Special delivery

 Special delivery

 

Here’s a test for you

 

What is 16 feet high, made of beautiful poplar wood, gradually tapered top to bottom, and has to sit on a heavy wooden boot

 

Why, of course, it’s a CCCC resonator, one of 12 lovely new pipes to make my new contra trombone stop

 

Just recently there was a special delivery by van, all the way from York (where I’m told there is an even more famous organ, believe it or not).  Inside the van were some lovely new trombone resonators, some older ones resonators made by one of my friends 100 years ago, and 42 boots - one for each of these lovely pipes

 

These trombone pipes needed special attention, so a handpicked team of friends (handpicked as such care was needed in the task ahead) unloaded the van, then managed to order them by size (that is also a skilled job) before posing them for photos, and then moving them to the north aisle of my Abbey.  Their final move will be to the very top of my new platform where will they stand even higher than my bonnet, and so will sound right to the back of the building

 

And I’ve told you that the largest of these  -  the CCCC  -  will produce a low grumble at about 16hz;  no one has yet explained what that means, so you’ll just have to listen to find out.  There’s even a rumour that this low grumble will be heard across the road, so I hope my neighbours won’t mind

 

Footnote:  these lovely new pipes are not what’s called “full length”  -  how they can still grumble at 16hz I know not, but they will.  Now in York, their even-more-famous organ has full length trombones, and not just one stop but two!!  I think that’s just greedy





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