Theatre Organ Console, Stops and Ranks
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- Опубліковано 7 лип 2024
- #theatreorgan #wurlitzerorgan #theatreorganranks #organ #keyboardskillspro #tomhortonmusician
UK Organist Tom Horton takes you an a guided tour of a theatre (or cinema) organ. Want to know more about these amazing pipe organs? Watch this video to learn more - this is part of series that shows playing hints and tips too!
This tutorial covers the basics of a theatre organ console, stops and pipe ranks.
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I love this Pipe Organ
Great!
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Thank-you from Australia. Very interesting. I am a mug organist and this was really great for me and my Hauptwerk virtual pipe organs. Mike in Oz
This is the type of tour of the console I have been looking for in a long time. Thanks so much. So much more detail. Very interesting and helpful.
+peter simpson thank you Peter - trust you are well and thanks for the great comments. Feel free to share the video on FB etc
Great video,Tom. Hopefully more young organists will be inspired to take up this specialty and keep it alive.
Thanks - that’s the plan!
Love it I use to see Saturday morning cartoon shorts hearing an organ like this. I use to hate it now I'm fascinated by it.
Yes the old Saturday Cinema Club - often the youngsters would throw popcorn and sweets as the organist went down :) - Happy days!
I play at a local theatre from time to time. Thank you for your help because I really haven't had any lessons except for a dedicated friend.
Pleased to read the video was useful, Andrew, and thanks for taking the time to comment.
If you ever fancy some 1-2-1 organ lessons I offer lessons online via pre-recorded method or Zoom, with many students worldwide.
More details on my website here: tomhorton.co.uk/music-lessons-suffolk.html
I like that Diapason sound at 5:46. Thank you very much for the music!
You’re very welcome! Tom
yes good sounds love the real sound
I have been fascinated by organs since I was a kid but never quite understood how the stops were incorporated into the actual playing. This is a wonderful straight forward explanation of how it all comes into play and really highlights the key differences between church and theater organs. Well done Mr. Horton.
Thanks - glad you enjoyed it :)
Check out my new theatre organ book: tomhorton.co.uk/music-books/theatre-organ-originals-vol-1.html
I love your videos. Being a professional theater organist myself, I find them helpful in restarting the creative jucies, plus great tips on demonstrating the organ for audiences.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Excellent! Lets hope this helps inspire a few young keyboardists to keep this lost art going for another generation.
+Tmanaz480 - please you enjoyed it - yes let’s hope it encourages some new folks
Higher End Synthesizers have cought up to the concept of Second Touch they call it Polyphonic After-Touch. Others have Global After-Touch (all the contacts will engage a common function, but not allow for a single voice, see the aftertouch on a DX-7) which often is often used for adding Vibrato. On some Theater Organs with Digital Relays, some people have assigned a Second Touch to the Tremulants on certain Reed Stops.
Thank you this has been so helpful. I have had a church gig for the past 9 years but also have experience playing jazz/Dixieland etc. and am in process of auditioning for/getting to know a theater organ. Meeting it was fairly overwhelming but your videos are really helping. ❤
Thanks Heather - pleased you enjoyed the video.
Do check out my website for cd albums, organ books and more!
Tom
Fun, fun, FUN!! Thanks for the enjoyable tutorial!
Thank you!
Most interesting! I've long been fascinated by the sounds of these magnificent instruments, but was mystified by how all those buttons and stops worked. Thanks for the tour!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Tom
That is such a beauty. So versatile wow!...is so gratifying to hear actual real instruments inside instead of samples.
Thanks for watching! Tom
marvelous! what a succinct primer on this king of instruments. always loved the Wurlitzer and its variants. wish I lived where they could be seen in the flesh, as it were.
Many thanks Ivan for watching. Don’t forget to subscribe! With best wishes...tom
Tom, that was great, many thanks Keith
+Keiths Gulbransen many thanks Keith for watching!
Absolutely wonderful!
Thanks Dave :)
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Your videos are invaluable. Thanks.
Thanks - glad you like them! Tom
Very interesting and enjoyable demonstration. Thanks!
Thank you William :)
Tom
So amazing ❤❤❤
Thanks for watching and pleased you enjoyed it :)
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I was too young and new to engrave the Wurlitzer Stops as an apprentice. I did see them in the shop though engraved by the journeymen.
Interesting…
Watching these great videos again. I need a refresher course every now and again. And still, I giggle every time you say CinemER organ! I love the accent! 😇👍🏼
Glad you enjoyed the videos....and the accent too 😀👍
Tom
Superb description of the basic sounds of a theatre/cinema organ!
Thanks - so pleased you enjoyed my video!
Tom
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Thank you very much for this video. It was very informative and well thought out. I've been playing the organ now for many years and work on fine-tuning my skills every day; however, you play with such ease and grateful skill which is absolutely beautiful. Thank you again for this wonderful video.
You're very kind to comment Timothy. Good luck with your organ playing!
Do check out my many other theatre organ videos here on my channel.
Tom
Very interesting and excellent explanations. Thank you very much.
Thanks for watching! Tom
Nice tour of the Wurli stop rail.
+klavier1us thanks
great video. informative. thank you!
Thanks! Tom
Thank you! I have watched this and its companion, Basic Theatre Organ Registrations. In one sense, there's nothing I probably didn't already know - but that's not the point! There is always something to learn, which I did, and anyway, more importantly, I enjoyed watching it. Thanks again.
Many thanks for watching and glad you enjoyed it! Tom
Thank you these are very helpful
+ann sharp you’re welcome Ann! Tom
Very informative. Thank you!
Thanks!
Fantastic. Love your tutorial of the organ stops. :D
Thanks
Awesome
Thanks :)
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A very informative introduction to the theatre organ
+Brian Frederick thank you Brian
Amazing vídeo. Thanks a lot!!!
You’re welcome - thank you!!
Tom
Great- My Favorite organ Sounds -
Thanks Bill! Tom
This is really cool :) Thank you :)
You’re welcome - thanks for watching; don’t forget to subscribe!
Tom
Very educational video Tom, you explain it in an easy to understand way. I actually own a Technics organ, and I have MiditZer software and MIDI interface attached to the organ and my computer and watching you demonstrate the versatility of the organ has made it a lot more interesting. Thanks Tom.
Pleased you enjoyed it Wayne! Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment.
Tom
Very nice. Here in New Jersey, US, in Whelan Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City we have the great Midmer-Losh organ, with 7 manuals, 33,000 pipes, almost 450 ranks, and over 1,000 stops.
Yes I know of the organ - quite a machine!
Hope to see and play one day :)
Thanks for watching -
Tom
@@KeyboardSkillsPro Certainly. The Atlantic City Hall organ was sadly water - damaged during storms in 1944 and 1962. Also by clumsiness and vandalism during re - construction and renovation of the building in the early 2000's. It is slowly and surely being restored. Currently about 50 percent playable.
Thank you SO much, Mr. Horton. Excellent tutorial ! For future reference, please cushion the microphone base so that the annoying bongo drums with every stop rail change will be silenced.
Thanks for the comments - yes learnt from experience!
You're welcome, and thank you ! I used to spend my lunch hours playing the 3-manual, 13 rank Wurlitzer at the Orpheum in Memphis, Tennessee. I have Hammond C-3 (loaded) at home. I'm a regular at The Organ Forum: www.organforum.com/forums/ You might enjoy some of the Forums there !Cheers !Roger Memphis
Great stuff. More videos (muffled!) coming this year.
Thank you, someone gave me a free organ and this helps alot
You’re welcome :)
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These musical monsters are like acoustic ancestors of modern synthesizer workstations.
Absolutely!
Very nifty!
Thanks! Tom
Can't play a note to save my life, but a fascinating watch nonetheless! I've loved these organs ever since a visit to Thursford as a young lad.
Thursford is good fun - thanks for watching! Tom
I sure wished that you could come the USA to perform as I have seen your performances on Lowrey Virtual Orchestra instruments.
+Pat Saxon thanks Pat. I used to be a visiting concert artist at Lowrey’s Home Organ Holiday from 2005-2009. Played in Chicago quite a few times.
One day hopefully I’ll be back!
Thanks for watching! Tom
This is a very interesting demonstration of a fine instrument. By way of an update, the Wurlitzer in this video is now at The Grange Musical Collection near Diss in Norfolk, UK. It is currently (August 2019) awaiting re-installation. Most of its parts come from, I beleive, Wurlitzer Opus 1525 Style H (2 manual, 10 ranks of pipes+piano) with the original Harmonic Tuba replaced by a Style D Trumpet rank and an English Horn rank added, making it now an 11 rank instrument. Opus 1525 was built in 1926 and installed in London's Leicester Square Theatre in 1930 and removed from there in the 1960s.
+DaveC45110 thanks for watching the video.
The Wurlitzer is not at the Grange yet but will be relocating in the future (unless they’ve moved it and not told me!).
We have a 4/16 Compton to install next at The Grange. Hope to see you there someday when I’m playing during the season.
Happy music!
Tom
@@KeyboardSkillsPro Tom, thanks for the update; I got my wires crossed! When I spoke to Mr. Ling at the last open day at The Grange, he said the Wurlitzer was awaiting re-installation and I assumed it was in storage on-site, so thanks for the correction. It will certainly be a fantastic collection of theatre organs when the Wurlitzer joins the Bury Art Picture House and Southend Astoria Comptons there! I'm certainly looking forward to hearing you play the Wurlitzer at The Grange when it's back up and running.
Dave.
+DaveC45110 yes indeed Dave. The art bury Compton may or not stay but there is the 4/16 ex wyton house Compton and a 4m conacher to restore too :)
Tom
Sometimes the larger three, four, or five manual console units you have the Bombarde division as manual III, then Solo, and Orchestra .
Yes the manuals sometimes get changed around. Thanks for watching - tom
All I play on is a yamaha electone. But funnily enough even these videos help a very basic synthetic organ sound better. Id love to have a go at one of these though.
Thanks for watching and glad you enjoyed it. Where in the world do you live?
Keyboard Skills Pro I'm from Australia
Hi Daniel, if your Yamaha has MIDI on it, I can send you a program called MidiTzer, which is a virtual Wurlitzer pipe organ, and you would have to purchase a USB Midi Interface. Install program, connect MIDI interface to computer and Yamaha organ and enjoy the benefits of playing a pipe organ similar to this video. Let me know what you think. Wayne
Or Hauptwerk
Have a 1970s yamaha D-60. Decent theater organ but i wish it had a 2’.
Great. If you visit the US, in Atlantic City, NJ, built into the walls of Whelan Boardwalk Hall, is the largest organ in the world, a 1928 Midmer - Losh.
Never been in that area of the USA but have seen / heard the organ on UA-cam - an awesome instrument.
Thanks for watching
Tom
@@KeyboardSkillsPro Certainly. I worked right next to the Hall for almost 20 years. Have heard the organ and seen the videos. It is now about 30 percent functioning. Most of the almost 35, 000 pipes , and wires , other equipment , etc were damaged in storms, 1944 and 1962, and sadly vandalized during an early 2000's renovation. They are painstakingly working to restore this organ, it is scheduled to take 10 to 15 years.
Rare to see a 16 foot Vox Humana. They are normally 8 foot Vox Humana stops. Very informative.
Not really 16’ Vox tabs are common - normally they play to T.C.
Glad you enjoyed the video - thanks :)
@@KeyboardSkillsPro I have a good ear for music and can pick up a tune quickly once I have heard it played a few times and try to figure the notes to the tune on the piano and organ
Well done :)
When I saw the Wurlitzer console hiding behind, I knew you'd be a proficient organist. Boy was I right! Excellent video. How do you suggest arranging/playing music on the theater organ? Do you use lead sheets or sheet music? I'd love to see a video incorporating this topic.
+Marius Pollux thanks Marius - you suggest a good idea for a future video! Will hope to do this soon. Thanks for watching. Tom
thanks for a very informative demo that answered many of the questions i've had since old times regarding these fab instruments ... i wonder how come some of the instruments sounds in this organ are so 'natural' and very close to the real ones considering this is a very old cinema organ from an era digital or even analog sound sampling had not been available!? or was it?
No digital is mostly 1980s onwards. All musical tones are built on basic fundamental tones - the overtones are what make it sound different. The clarinet rank is pretty easy to make realistic but there were some superb reed ranks produced. Christie Organs had a top voicer in their day.
Thanks for watching! Tom
@@KeyboardSkillsPro amazing instruments ... there's also a (probably first) mini-synth called Ondioline made in 1948 that produces truly realistic simulations / emulations of real instruments ... sounds great even by today standards! check it out here:
ua-cam.com/video/hy5w7Fz0pDo/v-deo.html&ab_channel=ElvaLives
Beautiful demonstration, Mr. Horton.
I had a friend and mentor who was (unofficially) the pipe organ aficionado of the Hudson Valley. He played church organ on a JH & CS O’dell Tracker, but he also had a reverence for theater organs such as the WurliTzer. For reasons he made abundantly known, he was prejudiced against the Lowery product line, specifically the spinet models with their mechanical accompaniment features. Please tell me sir, do you think the full blown Lowery horseshoe models bear the remotest synonymity with the WurliTzer line?
Glad you enjoyed the video. Thanks for watching. Tom
My pleasure Tom.
Eric.
Thank you for instructions. I didn’t know that organ has piano sound in it
+Daniel R it’s provided by an upright piano attached to the organ. Tom
That’s neat. I wish I had a theater organ but there’s no room here in my room for one. 😥😥
+Daniel R well a nice electronic organ would do for home play! Tom
@@danielr4640 you could always make a Hauptwerk organ! they are wonderful to practice on
does the tremulant work like the leslie speaker on a b3 organ when it’s on the fast speed
Yes Leslie adopted the Doppler effect produced by the rotating speaking to give the effect of the theatre organ tremulant
Tim, my friend Jeff is interested in a Five Manual Console. I have been to Organ Stop in Mesa, which has a 4/Manual (the 3fd keyboard is Bombarde and third Organ includes a Diaphone and a Contra Diaphone and has other special effects (my favorite being the Jungle Dogs and Jingle Cats) but they also have 24 ranks including a special group called Entry Chamade (Clarions and Trumpets) and a general stop called a Celeste.
Tom - my name is Tom :)
5 manuals is big but lots of fun! I’ve seen Organ Stop in Mesa on UA-cam - quite a place!
Tom
Peter Warner 5 Manuals is for vanity only.
BTW second touch is not unique to cinema organs. Hope-Jones introduced it in the 1890s, and it is still to be found on the Compton at Downside Abbey. There also used to be second touch on the Harrison at King's Cambridge (disconnected at some point post-war - the old manuals were unthinkingly binned in the drastic Harrison rebuild last year).
+Richard Harrold well, I've learnt something new richard - thanks for the info.
11:29 What is the name of the song you played there? It sounds very nice!
Kinda improvising over 12th St Rag chords I think :)
Oh.. you should play an Allen Theatre organ
Have played Allen organs, John - they make good sounds :)
Are the piano stops touch-sensitive?
Hi
No, nothing on a theatre organ it touch sensitive (speaking along the lines of velocity control like a piano/digital instrument)
Second touch kinda works on those lines, where you can press harder to engage additional stops, but the velocity makes no difference.
Good question!
Tom
What do the different black dots above the stops mean, where some have a black dot and some don’t?
Good question - if I remember correctly it indicates which chamber the rank (or percussion) item lives in. Solid white is Main, black dot is Solo....I think :)
Thanks for watching!
Tom
Oh, makes sense. My home organ is just an electric Wurlitzer 4520, so no dots there! Thanks for the answer!
+Liam Scott 👍😀
that one is somewhat fancier than the 2/6 model D Wurly at the temple theatre [tacoma wa.] that i got to hear way back in 1982. it still is kept up but seldom is performed in public, a pity.
The 2/6 model is often referred to as a perfect Wurlitzer. Just balanced well especially if it’s one before the 2ft trebles got put on.
Thanks for watching
Tom
@@KeyboardSkillsPro pardon, can you tell me what is the downside of the aforementioned "2 ft trebles"?
Well it’s not a downside per say. They were added to make the top end of the organ brighter and a bit louder in the cinemas.
The earlier 2/6 models had a very sweet vintage sound :)
@@KeyboardSkillsPro would really love if the world was much smaller and you could pay a visit to tacoma [washington state USA] and their Temple Theatre to see one of the few D2/6 wurlies still intact, it did have a very "atmospheric" sound to it.
Would it be possible to provide a link for the stoplist of this theatre organ? I am curious. Thanks!
Sure - email me via the website. You can also purchase my cd album ‘Strike Up The Band’ recorded on this organ :)
www.tomhorton.co.uk
Tom
Here’s a link to an old website which gives a little info
www.mechanicalmusicmuseum.co.uk/wurlitzer.php
Tom
Thanks so much, Mr. Horton. All very informative!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Tom, the display pipes behind you at the start of the video, are they dummy pipes to look good or are they speaking pipes?
Whirlitzer style organ console are becoming more popular nowadays. Our organ at Wesley's Chapel is a whirlitzer console design built by Brindley and Foster.
Hi
This is a standalone barrel organ which was used in a church many years ago
Wurlitzer (spelling) ;)
Tom
The Vox Baryton is it basically a 16 foot Vox Humana?
Very informative, as an occasional church organists several years ago. But the Vox Humana stop was horrible!
Ha! Sounds better in person and as part of piece. Thanks for watching :) Tom
Most Vox Humana Stops (at least the ones on Theater Organs) sound better in combination with other stops.
The late Larry Vanucci would sometimes play a 2/6 Robert-Morton that had no Celeste stops. The Organ had Left and Right Chambers that were at different temperatures which allowed Vanucci to used the Un-Tremmed Vox Humana as a String Celeste.
Yes indeed Craig - the Vox is better as a blending stop. The best one I ever heard (and played) was by made by organ company Standaart. With the Tibia @ 8’ and played in the Tenor area the audience would follow the sound as if a great Tenor was singing.
Currently its in a box in storage!
Just so complete beginners know...all these stops/sounds/ranks are made by air blowing through real physical pipes, or mallets and sticks hitting real instruments. The cosole controls them electrically, but none of the sounds themselves are electronic. No amplifiers or speakers involved.
Very good point - this always draws interesting looks from the crowd when demonstrating a cinema organ
One question, Mr Horton, what if you can make a cinema organ sound like a church organ sometimes? Without using the tremulants...
Yes Denis, just turn off the trems. Compton’s and Christie’s produce a very good straight sound being from traditional pipe organ stock.
Well, in the past I thought the vibrato effect is caused in the pipes themselves without the tremulant, because they were made and voiced like that. I didn't know what tremulant is or the blowers shake the air or something like that. Thanks for letting me know that tremulants are the ones that make the vibrato effect in the organ!
Yes two or more tremulant boxes produce the vibrato effect in the wind supply. Clever bits of work!
You can download a free Wurlitzer theatre organ simulator for Windows computers at http:/www.Miditzer.org/ . You can try out everything that Tom is demonstrating with just a basic computer. If you add MIDI keyboards, you can build a nice home theatre organ.
Yes but I would still recommend a proper organ for playability / ergonomic reasons.
For those in the U.K. please consider Allens Music Centre for your purchase.
What does it mean when there is a dot above the tab vs not?
Good question - it tells you where the rank of pipes is located. In two or more chamber organ designs (Main and Solo) the lower pressure, more traditional ranks are in the Main chamber (Solid White Dot) and are under one of the swell pedals.
The more Theatre Organ ranks (Kinura, Tibia, Vox Humana, Traps, Percussion) etc are in the Solo Chamber (black dot in white Dot) and are under the other Swell Pedal.
Best regards
Tom
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@@KeyboardSkillsPro Ah ok, thanks. For whatever reason I could not find any explanation anywhere else!
Vox Humana seems like it's somewhere down in the uncanny valley.
Some one once described it akin to “ a load of bleating sheep!”
Hey Tom: are you from london
Not London, John - east of England
Where is this, and what's the other organ behind it?
+Richard Harrold it is a barrel church organ. I met the owners who donated to the museum not so long ago.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: "Theater Organists are GODS (or, at least, Extra-Terrestrials)"
Lol - well, I am from England ;)
Why don’t they experiment with classical horseshoe consoles, due to their better ergonomics
Classical consoles are slightly different to classical consoles but the basic ergonomic design is very similar.
12:14
Improvised number. Tom
When you are recording using a microphone, it must NOT be setting on the organ without a quality isolation mount as the mic is picking up every single touch of a stop lever.
Yes I know this now - this was my first videos so have learnt a lot since then :)
Thanks for watching. Tom