🎵 Viscount built an American Skinner organ and it's FANTASTIC!
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- Опубліковано 6 сер 2024
- Well this is something pretty interesting! Regent Classic Organs (part of Viscount) and Renatus have built a 1930s Ernest Skinner organ console, based on the organ of Saint Peter’s Church in Morristown, New Jersey USA.
Some of you may recognise the name 'Renatus' and that's because the BIS Organ is also made this company, so I was really interested to see another console made by these very talented people.
Anything is possible, and in this video David Mason (the Managing Director of Viscount Classical Organs) explains how YOU could buy this very instrument or have another replica made especially for you.
00:00 | Introduction
00:06 | Paul Manz - Chorale-Prelude on 'Now thank we all our God'
03:10 | Background to David Mason
04:23 | A first look at the Skinner replica
06:40 | This organ is for sale!
07:31 | The influences of American organ design and sounds
11:36 | YOU can design your own organ console!
12:37 | Viscount vs Hauptwerk
14:44 | Frank Bridge - Adagio in E major
20:53 | Quickfire questions for David!
27:06 | Jehan Alain - Litanies
31:53 | Final words
This organ: regentclassicorgans.com/insta...
The original Skinner organ: www.musicatsaintpeters.org/organ
If you'd like more information about this organ, please contact Regent Classic Organs (part of Viscount Classical Organs) at the following site: regentclassicorgans.com/enqui... (Make sure you mention BIS! 😉)
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*If you'd like more information about this organ, please contact Regent Classic Organs (part of Viscount Classical Organs) at the following site: **regentclassicorgans.com/enquire-skinner-organ** (Oh - make sure you mention BIS! 😉)*
Boy, have we come a LONG way in the "digital" organ world! Sounded fabulous, BRAVO!!!!
but why is he still in the closet? It's 2023 gays' can marry too?
Viscount Organs are superb!
My own first organ was a viscount from the 90s, and it was fantastic!
ahlborn too
Thank you Richard and David for a great look and listen of the Organ this evening! :)
This is an enjoyable and well-produced demonstration of a high-end digital organ. The Skinner-style console looks gorgeous and I'm sure is a pleasure to play. As always, Richard plays superbly and he and David are delightful conversationalists! Digital (or electronic in the old days) organs have certainly come a long, long way, and I find them musically persuasive, up to a point. All things being equal (like adequate space), I do feel that when churches or other institutions spend as much on a digital instrument as they'd spend on a pipe organ, it's legitimate to question the ethics of the salesperson and the wisdom of the buyer.
I love seeing digital organs like this; ones designed to be near perfect copies of existing organs in both tonal and physical qualities. Doesn’t quite offer the flexibility of a hauptwerk setup, but they bring a “pipe organ experience” to places without pipe organ money or space. This is made all the more special by the fact that it’s in a place where skinner organs are not common/extant.
This organ sounds great.
Our church was looking for an organ and I actually inquired about this at one point. I believe it would have been an excellent option but it was a bit above what we could afford. Being American, everything about this instrument was attractive to me.
What a great sounding instrument.
Beautiful harmonisation !
Fantastic demonstration, and wonderful to see such passion on the part of David Mason about the craftsmanship that went into creating this very special organ. Thank you for the wonderful discussion and audio tour!
A really enlightening interview. Thank you both so much.
That is one beautiful instrument!
That organ is so beautiful.
Among my favorite of your videos. I love them all but found this to be immensely educational. Thank you, Richard!
Loved David's response in the quickfire questions around the influential musical figure, where he discusses learnings through observations - '[...] watching someone who really can do it, is the most educational [...] situation' - which Richard then shares his similar experience.
In this same spirit, thank you Richard, guests to BIS, and regulars (shout out to the Jerry Martins, the Paul Feys), along with our up and comings (such as Storee Denson, Deagan Jones, Ed Gaut, Stanly Heap, Stone Alvarado, Benas Matuzevicius) for sharing their music, techniques, close up vids etc. Being able to see what is being done, and how it is done, has greatly helped me with my own (very amateur) playing
Love this! This is what it’s all about. Thank you 😊
If I had money I would buy it. I Love Music. Specially organ or similar Brazil
So happy to hear you play the Manz piece. I had the good fortune, while in college, to sing in a concert where Manz was the organist.
David Mason is a great guy! I met him once at his showroom. Amazing video, as always! Thanks for sharing this.
..I... Can Have NO HOPE, But to Enjoy Listening to the Music from You Players!..😍🙏🏾 I Am TOO OLD and Poor to do anything But listen..!💓👏👏👏 Blessings to Anyone who can Own This, and one of those things..!❣️
The organ sounds and looks great - sorry I missed it live!
Beautiful demonstration of this beautiful organ!
Very enjoyable segment, Richard! Thanks for playing three of my favorite pieces, especially the gorgeous Bridge Adagio!!
Superb and engaging video and discussion. Thank you for making this happen!
This is really interesting. You found a wonderful balance between music, questions and talk.
SO interesting discussion & demonstration.
This was very interesting. I could listen to more like this. Thanks for a great job.
Thank you for this video. We have a 3 manual Viscount Envoy in our sitting room. It's wonderful!
Hello, Richard;
You may remember that we had an exchange of "comments" in which I gave a complete organ specification
when you were making decisions about the design of your new organ at home. I worked in the pipe organ industry and remain devoted to EM Skinner and G Donald Harrison and their ideals in sound. As was mentioned, both men were deeply influenced by Father Willis and Henry Willis III, respectively, although Harrison also was mindful of Silbermann and Cavaille-Coll. Marcel Dupre recorded several albums of Widor, Franck, and his own music on Harrisons final instrument at St Thomas Church in New York which are still available on Yourube in which Harrison was paying hommage to Cavaille-Coll. But that organ was originally built by EM Skinner, and in the recording yiu can still hear his mighty Contre Bombarde in the Pedal which was really a 32' Wooden Contra Tuba! Dupre loved that instrument. Don't miss it!
Richard, please consider a return visit to this Viscount-Skinner and take us on a tour. Be sure, you try the Flauto Dolce and Flute Celeste with the super octave coupler in the Swell and likewise in the Choir the Erzahler and Celeste with the super and even Sub couplers. If you end your Frank Bridge with those sounds, there is nothing more beauriful. If course you need a quiet 32 underneath it.🙂
I would love to know which of the EM Skinner Solo voices does this instrument have. I had previously mentioned his Flugelhorn (capped cornopean) - the sonic equivalent of British clotted cream, don't miss it, if it's there. And the English, French and Basset Horns are always a great plessure. They combine well with the string or flute celestes. Use the tremolo with the Solo voices. For a besutiful example of this, listen on UA-cam to the Virgil Fox performances of the Franck Cantabile and the Liszt Liebestraume, both played on the great Aeolian-Skinner organ of Riverside Church in New York.
all the best to you,
Bob Wilson
Fantastic video! I love these techy discussions :-). If I could offer one suggestion for future interviews: It is not necessary to split the discussion/interview audio left-right. It's a bit disorienting, especially when listening with headphones. Thank you for the wonderful demonstration of this instrument.
Well, I wished I had tht money, I'd buy it
Ondřej from Prague: Very interesting interview and also demonstrations. The digital (but not Hauptwerk) system it has come a long way in its development and is at a high level of tone processing. It would be very interesting to make an audio comparison of the consoles using Hauptwek and Viscount digital.
Can't wait. If I am correct it is not just a Skinner Organ but a EM Skinner Organ . EM Skinner Organs are based off of Henry Willis but have more Orchestral Stops such as French and English Horn and a Brassy Tuba Mirabilis. After EM Skinner Aeolian Skinner arrived to the scene and mostly enlarged the EM Skinner Organs such as St John Divine by adding a Bombarde, Positiv, and West End division. Also he also made the Idea of the American Eclectic Organ. So that means Organs like Riverside Church NYC would have big divisions that are French or German. I have played the Organ at the Washington National Cathedral and National City Christian which both have beautiful EM/Aeolian Skinner Organs. I have gladly found recordings of these Aeolian/EM Skinner Organs provided by my Grandmother.
EM Skinner did not base his organs off of Willis, although he did meet Willis and the two of them introduced elements of some of their favorite sounds into their own instruments. Skinner was especially interested in Willis' high-pressure reeds like the Tuba. Skinner actually started building organs under Ryder and then Hutchings. The American Classic Organ was more a concept of G. Donald Harrison than E.M. Skinner.
You finally got to hear Skinner! Now get a Skinner for the BIS organ.
Thank you Richard for showing this ipad trick ;) I tested it and it is awesome :)
There is an EM Skinner at Mickve Israel Temple in Savannah, Georgia and an Aeolian Skinner St. St. Pau Lutheran here in Savannah. Have played both; the EM is rather small and limited, but that great sound still there; the other Skinner organ was designed by G. Donald Harrison, but has been modified slightly since original installation. Both still going strong.
I guess H Walcha came across a 🎹piece of Bach, at the age of 13, and when tot. blind-folded, played all Org.works from memory, I also have been listening to ‘all’ of Bach,s music since the age of 12, and in early years played Chorale/hymn book from mem. Well, my dad was of great interest in US organs, and indeed, like the guys here say, its all depending on the person at the console, so one can get infinite tones/harmonies ala Bachs Wohltemp. Clavier, so to speak, 🙂
11:57 I know of an organ with everything anyone could ever want, Midmer-Losh Opus 5550. ;)
I'm with you regarding "must haves" in heaven: pipe organs and trains.
Beautiful video, and a great console. However, I would like to have seen at least some discussion of the speakers and the other electronic hardware that are essential to the sound. I remember going to a dedication of a new digital instrument that was excellent. However the speakers were not up to projecting the organ's sound.
Being American, I’ve had my time with Skinners, and they are indeed quite nice. Clearly the pinnacle of their era. My first position after my Masters was at a large (filthy rich) church with one of E. M. Skinner’s last instruments. And I’ve certainly played several of G. Donald Harrison’s signature instruments for Aeolian-Skinner.
But having watched your construction video of the Renatus shop building your new gorgeous and fantastic console, the quality and detail were astounding! I’m wondering what it might cost for them to build specifically the Dudelange organ into a modern console just as a singular standalone instrument.
Unlike your boundlessly inquisitive nature and quest for multiple experiences via Hauptwerk, I’m a bit more of a fuddy-duddy stick in the mud who would prefer only one instrument that I truly loved and have it placed in a large stone room. Any guess as to whether they would do something like that? And in what wide range of potential price?
I don’t know of any console builder here who builds the quality I saw go into yours. So I doubt I would be satisfied with anything less. And simply put, Dudelange is just fantastic in every way!
Great presentation of the instrument, the relatively modest size of the console (so a choir has linesight to their organist/director), and perceived strengths of a modeled instrument so voicing can be scaled and tailored to the installation. The selection of the Manz, Bridge, and Alain works demonstrated the versatility, but a pity the flute celeste didn't make an appearance, one of the most beguiling Skinner inventions. Although anachronistically separated by centuries, the pairing of a finely voiced flute celeste with a Frescobaldi Elevation is an experience that shouldn't be missed.
It is a lovely console and sounded really fab in the building
Nice sound, round, but clear. Very Harrison like?
It looks and sounds like a skinner, but does it smell like a skinner? In my experience skinners have a smell to them, I can’t really describe it but it’s always something to experience when you sit at a skinner.
Why does this console appear to have black keys on the top manual and brown keys on the lower two? Is this jus a lighting trick? The only colour picture I could find of the St. Peter's Church console seemed to be four manuals with black keys.
Just an issue of the lighting.
That must have been a fun experience! The craftsmanship is excellent and the sound is also very good. Just out of curiosity: any idea what sound system/setup was used? I've played Viscount hybrids here in the States which use the same physical modeling technology and I've seen some of their multi-channel audio setups; curious how many speakers did they use in this case. Sounded great in the video; I'm sure it probably sounded even better in person.
HI, Agoston, The instrument played through 28 independent audio channels and there were 2 sub bass speakers.
@@davidmason3606 appreciate the response! The hybrid that I played here in Altoona, Pennsylvania has 22 ranks of pipes and about 60+ digital and it's an absolute blast to play. I've experienced first hand what a carefully voiced Phisys is capable of. I'd say the best argument in favor of it is to hear/play one in person. Once again: excellent job & looking forward to seeing/hearing more! Best wishes!
Sounded excellent in the church itself!
How have they managed to get such a realistic sound? How is this technology different from say the physis technology?
Y’all make a good point about digital installations being too big for the room. I’ve seen large 4 manual instruments installed in rooms that can’t seat 200 people. There is most certainly a disconnect, and that is coming from someone who is by no means an organ purist.
Richard, Can you tell me how much they are asking for this organ? And can you tell me why they are selling it.
Hi Jane. E mail me at enquiries@regentclassicorgans.com and we can have that discussion in private. Regards David
❤️🎶
Nun danket alle Gott : 95bpm instead of the 132 bpm in the partiture.. This sounds much better.
Earnest skinner in America was the foremost..builder love his strings and reeds..he built..the French horn..and flute tri...was awsome
Organs like this are a good substitute for pipe organs, particularly with churches that would rather spend a hundred thousand dollars or less, over spending one or two million dollars. So do you want to spend money building huge pipe organs or use the church money for some other type of ministry that will benefit people and meet their needs? I love pipe organs I love the organ in Abbey Church of Saint-Ouen in Rouen. I was with a 6 other organists who were allowed to play that instrument one Sunday afternoon in 2019, and it is truly remarkable.
Investing in lasting art as opposed to a disposable appliance is always sound stewardship.
@@praestant8 yes, but i have seen most churches spend over a million on an outstanding pipe organ but it is worthless in carpet dead acoustics.
I would like to know if it is in USA or England and what the price is¿ Inquiring minds want to know.
It’s in europe last I heard. I’ll be curious to see where Richard films this.
I contacted the builders last year and they will indeed ship it elsewhere, however.
@@PipeDreamerJacques What is the price in U.S. dollars¿ ¿ ¿ ¿
@@mudgebauer I don’t feel at liberty to share that figure as the price I was given was nearly two years ago and it may very well be higher now. Suffice to say it is equivalent to other high-end digitals from the likes of Walker, for instance.
What's the asking price of this beautiful Viscount organ?
I'm disappointed we are not hearing the actual Skinner sound, beautiful as this is.
It sounds very electronic
I have a viscount at home and I dont like its sound
John - it would be possible (I imagine) to hook this up to Hauptwerk and use a Skinner sample set. I personally really enjoyed playing this organ and really enjoyed its own built-in sounds. The wonderful thing about is that all the stops are completely adjustable and their individual sounds can be completely altered to suit your taste.
@@beautyinsound Can the original voicing parameters for the Skinner be easily restored/reset?
@@beautyinsound thanks, Richard. The sound was quite good but I heard Regents original sounds of the Skinner spec and wanted to hear you play it. I'm quite sure David could restore it to that sound or build another one with the Skinner voices. Thank you for your wonderful selections!
Richard, where is Viscount located?
Currently in England, but it can be shipped to various parts of the world.
The title seems a bit unclear. It's either an Æolian-Skinner or an E. M. Skinner. I've never heard one referred to as an American Skinner.
Too bad YT severely limits the audio resolution. You can definitely hear that Willis? Tuba though! :)
I'm certain the console is lovely, but there are some discrepancies from a Skinner console. The labels over the divisions, coupler rail, etc. are in the style, but are too wide. The flats on which the toe studs are mounted resemble M. P. Moller rather than Skinner.
That’s some minor detail! I’m sure the wood isn’t from the same forest either, and the keyboards are from a different supplier but it’s very close.
@@beautyinsound I agree with you. It is a minor detail. However, it is presented as a Skinner replica, even down to the font of the engravings. The devil is in the details.
.HMMMM,,,,..SO Viscount 32´ stop sounds like in a cathedral????
The music full träff. Solei deo gloria
What do you mean by: they 'have built a 1930s Ernest Skinner organ'? Viscount/Regent is a company who builts digital organs, so probably the console looks like EM Skinner's, but the sounds are digital and not going through breathing pipes?
Yes, of course! And your point?
They built a new digital to mimic a skinner. Pretty straightforward really.
Actually, that's not what Richard said: he said "organ console".
@@oldnslow6264 well, viscount is a digital organ builder. There was also a lot of press surrounding this when it was made two years ago. It was even shipped to Australia and used for the papal mass.
@@PipeDreamerJacques Hello James. I should have made it clear that I was responding to "UA-cam Recordings" who mis-quoted Richard.
I thought you would be blasting out the American national anthem!
Have you seen the video of me playing it at Gloucester Cathedral? If you haven’t you should really check it out because it sounds amazing!
@@beautyinsound I think your playing is amazing but maybe the choice of music I would question. What did you play for St Patricks / St Andrews / St Denis day? I hope you get where I am going with this.