I used to do that. Held keys mostly but was being trained to tune the pipes. Strange was that the tracker organ at the old st Patrick's Cathedral used broken headstones from the churchyard as weights for the regulators.
I love watching stuff like this! I have pretty much perfect pitch (or at least an ear for perfect pitch) so I know what a pain it is to tune and maintain something like this when everything expands and contracts with temperature changes, humidity, etc. I've been inside several different organs, but have never really done anything with the actual tuning part. At home, I have Hauptwerk 4 setup on a MacBook Pro with 10 or 12 different organs, both classical and theater, so I'm lucky enough not to have to mess with the registration on most of them.😉👍
I really enjoy watching your videos. I have always (since I was a kid) enjoyed the sound of the pipe organ at my church. In 1980 I was involved (in a very small way) in the refurbishing of that organ and have not only loved the sound but how organs work. In hindsight if I was not a Network Technician for the telephone company I think I would have enjoyed being an pipe organ technician.
Organs that aren't seen tend to be de-valued by the average congregant. They also tend to be easier to sell on electronic toaster-ovens once the real organ has any issues.
The swell shades remind me of being a kid. There was a pizza place that had a Wurlitzer pipe organ. Almost all the instruments were behind glass swell shades and aside from the music I like to watch the shades open and close. Unfortunately that pizza place closed, but the organ was sold and shipped to Washington. I think those dinners watching the organist and various instruments play themselves gave me an appreciation for pipe organs.
Hey Chris! I just found your videos. It’s really cool to see you after 25? years or so! I take care of a couple old trackers in Leadville- I’m happy to still be involved w pipe organs- esp trackers. Keep in touch
Hi John- Still involved in organ work but cutting back these days, after 31 years in business on my own (can you believe it?) the number of clients is really dropping due to attrition...my wife can retire in a couple years so I plan to keep going for another decade or so and retire.
@@JIMD6370 The first video was from 2016, it's this one: th-cam.com/video/teWoOmRDTvs/w-d-xo.html , which is interesting to watch now because so much of the Swell and Swell/Choir hadn't been reinstalled yet.
Every church organ in the world must be tuned right before Christmas as this one was. Also, I see a lot of ways to fall and get hurt at this job, or at least bang up a bunch of pipes if you are not super careful every single time you are in there.
Not only do the designers have to consider how much space to allow for the wind chests, pipes, mechanical and electrical systems, but also for the people who crawl around in the chamber!
Fine in a relatively modern organ, but in most antique organs they didn't allow sufficient space for the tuner! - as I know from my work as an organ tuner in the UK
Definitely a 1950s Moller, I have seen many of them over the years. they are great instruments to play. I am curious about the front reed rank in the swell, with the inverted cones on top. is that an English horn?
Question for ya, how do you protect your ears when working with the loud sounds when tuning? Do you get tinnitus or hyperacusis? Very interesting video.
Nothing in this organ constitutes "loud" in my world...the solo Trumpet on 6" is pretty assertive but not painful- there are a few stops here and there I absolutely have to have ear protection, especially in Atlantic City. One time I had to tune a reed on 50" before a noon concert and I just couldn't hear the reference so I had to take off one side of the hearing protectors for a second and WOW was that loud. I'm sure my hearing is somewhat damaged at this point but I can still tune the high pitched stuff well so I guess I'm doing okay. As far as what I use, if I remember to bring them I use over-ear protection like you use at a shooting range or something. The little squishy things don't work for me.
What is there to show? Unsolder the lead from it, unscrew it from the chest, screw in the new one a hook the wire back up! Anyway that wasn't the point of this particular video.
Fabulous video! I started learning to tune organs 50 years ago because I had perfect pitch. My teacher was Mr. Praderio at the big IV/75 Casavant at WVWC in Buckhannon, WV. However, at 6'3" I was just too big (and clumsy) for most organs.
More than anything it would take a lot of patience, it can be pretty demanding physically and mentally...you go in there and you see hundreds and hundreds of pipes to be gone through and you want to give up right there.
Reagan Reese - tuning can be easy if one has the ear for it. I personally find tuning easy, provided the pipes are easy to get to and the wind supply isn't causing robbing of wind. It's little chamber or box organs that are actually harder to tune!
cnagorka A tuner I used to work with used to say about tuning some of the larger instruments, "By the time you finish tuning you have to start back at how to tune".
I have a favor to ask. I have one scene in my feature screenplay where an organ tuner is working with his 15 yr old son who is an organist and he is helping his dad on the keys, while his dad is tuning the pipes. The father is yelling out to him commands of what to play. The son who is potentially schizophrenic, is actually hearing his dad yell at him in an abuse manor, like he did when the boy was younger. It's a story of an abusive father and son relationship, and theme's on forgiveness. I don't understand the lingo you use to tune organs, nor can I read music to understand. I need someone to look at my script and see if they can interject what a real organ tuner would actually say. It is a 3 page scene, if I remember correctly, and I would only need someone to scratch out the lines that I wrote, and write directly next to the old lines, if this makes sense ! Lol.
I emailed you first with some questions thank you so much for your interest! I borrowed a couple lines from you in this video but not sure if it's correct. Lol
I had another question, nearly done with the screenplay, but I need to know what that decorative open wall you are looking through at your buddy who's at the keyboard.
Not always. An organ built in he French style has the great on the bottom manual. Now, whether a 1950s Moller in a Methodist church was built in the French style is another question ...
Your job requires so much more of you than a good ear! Thank you for the video!
Nice video. Have gone thru some of this myself when I built a chamber organ 20 years ago. It's a lot of work to build and maintain these instruments.
I worked as assistant to the organ builder during a rebuild at my church and learned to tune pipes by listening to the beating
Nice layout for the space. I helped a friend tune a couple of organs in Berkeley Ca back in 1998 and it was a cramped mess. Thanks for sharing this.
I used to do that. Held keys mostly but was being trained to tune the pipes. Strange was that the tracker organ at the old st Patrick's Cathedral used broken headstones from the churchyard as weights for the regulators.
7:10 what soccer moms do in their car when 13 cars are in front in the traffic
I love watching stuff like this! I have pretty much perfect pitch (or at least an ear for perfect pitch) so I know what a pain it is to tune and maintain something like this when everything expands and contracts with temperature changes, humidity, etc. I've been inside several different organs, but have never really done anything with the actual tuning part. At home, I have Hauptwerk 4 setup on a MacBook Pro with 10 or 12 different organs, both classical and theater, so I'm lucky enough not to have to mess with the registration on most of them.😉👍
Wow, so interesting - it's stuff you wouldn't think of... Thanks for the video...
I really enjoy watching your videos. I have always (since I was a kid) enjoyed the sound of the pipe organ at my church. In 1980 I was involved (in a very small way) in the refurbishing of that organ and have not only loved the sound but how organs work. In hindsight if I was not a Network Technician for the telephone company I think I would have enjoyed being an pipe organ technician.
I don’t know why churches build unattractive grill work in front of Organ pipes. As an organist, this always left me frustrated.
Organs that aren't seen tend to be de-valued by the average congregant. They also tend to be easier to sell on electronic toaster-ovens once the real organ has any issues.
Very very interesting. Thank you for sharing.
The swell shades remind me of being a kid. There was a pizza place that had a Wurlitzer pipe organ. Almost all the instruments were behind glass swell shades and aside from the music I like to watch the shades open and close. Unfortunately that pizza place closed, but the organ was sold and shipped to Washington. I think those dinners watching the organist and various instruments play themselves gave me an appreciation for pipe organs.
We had the Organ Grinder Pizza restaurant in Denver, same thing with the glass shades.
Hey Chris! I just found your videos. It’s really cool to see you after 25? years or so! I take care of a couple old trackers in Leadville- I’m happy to still be involved w pipe organs- esp trackers.
Keep in touch
Hi John- Still involved in organ work but cutting back these days, after 31 years in business on my own (can you believe it?) the number of clients is really dropping due to attrition...my wife can retire in a couple years so I plan to keep going for another decade or so and retire.
Nice video, but reeds should be tuned with the crancks, not with the scrolls, those are for voicing.
MAN THIS IS COOL!! Legendary video! Thank you!!
Ich kann kein Englisch aber ich weiß so ungefähr was der Organist oder Orgelbauer sagt.Des ist genial so was zu sehen.👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
I am just now finding your videos Chris and enjoy them very much. I
Thanks
@@chrisnagorka5199what year did you start working on the M-L?
@@JIMD6370 2015...next year will be a decade!
@@cnagorka last question for today, what was the first video of the M-L you shared? Just want to make sure I've watched them all.
@@JIMD6370 The first video was from 2016, it's this one: th-cam.com/video/teWoOmRDTvs/w-d-xo.html , which is interesting to watch now because so much of the Swell and Swell/Choir hadn't been reinstalled yet.
Followed you. I think I could learn more about setting up organ console thru watching your videos. Liked
Thanks!
Every church organ in the world must be tuned right before Christmas as this one was. Also, I see a lot of ways to fall and get hurt at this job, or at least bang up a bunch of pipes if you are not super careful every single time you are in there.
I helped a retired minister tune his organ I helithe keys and press the pedal ‘s while he tuned the pipes it was a 2 manual 23 rank organ
Much easier than the pedal sesqualteria in a c ;)
Not only do the designers have to consider how much space to allow for the wind chests, pipes, mechanical and electrical systems, but also for the people who crawl around in the chamber!
Fine in a relatively modern organ, but in most antique organs they didn't allow sufficient space for the tuner! - as I know from my work as an organ tuner in the UK
Definitely a 1950s Moller, I have seen many of them over the years. they are great instruments to play. I am curious about the front reed rank in the swell, with the inverted cones on top. is that an English horn?
I think they call it a Bassoon, but it's basically an English Horn.
@@cnagorkathank for the response sir.. keep up the good work.
Question for ya, how do you protect your ears when working with the loud sounds when tuning? Do you get tinnitus or hyperacusis? Very interesting video.
Nothing in this organ constitutes "loud" in my world...the solo Trumpet on 6" is pretty assertive but not painful- there are a few stops here and there I absolutely have to have ear protection, especially in Atlantic City. One time I had to tune a reed on 50" before a noon concert and I just couldn't hear the reference so I had to take off one side of the hearing protectors for a second and WOW was that loud. I'm sure my hearing is somewhat damaged at this point but I can still tune the high pitched stuff well so I guess I'm doing okay. As far as what I use, if I remember to bring them I use over-ear protection like you use at a shooting range or something. The little squishy things don't work for me.
I wish you had shown and done how to replace a direct electric action device in a direct action chest.
What is there to show? Unsolder the lead from it, unscrew it from the chest, screw in the new one a hook the wire back up! Anyway that wasn't the point of this particular video.
What about the grillwork to the immediate right of the console, don't they have any pipes behind them?
Nope, that's an outside wall, it's just there for symmetry.
Fabulous video! I started learning to tune organs 50 years ago because I had perfect pitch. My teacher was Mr. Praderio at the big IV/75 Casavant at WVWC in Buckhannon, WV. However, at 6'3" I was just too big (and clumsy) for most organs.
Interesting...too bad about the WVWC organ, my understanding is that it's used about once a year at this point.
That is truly a shame. I need to post some audio from a recital; there is very little if any music from it on this site.
If you have a good ear, and some knowledge of tuning, how difficult would it be to tune like you did?
More than anything it would take a lot of patience, it can be pretty demanding physically and mentally...you go in there and you see hundreds and hundreds of pipes to be gone through and you want to give up right there.
Reagan Reese - tuning can be easy if one has the ear for it. I personally find tuning easy, provided the pipes are easy to get to and the wind supply isn't causing robbing of wind. It's little chamber or box organs that are actually harder to tune!
cnagorka A tuner I used to work with used to say about tuning some of the larger instruments, "By the time you finish tuning you have to start back at how to tune".
D sharp or E Flat
For some reason, organ builders and tuners always refer to sharps only, so, D#, and, even, between the rare A# and the very common B♭, it's A#.
Why is Scott wearing a hat in church?
I have a favor to ask. I have one scene in my feature screenplay where an organ tuner is working with his 15 yr old son who is an organist and he is helping his dad on the keys, while his dad is tuning the pipes. The father is yelling out to him commands of what to play. The son who is potentially schizophrenic, is actually hearing his dad yell at him in an abuse manor, like he did when the boy was younger. It's a story of an abusive father and son relationship, and theme's on forgiveness.
I don't understand the lingo you use to tune organs, nor can I read music to understand. I need someone to look at my script and see if they can interject what a real organ tuner would actually say. It is a 3 page scene, if I remember correctly, and I would only need someone to scratch out the lines that I wrote, and write directly next to the old lines, if this makes sense ! Lol.
Sure, send the file to chris@kanawhaorganworks.com
I emailed you first with some questions thank you so much for your interest! I borrowed a couple lines from you in this video but not sure if it's correct. Lol
I had another question, nearly done with the screenplay, but I need to know what that decorative open wall you are looking through at your buddy who's at the keyboard.
Great should be man II not man I
Not always. An organ built in he French style has the great on the bottom manual. Now, whether a 1950s Moller in a Methodist church was built in the French style is another question ...
It is