Saturday, September 27, 2008

Mezzo-Forte Registration

Well I finally changed two of my three general pistons on the Miditizer to a MF and F registration as suggested in Walt Stroney's book (with some allowances for the polyphony limitations of my Miditzer setup.) WOW what a difference it makes...It gives me the sound I was hearing in my head but not able to get out of the Miditzer. I played through my Oliver vocal selections and it was fun. I even fixed the traps on the Miditzer pedal so I was able to use a snare in the accomp. and a drum and cymbal in the pedal for "Oomp Pah Pah." What fun. This whole things makes me ache for the time when I will get my Allen.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Visit Stadele's Organ

I recently went down to Stadele's organ to play the Q-311sp that I will be purchasing soon. It was fun.. and made me more anxious, looking forward to the time that it will be in my house. We discussed some things such as speakers and whether or not to purchase the Midi Assistant. No decisions have been made yet on either of those things.

I recorded myself playing for 52 minutes. When I got home to listen there were two things I noticed. One - the organ sounds great although there are some things I would like revoiced but that is a decision to be made after I hear how it sounds in my home. Two - I have to get used to playing organs that I am not totally familar with. When playing and I did not like the sound, I would try to readjust the registrations, only to then stumble around on the keyboard and lose my place in the music. When I get the organ, I will practice playing by adjusting the stop tabs while playing and not just using only pistons as I do on the Miditzer.. because that is all I can really do on it.

I made a CD of my playing.. nothing to write home about (or to write here about.) It will be good for my own historical collection of my playing. I will try editing the songs on Audiocity to remove some of my major pausing and stumbling.. we will see how that turns out.

Talking of recordings of me... I recently found an old cassette tape of the time in the 1970s when I first went to the Allen organ dealer (the same one) to try out my first Allen. It was interesting to here the playing and conversations.

After this trip I really am hearing the clock tick.....

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

First playing of Theatre Pipes in years - New Hope

I went to a meeting of the GSTOS in New Hope, PA and had a chance to play the home installation of a 3/23 Wurltizer hybrid pipe organ. For more information on the organ, see: http://www.gstos.org/newhope.htm. The organ was sweet! It was well voiced and the volume was perfect for the space. I did okay playing a few tunes but since I am used to using only pistons on my Miditzer and not selecting stops while I play, the registration did not go perfectly, but I was pleased. This experience made me even more excited about my own organ coming... whenever the funds are available.. hopefully soon.