues
Sorry - the Atlantic City organ is not completely functional ... the one recording I have is nearly unlistenable as ther working pipes weren't even tuned before the recording was made. I really does need a philanthropist to rescue it from its demise, very, very sad.
 

Argoth

New member
So 2 million dollars and a bit should bring it a pretty good state? I'm surprised they don't (I'm assuming they haven't) appealed to some of the world's richest philanthropists who are currently giving away their fortunes of billions of dollars. Such an amount would be a drop in the ocean for them, leave aside the longevity of these instruments. They could name it the Warren Buffet (for e.g.) organ, and it would be still around in a couple of centuries, when all his other efforts are long forgotten :) .
Though I'm guessing that it isn't just money that is the issue here, otherwise, it'd probably have been fixed a couple of years ago. Apparently, there are issues with asbestos etc. that are making parts of the organ hard to reach, but protective clothing should soon fix that. Where there's a will, there's a way. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of will here, or we're missing something important.
 

Corno Dolce

Admiral Honkenwheezenpooferspieler
Hi Argoth,

Right you are that it isn't just about the funding. The general management of the Hall isn't the most friendliest of groups to wards the organ. The Hall is used for alot of events that bring in the dough. Organ concerts in their mind wouldn't rake in the cash necessary. Too bad there are so few visionaries like Sen. Emerson Richards who masterminded the organ in the Convention Hall. If he were alive today and in office he would likely get the instrument placed on the National Historic Register and Unesco's list.

Cheers,

Corno Dolce
 

Corno Dolce

Admiral Honkenwheezenpooferspieler
Hi Judy,

The ACCHO has seven manuals and pedalboard. Yes, there are lots of stops and buttons to control all the resources that are available. The organ has over 33,000 pipes.

Two of the keyboards have 88 keys like a regular piano does:

http://www.acchos.org/html/gallery/current/rightjamb.html

This organ does have a piano stop with a real concert grand piano actuated by it. With many of the stops being unified you can play a stop that has 85 pipes that are associated with it. Generally speaking, an organ has 61 pipes per stop/rank.

Cheers,

Corno Dolce
 
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