Why Pipe Organs Sound Scary
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- Опубліковано 30 жов 2020
- They don't, except for when they do
Edit:
So I want to clarify what I said about Bach not writing the Toccata and Fugue in d minor.
There's been a lot of discussion on the subject, and from everything I've gathered the answer is that this piece is one of the more anomalous in Bach's repertoire which, along with the lack of an original score written in Bach's hand, makes his authorship of the piece seem somewhat less that certain by a handful of Bach scholars.
However, until there is more substantive evidence, the convention is to attribute this piece to Bach.
So "Bach didn't write the toccata and fugue in d minor" may have been a little too strong here, maybe even misleading, and I just wanted to take a minute to completely clarify that point.
The quote from Jean-Claude Zehnder is "The matter still remains open, despite the scholarly discourse that began in 1981. Until proof of the contrary, BWV 565 should be considered as a work by Johann Sebastian Bach."
oops.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toccata...
Twitter: / sideways440
Twitch: / sideways440
Patreon: / sideways440
Sources:
A fantastic source on trying to decipher how much Bach actually appeared in the silent film cannon, as well as some scoring conventions of the time:
Status, Standards, and Stereotypes: J.S. Bach's Presence in the Silent Era
James M. Doering
search.proquest.com/docview/2...
A brilliant article about the 1931 Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hide, I doubt I would've ever noticed that the organ in the opening was transposed down a minor third and this article shed a lot of light on one of the first ever horror soundtracks:
The Strange Case of Rouben Mamoulian's Sound of Stew: The Uncanny Soundtrack in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)
www.columbia.edu/itc/film/gain...
Basically everything you could ever want to know about the narrative themes and significance of organs in films.
I cannot stress enough how valuable this source was and if you're at all interested in what a musical instrument could represent then you owe it to yourself to give this a read:
Carnival of Souls and the Organs of Horror
www.academia.edu/3138033/Carn...
There are also a LOT of articles that outline the history of the Toccata and Fugue in d minor and its presence in film history, there's just too much to organize and they overlap a lot so I'm just going to link them all en masse here:
www.wqxr.org/story/what-makes...
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/britis...
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/britis...
blog.oup.com/2012/08/pipe-org...
theconversation.com/the-pipe-...
www.wqxr.org/story/what-makes...
books.google.com/books?id=iGN...
www.classicfm.com/music-news/...
Ok, so organs are ancient, unreasonably large, maddeningly complex Eldritch horror instruments and organists are their creepy plotting followers. Got it.
Creepy plotting followers, AND their 70+ disciples.
For blowing.
I mean.... You're not wrong. But... Don't let them hear you say that
I swear to god someone better make a multi class cleric bard who can play an organ from anywhere but to everyone else it just looks like he’s doing air key playing and his deity just happens to be a demon who is turned on by spooky organ music
@@SnepBlepVR Nah, make it a Bardlock, that way you get the Charisma synergy
also 666 likes, perfect amount of likes for this comment
Video title: "Why Pipe Organs Sound Scary"
Video contents: ORGAN PEOPLE ARE PRIVILEGED WEIRDOS THAT LIKE FEET
Yes.
Haven’t even started the video, already regretting this evening’s life choices.
AND HERE COMES THE DEATH METAL DRUMMER IN WHO PRACTICED FOR HOURS TO PLAY THE TWIN PEDAL AS FAST AS POSSIBLE
We're not, I promise. My wealthy family will blackmail you if you release my pipe organ feet pics.
This is why I love Sideways
The organ is often called the King of musical instruments. Essentially, it’s designed to sound like every other instrument. So it’s not that they sound scary, it’s that they sound impressive. They make scary music sound scarier, grand music sound grander, or sad music sound sadder.
Oh And you mentioned “you have to be an octopus to play the organ.” 21:38
Maybe that should have been "The King's Ransom of musical instruments."
This is why The Organ is my absolute favorite instrument. I will (probably) never have the chance to play one or play it well, but those madlads who do play it are like wizards to me.
I remember there was a tube organ at a recital hall in Pittsburgh that had tubes like one pound coffee cans. It took up the whole room for an electronic instrument. I wish I knew the make of the organ. The most I saw in electronic organs was at my high school and it had tons of 6SN7 tubes which were much smaller than the coffee can organ. 73
No. Wrong. Organs sound terrifying.
I'm not afraid of the organ. It's just a massive sound. Hymns sound good on a massive pipe organ. 73
What I've learned: it's not that pipe organs sound scary, it's that pipe organists ARE scary.
Hehehehe thx now I know why I got that dark scary aura
BOO
Organist here, there's a french organist, Louis Vierne, that died in the middle of his recital in Notre-Dame. He had a heart attack and fell on the low E pedal note, dying as this single low note echoed throughout the church. If you need any more proof that organists are hardcore, this is it.
Organist: **dies**
His organ: *eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee*
Supposedly Widor was also there while he did it, I believe he had just finished selecting his stops for his third piece and suffered a stroke.
that's... very intense
darn, one semi-tone off and he'd be gone on an f... Imagine that :D
@@Freakschwimmer As crazy as it sounds, something similar happened here in St Paul, MN within the last few years. My sister was singing as part of the Cathedral choir. One day the organist was started looking a little pale/not well during one of his pieces (he is one of their very good organists). He gets someone to call the ambulance, while continuing his music. Finishes his music with his flare and precision, timing it all so he can get in the ambulance when it arrives without the congregation noting something is off. Afterwards, the choir learned that he had been experiencing a heart attack and, of course, that was not as important enough to stop him from finishing playing.
Edit: Unlike the above: this guy recovered and was back (or course) by the next practice, but still...
"a historically religious instrument that has been corrupted by a broken mind. Something that can be powerful and serene has been made unholy, who would do such a thing?"
Well, the feet people, obviously
Underrated comment
You are an amazing human being. Thank you for making me laugh.
And furries
Thanks for the laugh
@@Dickinabox I was going to ask what furries Had to do with this then I realized the connection between organ music and bipedal wolves, and sexually alluring bats (that sometimes Turn into big dogs) and I realize you’re right it was gothic era furries all along.
The one thing you glossed over is the _emotion._ All these lonely intellectuals also feel pain, wrath, and more, and they play it through the organ. How often is the organ chosen to play a chipper melody? Not often. It's more often chosen to portray negative, raw emotion, like grief, anger, and sorrow. That's a major part of our apprehension upon hearing it being played.
As someone who has played the organ I can definitely confirm this. I used it as a way to deal with the grief from losing my grandmother to cancer. I would just freehand music almost as if I were channeling my sorrow through the instrument itself. It is an otherworldly feeling that I find hard to describe with words.
Too bad that theatre pipe organs, fairground organs etc are often completely forgotten in these arguments. They are also pipe organs.
Pipe organs can emote so much more than most other instruments. They can bring you to tears or smile with joy.
Our municipal organist killed himself
Circus music.
“Organists are weird, they play with their feet!”
Davy Jones: *Plays with beard*
He's extra fucking weird
So when the villain is playing the organ he's basically flexing.
So davy jones is the biggest flexer of the seven seas
Most villains throw money and power around. Organist, they make you hear them.
And now I want to hear a dissection of Davy Jones' theme.
@@Tareltonlives that's not a bad idea
@@blackjed I feel like there should be a trope where a diagetic piece is also the lietmotif of the nondiagetic. I mean, this is of course a thing in opera and musicals but I'm hard pressed to find other villains who in-universe play their themes.
“Oh, I play the piano, what do you play?”
“The church”
Or, as the husband of one of my Mother’s Maids of Honor would say, “My house.” He bought an old Mighty Wurlitzer theater organ and had it built into his home when he moved from his old bakery shop and home. When he died, the Theater Organ Preservation Society that he belonged to removed it from the house before they sold it.
@@Egilhelmson wowow I wouldve hated to be his neighbors. An excellent investment to be sure
*the building*
@@lilr6199 Hi, I'd like to file a noise complain... description?... yeah, the house is, uh, well... its screaming at me?
it's true
As a brass musician who has spent most of my life playing in brass bands, there's NOTHING in the world like a brass band and organ playing together. Brass bands are already capable of playing incredibly loud, and then you add in the organ...it's immense. I absolutely love it.
Same
Something else that adds to the mystique surrounding organists is the fact that on many occasions, they are out of our line of sight during their performances. The visual component of performing for an audience is present the vast majority of instruments, but not for the organ. Sound is supreme.
I'm quite satisfied that the reason organs are scary is because of organists. Our tendency to avoid sunlight and look like vampires probably doesn't help the reputation.
Why I on the other hand am a few of those who want to shed positive light to the Pipe Organ and continue sharing the wonderous possibilities of it. ;)
@@JonnyMusicOrganist Hmmmm trying to recruit people for your plans huuuuuhhh?? I see you
(Jk jk)
(Or am I-)
tbh the few organists I’ve had the privilege of talking to are some of the funkiest, coolest musicians and it’s really interesting to talk to them, specially listening to them nerd out about their instrument. Y’all are awesome.
@@mexa_t6534 Aw, thank you. 😊
@@lifepreviouslybalanced5743 Why don't you find out for yourself? 😈
Lol! 😆
Sideways really said "Organs are scary because Organists are scary"
big brain
im an organist, and im not scary (im also 14). so, not ALL organists are scary
@@dominkkawa6466 how scary
lmao
@@0whatman I've seen some that look like they haven't slept in 40 years (at least)
@@dominkkawa6466 That's pretty cool! :-)
This brings me back to my undergrad in my music history class when I wrote a paper on the history of pipe organ construction and called "The Art of Laying Pipe; A History of Pipe Organ Construction" and somehow I got an A and 0 reaction from the professor over the title.
😆🤣😆🤣
@@Brap-pl2me ua-cam.com/video/C78HBp-Youk/v-deo.html
As a self-taught organist, I can say this: if you imagine a pipe organ to sound scary, then it does sound scary. If you imagine it to sound beautiful, then it does sound beautiful.
I was thinking that from the moment I saw the video title. I think of organ music as beautiful and don’t associate it with horror maybe because that is a genre I avoid. I haven’t seen any of the movies he was referring to. I did enjoy the video, though.
How on earth did you teach yourself? That has got to be one heck of a story!
@@dronesclubhighjinks I was playing keys from since I've become avare of myself. Of course, that was far far away from pro playing, but in the beginning, as a little kid, I was able to recognize notes and reproduce the melody on toy pianos I've had these days, although I didn't even know the names of notes yet. Because of lack of a music school near by, I've had no other choice, but to explore the world of notes on my own. My parents used to know some keyboardists, and keyboardists always have "one more keyboard, just in case", so they often borrowed to us their keyboard they were not using too often, because the instruments were too expensive then, as well as today. And so I was often playing someone's keyboard at home, while other kids were playing football or something. At about 16 I've got a chance to put my hands on the church organ for the very first time. Of course, the key's layout is the same as on the keyboards, so it was not a problem for me. But then, there were pedals too. A local organist explained to me that the layout of pedals is actually the same as in manuals too, so I figured it quickly and after a some short time I've actually started to play it with both my hands and foots. Then I've kept practicing for days just to get used to it, and after about two weeks I did play my first mass and it was a success. Until today I didn't manage to learn how to read note, which I know is a huge backdraw, but I have something instead. I just need to listen to a tune and then I memorize it. Very often it's enough for me to listen it just once. And then I can reproduce it on organ (or keyboard) in any key, not just in original, so I can easily adapt it for a vocal range of singer(s) without a single sheet of music notation. And while playing keyboard, I'm never using a built-in transpose function, for me it's just cheating.
@@IvanZivko Thank you very much for your very thorough reply! That is truly extraordinary that you can hear notes and reproduce the melody like you explained. I’ve only ever met one person who is capable of that. Her mom was so ambitious for her child to become a musician that she was playing classical music to her belly when she was pregnant. After her baby was born, the mom left the tape player on every time her baby was sleeping. That is how my friend grew up surrounded by classical music. (This was over 40 years ago in case you’re wondering about the tape player.) My friend’s mom tried this with her next two pregnancies, but it didn’t have the same effect on the other children.
My friend became a music teacher for middle school. She developed a dislike for classical music, possibly due to resentment against her mom, who had pushed her in that direction, so she loves jazz instead.
You are highly unusual in having that gift, and you must be very passionate about music if you were practising instead of playing football with the other kids!
Your church must have been absolutely astounded at your abilities, how fast you learn, and how dedicated you are!
Hopefully you can keep learning and make a living out of your amazing talent! 👏😃👏😃👏
Kinda same with electric guitars with distortion
How do you teach yourself the organ?
Edit: Ah, that's how.
Organist are the horse people of the musical world. That isn't a instrument, that's a lifestyle choice.
Makes sense. I'm fond of both (but can't afford either lol).
@@MortMe0430 was about to type "im fond of organs, but allergic to horses" and then i was like... Wait, that sounds a bit weird out of context, lol
@@adondriel Well from what I’ve found, as someone with allergies, you usually aren’t allergic to the things *inside* the animal.
its such a lifestyle that i know an organist who has a fairly sized organ built in his house. he has an entire room opposite his kitchen that houses 5 sets of pipes and all the machinery for the thing. everyone pretty much everyone just knows him as the organist in the area.
As an organist I couldn't agree more.
"Organ players are weird"
Me, thinking about my music teacher, who can play literally anything perfect from sight and who we once saw looking at haunted houses for sale: "yeah, that checks out"
Your teacher sounds legit.
Your teacher sounds cool.
I love the organ...I really wanted to learn as a child. But they didn't just allow people on the organ, you were supposed to learn the piano first and I hated the piano, so I want for the next best thing, which was the accordeon (because it works similiar to an organ in a way, but with less options).
Ah that reminds me of when I spent weeks practicing a piece and still sound like crap and then my teacher glances at the sheet music and sounds like an Angel of Music😂
Your teacher has been dead for centuries
Those super low notes hit us hard, we're instinctively afraid of things that sound like angry bull gators, bulls, bull moose, etc. Super large dangerous animals making loud low bellows are meant to scare us, and everything that hears them.
Forte is such an underrated Disney villain. I kinda sympathize with him. Treated like dirt as a human, when he seemed like a nice guy...gets stuck against a wall for years while most others can move around (kind of a jail cell, really), as part of his "Master's" punishment...still tries to be a good friend for a long time. Forte is a prodigy, and once he felt stripped of his dreams, he totally lost it and his sorrow turned into madness. Because his ideals were twisted or naive (he thought for the castle folk staying in that form was fine, while in reality the curse in the end would've turned them into what they had become, but without a soul), he's a faithful representation of the dark side of those personalities. I commend Beast for mourning him after his death, showing the deserved pity and sensitivity.
I agree and it is too bad that Forte didn't get more recognition out there. And yeah he was basically imprisoned in that room mind you with his depressed and violent prince and later when he finally became a missing piece in his heart and had the chance to explore his talent he totally got lost in the satisfaction of his madness
And yeah when Adam mourned for him at the end when he killed him shows also how HE evolved as well. His old self that didn't care about anyone finally learned some empathy and perhaps he partially realized that all that could have been avoided, starting slowly his trip towards redemption one step at a time
Did I learn why the organ sounds scary: mostly
Did I actually learn that People who play organs are weird rich privileged loner feet people: absolutely
Love your profile picture
@@maem7462 jeff blim truly is magical
Jeff blim is the best
Brand new sentence
@@joshou3759 he is the legend
Organist pulling out stops: "I'm not even using 50% of my power yet . . ."
Literally.
I've never seen JJBA, but I read that in what I imagine to be a JJBA voice.
Organ: "Pfft. This isn't even my final form."
What form of power is that ?
@@professionalpainthuffer DBZ is closer but I could totally hear DIO saying something like that.
Being an organist is basically being the musical equivalent of a Dragon Tamer
as someone whose father is the organist (& director of music, can totally confirm theyre a different breed) at my church, has been in the choir and helped my dad with pulling stops and turning pages and basically heard our pretty fisk organ played my whole life and even been inside it a few times, videos like these are SO fun to watch, and i learn a lot of things i never knew even with my experiences. the organ has been a huge part of my life ever since i was born (i literally exist because of ours being such a good instrument LOL, my dad wouldn't have stayed in town and met my mother if not for the organ) and im glad to see these crazy awesome instruments getting the attention they deserve
Randomly got this in recommended
Imagine an alien archaeologist trying to deduce human anatomy from the controls of this organ. "Well, as near as we can figure it, they must have had 12 arms (two of them quite long), six legs, and at least three brains."
Sounds about right, most musicians are basically hyper humans anyway
Hey that's my uncle Gerkin!
@@chez-berger 😂
All I can picture when you say that is like three benders from Futurama fused together.
@@eraimattei the perfect pair of comments lmao
my s/o has an organ built into his house. it's a perfectly normal house, not a mansion or anything, and then boom... pipe organ. i have struggled to think of a bigger flex.
Add that to the list of things that I want in my house...
this video helped an average idiot like myself understand why my sister's boyfriend paid the movers an exorbenant amount to move his organ UPSTAIRS to their new house. its the musical nerd's equivalent of a muscle car.
There is none
There is none
There is none
My dad spent his lifetime working in pipe organ design, construction, renovation and repair. 1936 - 2014. I grew up playing upstairs in his shop, up where the 16' pipes poked up from the "tuning organ" downstairs. Started hitting the road with him when I was 14 - have seen the inside of so many churches. It's a FUN life.
My biggest gaffe was, upon trying out each keyboard as my Dad was climbing up into the organ at the other end of the cathedral, playing on a tiny keyboard off the side what seemed to be disconnected. I didn't hear anything from the console location where I was, so I figured it was a disconnected component - it happens. Just killing time until I heard the knocks from the other side of the church that my Dad used to communicate long distance, I horsed around, silently - I thought - playing Jethro Tull's "Aqualung" on this little keyboard.
I got one verse in by the time I heard my Dad running back across the sanctuary, whisper-yelling (since there was always someone praying or stopping in for a quick stations of the cross), "Sto-o-o-o-oo-o-p! Stop it!!"
Turns out it was the keyboard for steeple chimes.
Aqualung was ringing out across the whole city.
Bach's tocatta & fugue in Dm was one of the few things my dad knew how to play, and he'd use it to test his work after the weeks' long tuning process.
I know this wasn't your intention for creating this video, but you just gave a great summary for villains. I was listening to this in the background as I wrote my Curse of Strahd Campaign and you just convinced me to make the Organ in Strahd's castle a much more intimidating representation of his power.
And now I'm giving my dragon BBEG an organ!
@@Attaxalotl I went one step further: In my setting, there's a giant cathedral in the centre of the city, with an appropriately giant organ. Seems pretty standard....
Except, they aren't using the organ to worship their god. The organ *IS* their God, and it's genuinely for the best they don't piss it off.
Organist: I play an orchestra
People: Did you mean, you play in an orchestra?
Organist: Nope. I play an orchestra
I am the Senate
@@nopatiencejoe6376 No, I am the Senate
@Justin Nowaczynski my God. This changes everything.
No, I am the Orchestra
People: THAT’S ILLEGAL
“No Jerry don’t humans can’t hear that low”
“haha 128ft go BRRRRRR”
I've grown to hate this meme, but this was one of it's best implementations of it I've seen
@@gumbahasselhoff I used to hate it but it’s grown on me
I though the joke was that he was 128 ft deep, literally low in the ground.
Is there any pipe organ music that harmonizes off the rhythmic pulse of extremely low notes?
@@gumbahasselhoff Me too, Redditors overuse it and put it into some of the stupidest and mundane situations.
6:54 This is the organ that I first learned on!!! I am an organ student and I paused the video here because that organ looked super familiar, and I recognize all the chairs and stops and everything around it! That's an amazing coincidence!
Theming someone with an organ is an immediate conviction of their character. The organ being associated with the person playing it, means theme of the character represents seclusion, power/money, and a touch of reverence.
As an organist, I found it very entertaining when he lost his mind trying to explain how an organ works. Let me say it gets even more complicated when you try to understand the mechanics to it.
my guitar plugs into the amp and black magic happens
Pipe organs: The only instruments that requires an architect to make, a team of engineers to operate and the hands & feet of God to play.
Profile pic checks out
@@Diego-zz1df Carillions: *dies of embarrassment*
Wait till they get to the pneumatic valves. Hahaha
Me: God the guitar is so hard to play and learn sometimes
The feet people: HAHA YOU FOOL, YOU BUFFOON, YOU SIMPLETON
me in the background struggling to play brodyquest on my walmart keyboard:
Then there’s shoegaze: feet people guitarists
if it makes you feel any better i'm a foot person (for the record, that means i play the organ, i DO NOT have a foot fetish) and i still think the guitar is hard sometimes
I would be so intimidated if i was playing an organ in a church or something, i can't even play piano in front of my teacher
@@fredhasopinions thanks for clarifying the dying question I've had in regards to your foot fetish, Arthur. I can finally rest knowing that you, in fact, DO NOT have a foot fetish.
Personally, I actually love the sounds of Organs.
It’s just more of a beautiful sound.
Same! Ever since I was little. Always wanted to get married in a cathedral with a massive organ, not because I’m religious in any way, but because I want a double door entrance backed by a full stop organ, nothing says, “I’m. Here.” quite like an organ-backed entrance. 🥰
Thank you thank you thank you for discussing Carnival of Souls - it is a beautiful, inspired horror film largely forgotten now that influenced great modern horror directors like David Lynch. It’s a lovely close character study that is filled with unease and dread and then horror/sadness when you realize the protagonist’s true state (and decades before The Sixth Sense). Also see “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”
In every video he sounds like he's having a mental breakdown midway through-
Welcome to every sideways video ever
Yeah, the whole practically-scream-laughing thing gets kinda old
it's not good content if you don't feel them suffer
the *GODDAMN WILD WEST*
@@daverice2426 I kinda love it tho
"Organists are feet people."
-Sideways, 2020
Do with that what you will
ara ara~
I'm only 1:17 into the video and these comments are telling me I'm not mentally prepared
Dude, why?
I, as an organist, can confirm that feet repulse me.
I suppose if you didn't grow up in a traditional church, you have a very different view of organ music. I'm so glad I grew up in a church where Bach was played before services. His music is the deepest musical experience of spirituality and contemplation in my mind.
I rewatched She-ra sometime after having seen this video, and my mind was blown when I noticed the incorporation of a distant, ominous organ into the soundtrack when Horde Prime first appears.
There couldn't be a more fitting villain for it.
The man is wealthy and incredibly powerful; ancient (at least a thousand years old); utterly morally twisted; in total isolation save for his nameless, hive-minded clones whom are bred and programmed to serve and worship him; and has huge religious connotations being the leader and idol of a massive literal religious cult dedicated to conquering in his name.
He retains this air of untouchable confidence, power, and ease as he orchestrates the Galactic Horde. I feel like if it weren't for the fantasy/sci-fi setting, the organ could have been used more directly to great effect, played in his name.
I'll have to rewatch it! Another factor is that ND Stevenson based a lot of his and hypnoCatra's dialogue off of specific Bible verses that he had drilled into him as a kid. He's got a goat tattoo for another of those verses. I was raised by Calvinists, I caught a couple of them.
@@liamannegarner8083 Oh yeah, they're all over his dialogue, it's insane. The religious parallels are not subtle haha
So to sum it up, you could say there’s a lot of Bachstory behind this holy instrument
I just cant Handel these puns anymore.
Take my like and leave.
I hope this joke didn't blow people the wrong way
GO BACH TO WHERE YOU CAME
@@spanishinquisition4420 did not expect to see you here
"...70 men to blow it."
Me: "HAH!"
Sideways: *snickers*
Me: *laughs harder*
Me too omfg XD
what a time! what a job!
I'm quite inappropriate as well lmao
Truly that is a mighty organ.
“In a row?”
The church I went to as a child, Saint Mark's in Mt Kisco NY, has one of the oldest and largest pipe organs on the east coast of America. To this day I can still feel my entire body shaking any time I remember the massive horn section of the organ going off in the rear of the church- yes, this organ extended all the way to the rear of the church and I have no idea how that piping worked. I equate never having been in the same room as a pipe organ to never having been in the same room as a gong or those Japanese drums; yes, you know what it sounds like, but you're missing what it FEELS like
I don't think I have ever listened to a more animated narration. I'm exhausted listening to it. But it was fun and very informative. Excellent job!
This feels very much like a friend who is very very excited to tell you about something he loves and I am HERE for it.
Those are the best qualities for a teacher to have. :)
@@JP2GiannaT exactly. I can always tell when a teacher loves or doesn’t love what they’re doing. And I always end up loving to learn when a teacher is passionate
My dad played the organ in our church. Nobody ever noticed that he was playing "Halfway Down The Stairs' from The Muppet Show before services.
The music guy at my church frequently works pop and rock music into his postludes. Don’t Stop Believing is a frequent offender lol
my mom used to play the organ at our church before we converted to another sect of Christianity.
i played organ at one point. then i moved and no longer had access :(
as i recall, the opening scene of the big chill featured "you can't always get what you want" played on a church organ at a funeral (because it was the deceased's favorite song). it does sound like a hymn (intentionally).
LOL.
I once heard a story about a church whose organ was stolen! A man was posing as an organ technician, removed the pipes, and literally never returned. Now that's pretty hardcore.
"There are plenty of instances where you can hear organ music that isn't scary."
>Wedding March plays<
Me: >shudders
"Organists are a weird breed."
Yes, Yes we are.
Are y'all also feet people
@@goldencalf13 yes
But despite the video we aren’t rich. Generally the really rich people who had organs in their houses couldn’t even play without a roll player.
@@andrewmoore3121 exactly, they hired us
@@legendary6790 Are you as scheming as he says though? Jokes aside though, mad respect! Must take unimaginable skills to play even a simple organ. And I don't play anything!
Realizes the meaning of "pulling all the stops"
My brain- This is important! Free some space! Trash the ability to divide fractions!
"Trash the ability to divide fractions."
You got me laughing for at least half an hour you glorious bastard.
Fractions? That ain’t enough room we need to get rid of basic adding and subtracting as well
@@tyguy5712 right? All the math!
Whatever it takes to keep the movie quotes and song lyics, I use those everyday.
@@InAmOrAtA1983 indeed
@@ejedwards1678 good looking out
6:40 That looks like Organ Stop Pizza in Arizona. Really great to see. Even if I’m wrong, it’s still amazing. (The only way I made the connection was with the moving glass frame and the lights- big factor for OSP)
No sheet music, and he takes suggestions written by the audience down in the pizza parlor. This guy truly is amazing. Last time we went however there was a new person and didn’t do as many, but considering the first guy’s greying hairline he was teaching someone how to run it.
Truly amazing these people are.
Holy shit this is a fantastic video! You really break down the history of the instrument and of organ music in an understandable way without losing any of the important details, or the humor. The insight into the way organs are used to characterize villains is really brilliant, and I love how many unique examples you were able to find. Great job, definitely subbing!
Also, that "honeycomb" symbol at the end is a really, really old Cyrillic symbol used to represent the Seraphim. It's called a multiocular O. ;)
Organ: **screeches so low the walls rattle**
Everyone: Wha-
Organ player: Ah yea, *they do that* :)
Hahahahaha
128' pipe trembles in the basement, shaking the whole house
Imagine, you life in a skyscraper, in the basement is an organ with a 128' pipe. You just want to make yourself some hot chocolate but don't even need to stir it, since the organ shakes the whole building
Elephants greet each other with low frequency sounds, that humans can't hear. They're communicating behind our backs using infrasound. But thankfully they think we're cute.
No joke, elephants actually view humans like we view small lapdogs: Due to our short size, tiny ears and nose, and eyes, that are relatively large for our face size, we trigger an "aw, look at the cute baby!" response in elephants.
Just make sure, that you don't play the organ when the circus comes through. The elephants might think you're calling them.
In other news, there are videos on YT discussing "what dinosaurs actually sounded like". In one of them, the author came to the conclusion, that large theropods like t-rex couldn't roar. They didn't chirp like birds either. According to people, who did research on theropod voices, t-rex emitted low frequency sounds, that probably came close to those elephant greeting sounds... or low frequency organ sounds.
So... we should all be glad, that Bach was unable to attract a t-rex with his church gigs. Although that would have made for an awesome movie.
@@unterdessen8822 Glad to wake up to this. Thank you for your contribution
@@plushy_doctor2299 I'll wait for your fanfiction to this comment 😅👍
I'm surprised you didn't touch on the fact that humans are naturally unnerved by sounds below our range of hearing - like, a lot of house hauntings can be put down to extremely low sounds.
RIGHT?!?! I was waiting for this to be mentioned, but it never came up!
The resonance of the pipes also produces formants of the human voice (especially those heard in screams or other distress noises) so it's implying speech where there is none.
Monke brain: Ooga booga giant flute piano is crying for help and threatening me at same time
Usually those notes are not performed and really few organs can execute them, especially in an old film from which they could not be reproduced
but are these low notes whats being playing in movies?
@@KNylen As I said, no. How in 1950 would a film have frequencies under 20Hz? Still now cinema don’t reproduce those sounds
The outro to this video is so well written and delivered. Even when I know it's coming, it's just as good as when I first heard it. Well done!
I've always found organs and the music they produce to be stunning and beautiful.
"An organ is just a piano with rabies" As a musician I've never heard a more accurate representation of this beautiful instrument
the analogy limps, rather heavily - because the organ was first, the piano came much, Much, MUCH later
piano is just an organ that sounds more lame and has less pianos in it
@@chriskershaw7968 So basically, Organs are wolves, while pianos are domestic dogs?
@@somerandomguynumber111 Hm, I don't think that quite fits, either, tbh. If I would want to use a canine analogy, I'd probably go with: "Organs are like Huskies, Pianos are like Poodles."
@@chriskershaw7968 I'd go more with an Organ is a tiger, and a Piano is a housecat.
So it's like one massive musical living creature. I guess "organ" is more appropriate of a name than I thought.
Holy crap now my insides feel like their squirming. Nope!
Yep. And the world's biggest is the Wanamaker organ in Philadelphia. It has over 28,500 pipes.
@@Amelia-zh5vw Or are they musical?
Damnit now I'm imagining some eldritch nightmare organ made of flesh and bone and sinew. Belongs in darkest dungeon or smth
@@somedragonbastard why does that seem like that's what ypu would find right after you broken your 3th crimson heart at 3:33 3/3/3333 on version 1.3 of terraria when you are 3 years old in the playstation 3 with 2 controllers and a banana attached?
In the first game from the Ace Attorney series, there is a character, the chief of police Damon Gant, who keeps a pipe organ in his office, and also his theme is played by a pipe organ. It is explained, at some point in the game, that whenever he wants to punish one of his subordinates he makes them stand beside his organ and plays it for hours.
All of this hits differently after your explanation
Hahaha i almost forgot about that - it’s weird remembering this as both a student organist and an Ace Attorney fan 😭
I love your excited presentation and enthusiastic love for your materials. Your mind is charmingly eclectic and incisive. New sub
23:40 😲 What a great wrap up, right at the end! It's not the organ that is scary, it's the person playing it!
Sideways: Organists are a strange breed
The Phantom: :(
Davy Jones: :≡
bruh YES!! 🤣🤣
i would say he is a weird breed
Me about to start organ lessons :(
The Phantom just wants people to appreciate his organ playing.
Organs are cool and all, but I'm kind of glad that whoever invented the organ as we know it today is dead because they clearly were _WAY_ too powerful to be safely kept alive.
now that i think about it your right
Dude the pipe organ dates back to like ancient Greece or Rome and the really early ones only had like 18 or 19 loud pipes (we think) and so were more like a calliope, and were often played outdoors more for fairs, plays, etc and for entertainment... and were associated with religion a bit later I think, rather than at the beginning (so, they started out more as entertainment instruments). They certainly weren't gigantic as the technology didn't exist yet to make them so. They only started getting big towards the end of the Middle Ages and end of the Renaissance but didn't get REALLY big until even later than that.
Small pipe organs were made the entire time and are still made, but since they don't fit into the 'big scary huge pipe organ' stereotype, usually get left out of the discussion :(
I get your joke and it's funny but the actual history is weirder, cooler, and less obvious than that.
@@andrewbarrett1537 he said "as we know it today". he means the person who made the stereotypical building sized, 100 man instrument, not the ones from ancient greece.
@@jackmahoy2874 There were no such instruments requiring dozens of people for it to play. It is false hyperbole.
How do we know that the person who invented pipe organs isn't immortal and still out there somewhere?
I’ve been to Organ Stop Pizza, which is the restaurant featured in the clip at 06:26, with the world’s largest Wurlitzer! It‘s in Mesa, Arizona. It was really cool to experience! Kind of campy and fun (they had dancing cat puppets that were honestly… kind of terrifying)
YES! I've been there too! And yes, the puppets are kind of creepy.
Is Organ Stop related to the Heart Attack Grill? 😂
@@dronesclubhighjinks LOL! That reminds me of how my sister reacted when our mom told her she was taking us to Organ Stop.
@@saphiriathebluedragonknight375 🤣🤣🤣
The natural subsonics the organ can easily make it one of the most unsettling instruments.
Honestly, the sound of organs don't even freak me out- the organs themselves freak me out. Like, the size and shape of the organs just fill me with so much anxiety.
Yeah, I totally understand. I used to play the organ and even after years of playing was still a bit scared of the monstrosity behind me, seemingly suspended in mid-air. And that was a relatively small organ. But playing it helps a bit, you know, taming the beast :-)
I love their presence. Big, shiny, and makes me feel held. No talking, no thinking, just sound.
I love them. This huge loud monstrosity is entirely man made, a shimmering palace of sound larger than any single individual who'd attempt to tame it.
I have megalophobia, and yeah. They're kinda pretty freaky to me.
Oh god me too
Considering the organ is much older, a piano is just an organ without rabies.
pianos are domesticated pipe organs
Android 19 if I were a piano teacher I would have this needle pointed on a pillow
@@android19willpwn The Welsh Corgi of the piano world
Pianos are the result of hybridization between organs and hammered dulcimers in an attempt to produce a species favorable to domestication
@@AoiiHana i appreciate the recognition of the hammers. I'd almost go so far as to say the piano is a hybrid of a string instrument and a percussion.
loved this video especially because my grandfather works for a company that builds and repairs organs and I have accompanied him to some of his "job" sites so I have seen the inside of a fair share of organs ranging in size from small to absolutely massive
My college used to have a pipe organ, but recently sold it. I assume they sold it because it was expensive to maintain, and it's a rare instrument for people to learn. Apparently, they lost funding because a lot of alumni were donating specifically because they liked the organ
I’m a beginner church organist and when I started I thought “hey I took 15 years piano, shouldn’t be too difficult”
Little did I know I stepped into a spinning wormhole of complexity, pedaling and finger substitutions. But gosh what a satisfying experience when all the stops are pulled and the whole building bellows with powerful music. Enchants the soul!
Good luck pal! Ive heard an organ live once and its amazing, i hope others can hear it too thanks to you :)
Oh boy, that’s not very encouraging for me, a young organist 🤣
Im in the exact same situation
I imagine it bust be beyond ecstatic.
@@crazydragy4233 More like a constant tension between an ecstatic and humiliating experience. For me, with the organ, there was always the problem and at the same time the uplifting experience of sometimes forgetting it's actually me who makes those sounds resonate through the church. When I made a mistake, it could be heard and was extremely awkward, but at the same time, there was the feeling that those tones had always been in the church, they just happen to be flowing through me.
It's sort of an invisible responsibility. When you're playing improvised variations on the day's hymns while people are leaving the church and the door is open, you don't want to play poorly because 1) it's a transition between the spiritual experience and the everyday life, you want to help make it smooth, 2) you don't want to ruin the churchgoers' Sunday morning because for some of them, it's the only relaxation they can get, 3) your music can be heard VERY far and automatically connected with the church, so there's a reputation to keep. But people can't really see who's playing and most of them don't care. So you're just part of something bigger than yourself.
"Not all Bach music is scary"
It is if you're playing it for a grade 🥴
fair point
It was easily the worst part of being in music school, even if it was just studying it for theory. Choral after choral...ugh
the look on that emojis face looks like it accidentally shat itself but enjoyed it and isn't ashamed. Dreadful. good comment tho
@@frailvoid5844 hahahaha
I can't believe I watched a video about organs for 25 minutes. really great video and entertaining commentary, subscribed
That fugue is a funeral dirge. My great grandmother was a keyboardist in silent movie theaters and other gigs. She played organ, piano and accordion and several other instruments. Some of her other gigs were private events and Sunday services at different churches.
Alternate video title: "Sideways slowly loses their mind over things that don't make sense or are ridiculously complicated for 25 minutes straight"
That's, like, every Sideways video, though.
His mind
@@thomasray does sideways use he/him pronouns or do they use they/them? honest question.
@@insertpseudonym5311 Not aware of any they/them pronouns.
I think OP said their because it feels weird to assign a gender to gender-neutral non-proper noun like the word Sideways.
@@insertpseudonym5311 He's male, I'm 99.999% sure
QuickFact: The pipe organ was the most complex manmade device until it was surpassed by the manual telephone exchange. It remains the most complex musical instrument.
yeah I think it is cool how it is basically a fully analog synthesizer. and in fact if they didn't weight several of tonnes and required you to build the building that housed them around it we would probably see more of them today
Since the computer chips in current electronic organs are probably more complex than a manual telephone exchange, your comment might need to be extended
@@joshuaturner4602 You do know that there are electronic organs in some people's living rooms that have several times the computing power of a good desk top and still allow the human to play with their feet?
@@1106gary Today, the most complex device ever made is the Space Shuttle, which took the "most complex" title away from the manual telephone exchange.
@@smilingearth5181 Yes. Sorry I was mistakenly limiting my thinking to musical instruments.
This is amazing, this deserves way more credit than it has!
A pipe organ is capable of completely enveloping music that you can actually feel. Combine that with Western music theory and how a piece of music is written, you get scary music that you can feel. I think this video and theme tie in very closely to the Gothic genre without explicitly saying it and I find it quite fitting to say that organs and feet people, in general, are fairly gothic. Based off of description alone they fit right into the realm of uncanny which is why I think I've always considered them to be "scary" as the sound and the image it conjures up from its prevalence in gothic films. Churches, paganism and religious symbols are also usually key points of symbolism in gothic iconography, so it checks out. It's goth bruh.
"There are plenty of instances where organ music isn't scary"
*shows a wedding*
Oof 😂 you’re not wrong lol
B-but weddings are scary!
ok boomer
@@auroramacula Weddings are boomer as fuck, what are you talking about
@@OLDSACKS lol sorry then, lad. i only typed 'ok boomer' because i thought that, by implying 'marriages are scary/bad', you were those kind of baby boomers who hate their wives and tell young men that women are monsters and marriages are a path to hell lmaoo.
again, im sorry if that ain't the case!
"unpaid intern" is a funny way to say slave labor.
I heard that too
Considering that Grecians had slaves. 💀
Sure beats, organ-pumper.
It's basically the same thing.
You got the joke
Oh gosh finally Maestro Forte got some recognition! ❤🎉
Really good video! ❤ and yeah many creatures feel instinctual fear to low frequences because you feel them but don't always hear them
the immense power you feel as the organist is insane. - an organist
"you have to be some kind of giant octopus to play these instruments"
Davey Johns, greatest organ player to never exist.
Alternatively, the organist has a second person standing next to them whose sole job it is to flip the pages (like the assistants of concert pianists) and pull the stops as needed.
@@rolfs2165 German style organs certainly have those, otherwise the player would have to stop playing and stand up to work the stops because the stop controls aren't actually facing them.
@@thoughtengine Most church organs in Germany only have two or three columns of stops on either side, so you can still easily reach them by just leaning to the side a bit. But depending on the piece, you'd need a third arm to pull stops while continuing to play with the other two hands. (One of the organists in my parents' church liked to occasionally show off and play such pieces at the end of service.) ;)
The absense of a single "n" changes the meaning of the sentence drastically!
@@rolfs2165 i'd end up punching then in the face after they put their hand in my way and nade me miss the note a single time
"The piano has pedals that make people who don't know how to articulate properly sound good"
I did NOT come here to be called out like that. 🤣
Edit: wow, I've never gotten so many likes on a comment before. Thanks guys.
"I'm in this video and I don't like it."
I LEGIT THOUGHT THIS WHEN HE SAID THAT DAMN
I felt so attacked
Same! I sound like shit when I play without pedal because I have trouble with my motor skills, and far better with, lol.
Hahaha saaaame
Wow! What an incredibly well written script! This vid is amazing, wish I had been following when it came out. Will now. 😄
Not a musician at all, but I very much enjoyed the amount of sources he provided, and the options I have for further research. Very nicely done, really appreciate the extra effort!
"Organs have all these instruments attached to them, yada yada"
So what you're saying is, Organs are the original midi synthesizers? Just, instead of digital musical noises, they used the actual instruments.
The OG DAW
@@Kinda___Happy the AW, you could say
@@favoredexistentialcrisis5881 hahah damnit you're right on
Those low notes, you can literally HEAR the individual wavelengths. Insane. Like, single digit frequencies.
Individual vibrations, actually.
@@briangeer1024 basically this. You hear distortions this mad energy causes when it shakes objects in the room.
wubwubwubwubwubwub
1 hert.
@@SamAronow its still hertz lmao
Your energy is addicting...lol...and your sarcasm is both subtle and direct...lots of fun...lol...
Interstellar does this so amazingly. Hans Zimmer took the most complicated instrument, mankind’s greatest earthly invention, and applied it to mankind’s greatest dream, interstellar travel. He took an incredible instrument and make the best movie soundtrack I’ve ever heard simply by choosing an instrument that’s commonly thought of as a “church instrument”
"Whoever's playing the organ ... is doing this in complete isolation ... they don't need anyone. An eccentric genius, broken, and left in complete isolation"
Me: *starts building an organ*
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA.
*joins the building*
Dang it, I wanna borrow your organ but we have to stay isolated
When you said "Bach didn't write the Toccata and Fugue in D minor", my automatic reaction was to think "Ok, what key did he write the song in, then?"
🤣🤣🤣
Exactly right 🤣
Which Toccata and Fugue? Bach wrote a ton of Toccatas and fugues.
@@martuuk8964 That is just 1 issue that his wording caused. I'm not even an expert, so I think it shows that this was probably hurriedly researched. It is a lot of information, to be fair.
There are various puzzles about the score that don't add up. For one, it lacks counterpoint, something Bach rarely did. Some suspect it was a Bach string instrument piece transcribed onto the organ by somebody other than Bach. Others suspect it was a training exercise or organ testing piece, kind of like the "My dog has fleas" tune for tuning certain string instruments. By not having counterpoint, one can hear each note better. The mystery remains.
I clicked on accident but instantly subscribed 😂 I love your sense of humor while teaching.
I love the passion and emotion in your videos. You were highly recommended by the hate-mongers of the toxic brood in EFAP #86, and I have come to enjoy your content.
Sideways: Organists are a strange breed.
Every Organist: *Yes*
Yes
I built my own organ... So yes.
@@bilbobaggins138 So basically organ players are like PC Gamers.
They know their machine well enough to the point they can modify it to their liking, so they can play exactly how they wish.
Oh, and they have a ****ton of patience, time, and likely money.
@@eymed2023 Not to be rude, but it's harder to build legos then it is to build a pc, more parts involved. If you design the pcb and program it yourself i'd give props. But still that's only a third on the way to building your own organ ;)
I proffer a simpler explanation: Organs are unsettling because they're powerful. It sounds like someone is harnessing nature, like they're playing the wind. It's the answer to the question, "what if a thunderstorm were an instrument?"
100%agree
Good point, but its safe to say that the person playing it harnesses that power. Basically the instrument to represent God can be played by a person who harnesses it.
_"what if a thunderstorm were an instrument?"_
Here's my answer to exactly that question from early 2020 --- hope you'll have fun with it, at least I know I did! :)
ua-cam.com/video/E9FM0gaACXE/v-deo.html
awesome research and explanation. you are on point!
I found it cool that you mentioned the organ in Atlantic City, as my grandfather was a tour guide there before he passed. He was quite fond of organs and choirs
"organists are feet people" is giving me throwbacks to the time the first ever comment someone left on my performance video was a request to play barefoot from someone with a foot fetish.....
Why do people...
The third comment I ever got on an organ performance of mine was "YOU COULD PLY THE PEDALS SO MUCH BETTER WITH GREAT FEEL WITHOUT THE SHOES!" [exclamations trimmed], so I unfortunately wouldn't be too surprised if it was not uncommon for young (i.e. teenage) organists to experience that, especially if they don't look traditionally masculine.
@@ghalfsharp0 literally W H Y
I have a friend group of about 15 teenaged organists and I think I'm the only one who's experienced this so far (thankfully). I'm glad someone is paying attention to my pedalwork because it's dang hard lol but I think that's the wrong kind of attention......
I think you should capitalize on that and make an onlyfans with literally nothing other than videos of you playing pedal exercises barefoot 😂😂😂
@@cody7445 I MEAN, that's not the worst idea I've heard so...free money, _TBH_
Oh nooooo
My Sideways conspiracy: He's going to mention Phantom of the Opera every video he can, but we're never actually going to get a dedicated Phantom video.
We need one now!!
We needed one yesterday. All we ask for is a Phantom video, every waking moment.
11:13 is the beginning of an absolute WHIRLWIND
I just read Elizabeth Gaskell's “The Old Nurse’s Story” (1852) for class and the organ plays a pretty prominent spooky part in the story (its old and broken but a ghost is heard playing it throughout)