What to do?


What to do?

I’ve already told you that I have a new friend, nice Mr Colin who is going to work on my console

It might surprise you, dear follower, that anything much needs to be done - and especially if you saw Miss Catherine's or Mr Thomas's nimble fingers whizzing up and down my keys - so let me try and explain.

I have 61 keys on three keyboards.  Inevitably after 108 years use, many of these keys have slightly changed colour (interesting that this is most noticeable in the middle octaves of the middle keyboard where I guess most of my organ playing friends tend to play!).  That is all part of my character, so I hope will not change, but one key does need to be patched up.  At the same time all the keys have been disconnected from my lead tubes, and will be re-connected to electric switches; how that is done is beyond my technical knowledge!

Then the lovely wood faces of my console, to the sides of the keyboards and in front of the player, all need to be patched up.  There was a driving mirror for organ players to see what was happening behind them - that was so unsightly and apparently ineffective  -  much better to have left it in a van!  Things have been screwed in and taken away leaving holes.  There was an old electric socket with round pin holes, which hadn’t been used for many years; this had to be removed.  There were two small signal lights screwed above my left side stop jamb, long since unused as it was discovered that my organ playing friends can actually see what's going on by just turning round.  The lovely large sliding glass doors, at the front of the console, hadn't been used for many years as they kept getting stuck; those need restoring so they can once again slide smoothly across and make me more secure.

And then Mr Gary and Mr Colin are having to think about playing aids - new buttons can be added, but only a very few please! - and the two pedals working my two sets of box shutters will be moved to the centre of the pedal boards.

I know my friends are very conscious that Mr William made me a lovely console, typical of all his best Edwardian work, and iconic in style and appearance.  Once restored, it must continue to look fantastic, yet at the same time use 2020 technology sensitively. I do not want my console to look as if it’s come out of a fairground or a nearby cinema and I’m sure all the right decisions will be made.

East Sussex National Wurlitzer Console - American Theatre Organ ...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dear friends

Image
Dear friends The long overdue work on me has now begun, and I am being dismantled - yes, dismantled!  And no, this is not at all painful For more years than you can imagine, my pneumatics have been drying out and failing, and I have become more and more unreliable I would love always to fill this beautiful building with my rich tones, and usually that is just what I do, but not always. My many pneumatic motors are a patchwork of sticking plasters, my lovely pipes are covered with 60 years' worth of dust, and woodworm are munching their way into my timbers The day work began is a day I will always remember.  Hundreds of lead tubes were removed (for recycling), my keyboards extracted, the pedalboards removed revealing countless lost pencils and piles of dirt, my stop heads removed and the the lovely console removed But I am still here, waiting eagerly for all the work to get done so we can have that epic celebration promised by this building. I am going to look sad for...
Read more

Another spectacular recital

Image
Another spectacular recital I’ve already told you about the wonderful organists coming to play me, your friend Hillie, each month.   These are international recitalists!   They are used to playing the top organs in Great Britain and abroad.   Yet here they come, to help put me on the map, and to help raise money for my renovation and completion. The second of these organists played just recently.   This was Miss Catherine (Ennis) and she played music all about angels including one piece by my most favourite of all composers, Sir Edward Her playing was just marvellous.   She made me sound as if I was young again, and brought out all sorts of sounds I hadn’t heard in many a year And so many people had come to hear me, and hear her play.   My friends counted more than 120 people, and I’m sure there were other folk lurking in corners All that is amazing.   Also amazing is that I’m told Miss Catherine played in her winter coat.   ...
Read more

Let’s talk trunks

Image
Let’s talk trunks   Trunks and wind might not sound particularly exciting, but when your double risers and electric blowers are all moved around, this becomes a most important subject   In 1911, Mr William connected my blowing mechanism to 3 double risers and those were then connected to my windchests.   A whole series of zinc trunks made those connections   But with the passage of time, my trunks became rather the worse for wear.   Their bends began to leak (you can imagine straight trunks are a very good idea, but in practice bends are essential) but old newspaper stuffed in saved the day.   Joins too become a bit brittle, but drawing pin fixes have proved invaluable in keeping me going   After all these years, and now with my lower regions completely reshaped, my trunks too have therefore had to be given attention by Mr Gary   He told me that in these modern times, u-bends and black plastic pipes can be very effective. ...
Read more