Oops...

I started learning classical organ pedal technique and my teacher suggested loosely binding my legs together with a belt. That worked great until the phone rang and I nearly killed myself trying to get it.

Christmas Music at Fair

Bristol Glen will be having its Christmas Fair this Saturday and they have asked me to play Christmas music from 9-11. Someone else will be playing from 11-1. Luckily I have been scanning Christmas music into my computer so I will have a large sample to play. It will be background music, not a concert, so 2 hours should not be a problem. I ran through most of my Christmas songs at home and it took 1 hour... playing the set twice will be okay... with a break in between for bathroom and whatever.

Transcribing King Kong March

I have had for a while the King Kong March (from the 1939 movie) but it is a very dirty copy. Just recently I started transcribing it into my music scoring program (Encore.) It is a fun project. As I go about entering each note, I can more thoroughly analyze the harmony.

All in the Family

I was watching "Family Guy" this weekend at someone else's house not something I usually watch) and thought the theme was a cute melody .. along with being something the younger crowd would recognize. After thinking of that... I decided to scan "Those were the days" from "All in the family." I remember years ago trying to find the closing theme (a piano solo) so I looked on www.freehand.com and musicnotes.com and they both had it at a vocal lead sheet. It is something I can work from. Now I will have an "All in the Family medley" ... luckily they are both in the same key (I know.. I should change keys.. but I need to follow music at least minimally.

Visit to Allen's Octave Hall

On this past Monday I got a chance to play in Allen Organ's Octave Hall in Macungie, PA. I played the LL324 which is the same one I play at Bristol Glen. But WOW what a difference! It sounded spectacular. What and experience. Hopefully I will get a chance to play larger theatre organ there when they have one there.

Introductions

I have always had trouble creating musical introductions on songs I play on the theatre organ. I usually end up playing the last few measures of a song. Yesterday I decided to look on Amazon to see if they had a books on keyboard introductions... they had four so I ordered them sight, unseen. We will see if they help (they couldn't hurt.)

Music Reader

I now have 194 songs loaded on to the Music Reader program on my HP laptop. That means whenever I bring it, I have that many songs that can play on the organ

Forty Shades of Green

Tonight nice lady at Bristol Glen asked if I knew the song, "Forty shades of green." She said she had not heard it in a long time. It is nice and probably Irish. After looking it up on the Internet, I found out it was a Johnny Cash song. It was in my Johnny Cash collection. His songs are not real challenging musically so I should have it worked up by next week.. The challenge will be to make it sound interesting.

My First Organ Book

My piano/organ teacher suggested a while ago to get Leupold's "My First Organ Book." I could not find it anywhere but just recently it appeared in several places. I now have a copy. Maybe I can try to learn classical pedal technique.

King Kong

I just recently acquired the printed music for "The King Kong March" by Max Steiner from the original 1939 movie. Several people have recorded it and it does not look too hard so I guess it will be easy to work up an organ arrangement.

Piano Lessons Paying Off

All those hours with Czerney and Hannon are paying off. I am able to play some pieces that never sounded right.. such as "Wedding of the Painted Doll" and "Theme from Perrry Mason" with bass theme in the pedal. I have even started working on "Youth of Britain"by Coates.

Maybe You'll Be There

Someone requested this song at Bristol Glen tonight and I had never even heard of it. Luckily when I got home I found a digital copy of the sheet music online (I use freehandmusic and musicnotes.) After getting the music, I listened to several jazz vocal singers performing it and also a recording of Frank Sinatra (I guess he is why it was requested.) Tomorrow I will work up and arrangment and surprise the resident the next time I go in. It is always good to expand your repertoire and collection.

Play Church Service

WOW.. before I was going to play to a friendly home-town congregation (my own.) Someone called tonight that their granddaughter is being christened and the organist has taken ill. Would I play what I could. Since he is a friend I guess I will try. I will keep you posted to see how it turns out.

Substitute at Church

I have been asked to be the substitute organist at my church for one Sunday this summer. I said I could not play for special music (where people walk in that Sunday with the music and expect you to sight read it.) I also want to know the hymns ahead of time so I can practice them.

While I feel comfortable playing a theatre organ... church music is so different. I guess I will be able to do it. I have been bringing home the bulletin from church every Sunday and running through the hymns on my organ at home.. most I do ok playing.

Post Horn

I have started using the post horn in some of my arrangements now. In the past I have always stayed aways from it because it is so strident and harsh. Right now I am using it in the final chord of "Let Me Entertain You" and some of the solo spots in "Hard Hearted Hannah." Used carefully the post horn give a good punch... you just don't want to be punched often.

Hard Hearted Hannah

After to listening to one of my George Wright recordings again, I decided to make an arrangement of "Hard Hearted Hannah." It is fun to play with various solo voices including the post horn which I rarely use.

New Favorites

Now that I have a much larger list of songs that I play at Bristol Glen, it is strange how my "favorites" change.
Right now I am having fun with a loud console rising arrangement of "Let me entertain you." Two others that I like right now are "Anyone can whistle" and "Scotch and Soda." (the song that is.. I prefer Jack to drink)

Announce Songs

The other day at Bristol Glen when I was practicing someone walked in and asked me the name of one of the songs I played at the pre-movie concert the week before. I have been wondering whether I should announce the songs, so that pushed me over the fence. I have now started announcing each song before I play it. The residents enjoy hearing the name of the song and it also fosters more clapping (which isn't bad for me :))

The Producers!

I am going crazy trying to locate my vocal selections from the Producers. Bristol Glen showed the movie this week and would love to play some selections next Wednesday and my regular pre-movie concert.

Midi Assistant

Well, today I used the midi assistant to make a recording of "Here's that Rainy Day" on the LL324 at Bristol Glen. It was kind of freaky to sit back and watch the organ play back the song just as I played it (stop tabs moving and all the little mistakes.) It nice although, to sit in the middle of the room and hear how the balance sounded... not bad. I will have in find out what song I play well enough to make a second recording for posterity (or at least the residents of Bristol Glen.)

Jesse Crawford's Organ Course

Michael's Music has reprinted Jesse Crawford's Advanced organ course and also have other theatre organ music which is no longer available elsewhere. Check it out!

http://michaelsmusicservice.com/catalogue.html

Anyone Can Whistle

I just heard a haunting tune played by Simon Gledhill. It is a Stephen Sondheim song called "Anyone can whistle" from the show by the same name. If you have not heard it, why not give it a try?

Good-bye MusicPad Pro

I am slowly phasing out the use of my MusicPad Pro over to my new HP touchsmart laptop with the musicreader software (www.musicreader.net.) I have doing this for several reasons.
1. Freehand no longer even has it on their webpage and support is non-existent. I can see the writing on the wall.
2. Using a laptop is better than having a dedicated machine just for music. Now when I travel with my laptop, I will have my music with me.
3. The page turns are MUCH quicker.
4. The software (although it has some quirks) is much better on the musicreader. One thing nice is there are many more fields to search your database with.
5. Although the MusicPad pro's screen is a little bigger (not by much), the 12.1" screen of the HP is sufficient.
6. The process of converting the Freehand files to MusicReader is painless (if they were scanned in and not purchased electronically and directly downloaded.)
7. The process of scanning the music into the MusicReader has fewer steps than the MusicPad Pro.
8. Customer support on the MusicReader is by email (they are in the Netherlands) but they are great! They have been VERY helpful to me, even before I purchased the program, and continue to be.

Scotch & Soda

Noooooooo I am not talking about a drink. I am talking about a song from the 1950s by the Kingston Trio. It is a laid back blusey type song. I will have to work on the rhythm some but it will be great when I get it worked out. You can hear the Kingston Trio sing it on youtube.

LL324 Dedicated

The Allen LL324-Q that I donated to Bristol Glen retirement village was dedicated this past Thursday night. There was a wonderful concert played by John Baratta. He played a concert, played for an 18 minute Laurel and Hardy silent film and led a sing-along. A good time was had by all and the many aspects of the organ were displayed.

Chromatic Runs

While playing the the 324 at Bristol Glen today I noticed that I was able to do parallel chromatic runs in thirds (with two hands) for a closing. It sounds great on the tibia. When Walt Strony was here I watched him do fast chromatic runs with one hand.. not sure when I will be able to attempt that. Right now I am proud that I can do it with two hands

Post Strony Voicing

Well... Walt Strony voiced both the LL324 and my Q311 and they sound like different organs. WOW it was well worth it. Luckily I made an audio recording of the 324 before he voiced it. Tonight I went back and recorded the same songs. It will be interesting to make a CD and record the two examples of the same songs next to each other on the CD. I better get to work. I wish I had thought to make a recording on the midi assistant. That we the paired recordings would have been exactly the same except for the voicing. Oh well.

Strony Arrival

I am excited. I am off to the airport to pick up Walt Strony to finally voice the organs!

Jelani's Christmas CD

A Festival of Christmas - Jelani Eddington at Sanfilippo Theatre Organ.
I have several theatre organ Christmas CDs and they are all a disappointment... except this one! Here we have the fantastic sound of the incomparable Sanfilippo organ played by Jelani. The music is a mix of classical/church with and orchestra/theatre organ. All I can say is wow! Most of the arrangements are Leroy Anderson ones. Sleigh Ride is a re-release of a previous recording which uses another percussionist (which I don't care for.) There are also organ/piano duets performed by Jealani using the computerized player action of the organ. Included also is a wonderful classical arrangement of Greensleeves by Purvis. All the other Christmas CDs I have just sound like someone sitting down to play Christmas songs.... not wonderful arrangements by Leroy Anderson, interpreted by Jelani Eddington. This CD is a must get!

Disappointment!

Walt Strony had an emergency (I don't think I should say what) and he had to postpone his trip here to voice my Q-311sp and the LL324 at Bristol Glen. While I am disappointed I will have to wait longer, I fully understand why the trip had to be postponed.

Walt Strony's Visit

I am sooooooo pumped! Walt Strony will be coming next week to voice both the Allen LL324 at Bristol Glen Retirement village and my Q311 at home. I know it will be pricey, but it will be worth it!

Practice Time

Looks like I will have plenty of time to practice both piano (for the lessons I am taking) and organ tomorrow. We are supposed to get snow up the wazoo tomorrow so school will be closed.

Irving Berlin tune - Change Partner

I just heard this Irving Berlin tune on one of my theatre organ CDs.. "Change Partner" and is great for organ. I decided to listen to some old clips on Youtubes of it.. from the original movie and other things. It game me some great ideas for arranging it.. some interesting fills.

With me playing so often at Bristol Glen, I have to keep adding to my repertoire.

Playing the 324

It has been fun playing the LL324 organ for the residents at Bristol Glen. I don't schedule "concerts" but rather just show up and play for about an hour. They dribble in as I start playing. I have installed a mirror on the music rack so I can see if people are in the room. One thing this is doing is forcing me to increase my repertoire. I now have a large list of songs on my MusicPad Pro available to play. I have told the residents that I will try to play on a regular basis Wednesday nights from 6:30 to 7:00 before their usual movie. This past week the room was ahout 3/4 full.

Voicing the Organs

I am in the process of arranging Walt Strony to come and voice the LL324 at Bristol Glen and since he will be here I might as well have him voice my 311 at home. The organs currently sound fine... but I have heard so much about his voicing that I can't wait till they are done. When the 324 is voiced I will arrange a dedication concert for the residents there. It has been a challenge linking up Walt Strony's schedule with the needs of Bristol Glen for the room the organ is in.

Don Baker CDs

I just found out that Theatre Organ Presentations as re-released some Don Baker CDS so I ordered them. I currently only have one CD of him.. the Farewell to Paramount and it is far from my favorite. I have heard so much of his playing, I can't wait to get these.