Hillie2412

Mice in the loft? One of the choir men has asked if I’ve got any mice running around my insides It’s true that a top note on my lovely clarinet stop has got a little “cheep” but I suspect that’s because some dirt has got into the pipe rather than a mouse And it’s also true that when my friends, the organists, play on the bottom (choir) organ, there are some rattles from the side which sound quite like mouse squeeks.   I can assure you I’m not trying to develop the sort of “chiff” that’s typical of older continental organs This unlikely menagerie is further complicated by some of my reed stops sounding so out-of-tune that Mr Gary thought we had sheep in the loft as well But there is no menagerie, just me, your friendly Hillie2412 doing my very best to produce lovely blended tones, despite the age of all my actions.   One day I hope all of that will be sorted out

Its happened again! Oh dear.  My buttons have gone wrong again These are the buttons that sit underneath my top two keyboards.  Push them in and out pop stops, and in go any stops not needed But after 110 years, the pneumatic motors that make this happen are more than a little worn and it can be a little irritating for the people playing me. Remember I told you that Mr Brian got quite upset?  Well he wasn't playing on Easter Sunday afternoon, and it was another set of buttons this time  -  the ones under my middle keyboard  -  and at the moment it looks as if they don't work at all. So on Easter Sunday Mr Nigel had to use his hands to pull out stops or push them in. I must tell you that these buttons are of the highest quality.  Not for me the rows and rows of buttons doing all sort of fancy things, which is great for that modern French music.  No, I have two rows only of four very classy buttons under each of the top two keyboards, and I hope that's h

Mr Gary comes to play Three times a year that nice Mr Gary   comes to tune my pipes, some of which do tend to go out of tune and start to sound very French In his recent (pre-Easter) visit , Mr Gary discovered new problems First, there was a new whooshing sound from the insides when he switched on those new-fangled electric blowers.   He also realised that the lower half of notes on my smooth Double Open Diapason weren’t working.   All this was because of new leaks on one of my two main reservoirs   -   caused I was told by dry air and age (really?). Some new leather strips and extra weight on the top of the reservoir sorted all of that out, for now Then there were half a dozen top notes on my upper (swell) manual which were either not working at all, or making a very half-hearted attempt.   Mr Gary had to remove small pneumatic motors, apply more new leather and then stick them back in And then there was bottom D on the lowest of the three manuals (choir) stickin