Worst Organ You Have Come Across! Options

[liebe_klavier]

The title says it all.

The reason i have posted this new thread is because i have been very frustrated by the department organ and got really annoyed during my practice (was practising dupre variations today).... i do love my organ practice in general, but just annoyed by the organ itself.

the specification is: http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi...ec_index=N08942

[daveinnorfolk]

Interestingly, this is identical to the UEA organ. Does the Regal totally dominate everything else with its nasty nasal sound, and the 16' speak sparingly too?

[liebe_klavier]

Does the Regal totally dominate everything else with its nasty nasal sound, and the 16' speak sparingly too?

They are the worst stops (fairly loud, the 16' takes quite long to speak) on this organ, they seem never to be in tuned (no matter how many times the organ's been tuned). The bottom D at the pedal board tends to be silent. The manual which has the Regel, the top G is always stuck and the bottom C is very out of tune!
The technician who works at the department (also reponsible for contacting the organ tuner for tuning) gets really annoyed with me everytime i ask for the organ tuner to come to re-tune the whole thing, and fixing all the faults! he thinks i break the organ deliberately. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)

[Holz Gedeckt]

I've come across similar instruments, which were well-intended children of their times. I think you need to bear in mind that the organ has had 30 plus years of, probably, pretty hard use, and undoubtedly needs a fairly extensive overhaul.

The tuning problems of the Regal are probably because of the very short resonators on the pipes of this rank. These stops never stay in tune for long. On the continent, these reeds would be tuned by the organist on a frequent basis.

Are the pipes of the Dulzian half-length or are they, too, short resonators? 16' ranks with short resonators were often incorporated into practice organs at this time, and produce a sound rather reminiscent of a bee in a bottle!

[liebe_klavier]

I've come across similar instruments, which were well-intended children of their times. I think you need to bear in mind that the organ has had 30 plus years of, probably, pretty hard use, and undoubtedly needs a fairly extensive overhaul.

Are the pipes of the Dulzian half-length or are they, too, short resonators? 16' ranks with short resonators were often incorporated into practice organs at this time, and produce a sound rather reminiscent of a bee in a bottle!

the organ hasn't been used that frequently, some of the professors actually said that they couldn't hear the organ being played for years. It also depends how many undergraduate music first study organist in the department (i'm the only one, the previous one graduated university before i even applied!). they seriously can't be bothered to get things done properly. i wish there's a rodgers or something like that at the department.

as for the pipes, they are all "boxed" up, especially the pedal pipes, you have to take the 'lid' off the back of the organ to find pipes (needs some tools to open the lid as well). they are very dusty and i'm slightly allergic to dust.....

[Holz Gedeckt]

Given the mechanical condition of the instrument, I'm not surprised that it hasn't been used frequently in recent times.

However, having experienced a few of these instruments from that stable - and from that period - it seems that longevity isn't one of their strengths.

I guess the action (which always seemed so set that almost looking at a key would make it speak) has got very uneven and rattly too. Take some comfort in the fact that, if you can produce a worthwhile performance on an instrument such as this, other instruments should be rather a doddle on which to perform.

[liebe_klavier]

i wonder who is going to play it after i've graduated in July this year. It is quite a miracle that I've managed to learn and practice an awful lot of 'relatively big' repertoire on that organ. Somehow, I find it relatively easy to play straight away on other organs (such as organs at college and cathedral) without a proper warm up... hm... i wonder...

[Holz Gedeckt]

There you are, LK.... The organ has been good for you to practise upon! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

I practised on a similar instrument as an undergraduate and, despite the fact that I loathed the thing (it had a rattly worn action and used to 'scream' at the player, having originally been voiced for a much larger room), it was a very good instrument on which to practise.

But I think you should be quite firm in your request that the most significant faults be attended to at the next tuning visit. Do you know who maintains the instrument?

[liebe_klavier]

But I think you should be quite firm in your request that the most significant faults be attended to at the next tuning visit. Do you know who maintains the instrument?

I do know who maintains the instrument and I would ask for the faults to be attended each time they happen. The problem is, I can't ring him up in person: I have to send e-mail to the technician of the department, then the technician has to tell the management people etc etc. It's a very annoying process and it can take more than two weeks or even longer for the organ tuner to come in for a tuning visit.

[Holz Gedeckt]

Have you got an organ professor who might possibly be able to do something about getting funds allocated to renovate the instrument?

[daveinnorfolk]

To be honest LK, to be able to play either your Dupre or Demesseiux on that organ is one ###### of an achievement. Again assuming it is the same as Collins offering in Norwich, they are sheer evil and you can't let the slightest slip even hint at happening without it being very obvious. I played a Bach Trio on there last year for an exam - nerve wracking!

[rovikered]

To be honest LK, to be able to play either your Dupre or Demesseiux on that organ is one ###### of an achievement. Again assuming it is the same as Collins offering in Norwich, they are sheer evil and you can't let the slightest slip even hint at happening without it being very obvious. I played a Bach Trio on there last year for an exam - nerve wracking!

Even if the organ were mechanically reliable and sound, to play any of the 'big' 19th -21st century French organ music on it with such slender registrational resources must be a near impossibility !

[liebe_klavier]

i only use it for practices. it is very difficult to practise big pieces there, have to 'ignore' registration while i'm practising on that small organ. the technician thinks i always 'break' the organ by playing 19th century stuff.

[daveinnorfolk]

I'm convinced Bach is too modern for it...

[Holz Gedeckt]

i only use it for practices. it is very difficult to practise big pieces there, have to 'ignore' registration while i'm practising on that small organ.

That's all you can really do with an instrument such as that. Having a second manual without an 8' flue is a trend which has all but passed, thankfully.

Is it still tuned to Werckmeister III?