The Wanamaker Organ - Pt.1
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ต.ค. 2024
- In Part One, Scott Kip takes me inside the Wanamaker Organ to see the amazing mechanical wonders within. The Wanamaker Organ is the largest functioning musical instrument in the World (In 2016), containing over 28,000 individual pipes in 444 ranks. Originally created for the 1904 St. Louis Exposition by the Los Angeles Art Organ Company, it was exhibited in the Kansas City Convention Hall until 1906 when it was dismantled and put into storage. The organ was purchased by John Wanamaker in 1909, and it was transported in pieces and installed in the current location in Philadelphia in 1910 in its first incarnation. The organ has since undergone several major renovations, restorations, and upgrades over the last century - much of which will be the subject of part two - where I will get into the rich history and technical complexity of the organ and how it functions.
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Macy's is to be commended for maintaining and restoring this marvelous instrument!
Wooow!! I grew up in Philadelphia, going to Wanamaker's with my mother, and hearing this magnificent instrument all the time. My fondest memories as a child were the spectacular Christmas displays, and most of all, the Christmas music on the organ! Seeing the bowels of this incredible instrument, and seeing how the heavenly music was made is fantastic!! I had no idea how vast, intricate and complicated it was! Thank you for this once in a lifetime opportunity to see inside the world's largest instrument!
Remember the train that went around the top of the toy department ?
16:23 you know it's a good organ when it has an entire room dedicated to vox humanas!
“Can you feel the love tonight?”
“Yeah, in my skull!”
Or you can also feel the air coming out your bass end ☺️
Can you feel bye Elton John
Absolutely AMAZING, I had no idea of the vast complexity and massive amount pipes inside of the Wanamaker Organ.Many yrs. ago I took a guided tour inside of chamber/lofts to see the working of this mammoth musical instrument , WOW, what an operation , time, cost, & a real labor of love is what it takes to preserve this priceless treasure in Philadelphia. The Wanamaker is truly like no other functioning pipe organ in any country on the planet. Philadelphians are very fortunate to have such musical instrument like this *****
Midmer Losh restoration coming along great with 16,000 playable pipes of the 35,000. New relays, restored wiring harness, and fast to restoring nearly all of the 35,000 pipes. 100" of water pressure would blow out all of the windows at Wanamaker at about 80 percent power. 100 percent power of Midmer Losh's 3 large blower motors would knock over all of the display cases at Macy's. Then again, Midmer Losh is designed to entertain about 25,000 people. In another 3 years it could be that all 35,000 pipes can play. But as it sits now with half of it not playing, its still the largest musical instrument to ever be built on planet Earth.
The ML is impressive... But nothing can beat the expressiveness and nuance of the Wanamaker IMO. I don't think excess per se is a virtue.
Three years ago, we diverted to Atlantic city to see and hear the midmer losh. Huge, powerful. To my dismay, we missed this beauty. The magnificent sound of this instrument is amazing. My loss for sure. The U.S. is blessed to have the two biggest so close together.
Originally designed to entertain over 40,000 people. The Midmer-Losh at Boardwalk Hall is the largest instrument, by number of pipes and sheer size. The Wanamaker by number of stops.
Burt Ward, The midmer losh organ only has 33,114 pipes not 35,000 pipes.
Because what puts everyone in the mood for shopping better than... wait for it... organ music? Kidding aside, that is a beast of a machine. Don't try this at home, kids. I wonder what they feed that thing. Human souls, perhaps?
Fran you just amaze me with what you find out there. Thank you. Now go and get your hearing checked.
Fran, I am in awe! Thank you so much for this exposition! You are a great artist in this explanatory medium: you show the joy of musical electronics (and much else) with an unfiltered yet sweet delivery. You are a treasure!
Thanks so Much Fran! It would be of interest to me to know which of the present day organ manufacturers is contracted to service this great organ. My mother, in the last years of the great depression was taken in by the Austin family of Hartford CT. as live-in child care assistant while she went to high school in Bloomfield. My love of organ music stems from this relationship. The other great organ in the Philadelphia area is the Curtiss which is an Austin design. I noted in your video that the blowers were from a company in Windsor CT. probably because Austin has so much business helping keep up other extinct company's instruments these days. These concert organs from around a hundred years ago have their own style of sound, and many new installations eschew that sound either to hark back to the J.S. Bach Baroque style or to up date to the crisper sounds some present day builders provide.
I wonder if you saw any peg boards with wire-wrapped connections on your tour. That technology was used both by the telephone companies back then and organ makers employing the electro-magnetic relays and solenoids that made such large organs even possible. Before such techniques, they were all mechanical linkages known as trackers, and the maximum length from keyboard to pipe row with its joint stretching determined the size of organ possible.
I also note that the original organ was from a Los Angeles company. Strange but true that many movie theater theater pipe organs came from companies located where the(then silent) movies themselves tended to be made. Most organ companies live or die from major instrument to major instrument, as happened to the one that went bankrupt building the Wanamaker. Austin was able to survive the depression by building smaller unit organs in quantity, designed to a size that could be shipped in a truck.
We are living in another era like that of the "Robber Barons" where such excesses seem to flourish..
Macy's has many full-time employees dedicated to servicing the organ
Two.
@@howlingwolven Plus three others full time funded by Friends of the Wanamaker Organ, plus part timers. Seems like a lot to me.
18:00 kinda sums this up: 'yeah people have their offices inside this organ'
Amazing! it's an incredible and immense piece of art and engineering, thanks for sharing
The pipes you remarked on that have a pattern on them in the metal are made of "spotted metal" an alloy of tin and lead that is used for many types of organ pipes.
I just typed that, then saw your comment from 5 months ago :)
It is called Antimony.
Antimony. Is that like the opposite of alimony? And if the two of them meet do they mutually annihilate?
I thought 50/50 blend was a 'bad blend' because the crystal structure is chaotic in that ratio, leading to spotting. Would be interesting to learn why it is used in spite of that in pipe organs. Even a 40/60 blend would no longer be spotted.
What is the fisrt music ? It's beautiful 😄😄
Just stunning!, What a once in a lifetime opportunity to get to see behind the curtain, Did your hearing ever recover?
Simply beautiful. Great vid
Hello Fran,
Never knew that you where also interested in theater organs like I am, so many many thanks for this great tour. I am looking forward to part 2 and I will send your video also to all my other organ fans.
Many greetings from Roel !
Thanks again Fran! You have the most interesting/odd videos!
Thank You to both you miss Fran & Scott for the time and dedication to showing us around inside this massive instrument and the preservation to keeping it in top shape for years to come so our kids kids can see not everything has to be brand new to be AWESOME!! Cow}:-o)
People in their early 40s love the 80s
: )
I know I do.
"Compact casette"
"The Soviet union"
Just a few things from then. Kids today don't know what you talk about.
+Flapjackbatter I'm in my mid-20s and really loved my Cassettes, still have some with old Rockmusic :)
Not sure I loved the soviet union, but at least back then you knew who the people you weren't supposed to like were... Oh wait.
I see this amazing instrument, and imagine all the work & engineering that must have gone into installing it and making it work... And all I want is to hear the Monty Python And the Holy Grail Intermission music on it. 🤦🏽♂️
I've heard this instrument for years but never really saw it in this kind of detail. Thank you for your persistence Fran!
Spotted metal - how tin/lead cools.
Macy’s weren’t responsible for that restoration. It was the benevolence of the “Friends of the Wanamaker Organ”. Also several large gifts from private benefactors.
One of the most impressive human feats... conceiving of and implementing this organ! This video is truly an "OMG!" experience.
I underestimated by at least one, maybe two, orders of magnitude how big this thing was going to be before looking at your vid. !
Just unbelievable - I don't think I've ever seen so many pipes of any kind in one place - what a fantastic building-sized piece of art frankly. I haven't even seen parts 2 and 3 yet either :o) I wonder how many shoppers down below have a clue as to what's up there making the noise ? (Or care even). Thankyou for filming your tour Fran - I'm very envious - though ear defenders are required I think.
Sorry I'm only seeing this nearly 3 years late :o)
OMW i am so jealous! i love organs and i would love to see one this big from the inside
If you think that's loud, this stop is so loud that nobody's allowed in the chamber without hearing protection when it's being used: th-cam.com/video/q0wOqzkO14Y/w-d-xo.htmlm39s
Ok, sorry I'm late to the show.
First let me say thanks to Fran for this excellent tour of this beautiful instrument.
I had the honor of having a chance in the early 70s of being shown this organ by an organist friend that was very familiar with it.
Familiar enough to know that we could go through the ladies shoe dept to the door opening to the console.
Shortly after the organist showed up to do the 5 oclock show, a bit perturbed that we were there till my friend mentioned he used to play at a boys school which turned out to be the same one the organist was currently playing at. We were invited to sit in one of the folding chairs and I had my first introduction to this instrument up close and personal.
One of the most memorable moments in my life! Thanks again Fran, very well done.
Just excellent! Worlds largest working musical instrument. Walking, climbing, squeezing around in it while it's being played.
Thanks for posting Fran! This musical marvel must be experienced in-person to fully appreciate its amazing tonal qualities. I love hearing the first notes after walking into the store - they have such a brilliant, three-dimensional quality to them. A trip to Philadelphia isn't complete without at least attending a daily (except Sun) noon or early evening concert, or one of the special concerts presented throughout the year.
The best concerts are in the evening after the store closes, because then not only are the sounds of commerce absent, but the organ is allowed to play without restriction like those imposed during business hours. A big thanks to Macy's and the Friends of the Wanamaker Organ for continuing to restore and improve this majestic instrument for current and future generations!
Holy guacamole! Geek porn at its most extreme! Coolest tour yet!
Would be incredibly cool to hear Camille Saint-Saens' "Le Danse Macabre" on this instrument. The thought alone brings tears to my eyes.
You rock, Fran!
Beautiful! I've seen a documentary on this organ before, always wanted to visit this piece of history! Thank you for the video! :D
Wow, Fran. That is an incredible piece of machinery. I'll be your ears are still ringing! Here are a few questions (which may be answered in part 2?): How did your guide get the job as part of the crew? What were the qualifications for the job (it looks like a degree in electro mechanical engineering would be a start!)? How many crew are there? How are they funded? Is the organ played every day, or is it on a certain schedule? Thanks for another great video. I can't wait to see part two!
Awesome tour, thanks for taking the time :)
My grandfather, Richard H. Peters, was invited to play that organ at the St Louis fair. He was dean of music at Converse College in Spartanburg SC. He also played the organ at Wanamaker’s store in Philadelphia. It would be appreciated if someone knowledgeable could confirm this “family story”
I just have to say that you are an inspiration to me! A female engineer who is creative and fun and original, it's such a breath of fresh air. You are who I want to imagine myself being when I go out into the world. My hs graduation is this June and I'm pursuing mechanical engineering with a minor in civil. I'm also going to continue my flight training. People like you inspire me to follow my dreams and be myself! Thank you for being awesome.
14:47 That is some serious eardrum death music. Elton would be proud. XD
Elton John might be watching thes organ video on TH-cam
I wish they would play Toccata and Fugue in D minor... would be awesome on this beast!
Fran! Oh my gosh! Thank you so much for showing us this amazing instrument! I’ve seen news clips of this, but not a full tour! Thank you thank you thank you!
With your first picture showing a few pipes I wondered why you said it was the worlds biggest instrument, I have seen larger organs in many churches, but when getting "backstage" and seeing rooms with pipes I got the idea.
It is a very impressive construction, do you know how many pipes there are for a single note? And do some notes use multiple pipes to get enough sound pressure?
I am looking forward to part two.
Very late but I hope this helps: as in other pipe organs, except for mixtures, which are high-pitched ranks designed to reinforce harmonics, and celestes, where a rank or ranks are tuned sharp and/or flat of a parent rank to create vibrato effects, there is one pipe per note. No, more pipes aren't used to increase volume or pressure, though sets of pipes are, as a group, arranged to run on a certain pressure, and these range widely. As for side, the facade you see in many churches is bigger, but the visible pipes are never all there is to the organ (and in some organs, including Wanamaker's, the display pipes are only decorative!)
That was fabulous Fran. Cheers very much me dears!
I'm an engineer, can't play a note, but love music. That was one of the most surprising and interestingly different things I've seen in a while.
Just awesome. You lacky lacky goyl you. Thank's so much for doing an excellent 2 part job for us. Can hardly wait for part 2.
I thought the organ at Organ Stop Pizza in Mesa Arizona was pretty big (and it is), but this is definitely a lot bigger. Thanks for posting! :)
That organ in Mesa was in Portland 40years ago, and was even bigger then.
@@bytheseaaspirinshop801 Dennis Hedberg got it to 50 ranks at the Organ Grinder, and supposedly had a 51st rank (I have yet to hear what it was) nearly ready. Organ Stop didn't get the entire instrument, only parts of it, and adding it to what they already had, got the resulting hybrid up to 78 ranks. In the past few years, it's come up to 82 ranks, surpassing even the 80-rank Sanfilippo organ, though Sanfilippo has more concert-style ranks.
I've been using 15:22 through 16:28 to A. avoid spoilers, and B. annoy my brother.
Thank you very much for bringing this marvelous organ to the public.
I would have loved to play it.
I have enjoyed all of your posts, thank you for the great vid, you are always so cute and informative :)
Does anyone recognize the song being played at 8:44?
The Wanamaker organ is the largest playing organ (everything works as of 2019) as it has the most ranks (voices) even though the Atlantic city convention hall organ has more pipes due to non-standard extended keyboards. Heard Keith Chapman play a noontime program back in 1973 (score from "The Sound of Music") - only had 5 pistons working ! The current organist (Conte) is a genius in his own right.
oh man, this so needs to be recorded as a 360 environment. Just x-disolving between cool spots. So cool.
Thanks for the interesting tour of that marvel. It's hard to think of that organ without also thinking of the late John Facenda narrating Wanamaker's original Christmas light show (he also possessed an impressive set of pipes). Looking forward to part two.
Side note: the Wanamaker store was the first DEPARTMENT store which John Wanamaker "invented"!! Hows does that grab you!?
Fran, thanks a lot for the super interesting episode!
Absolutely incredible series of videos. Thank you. I was sitting on the edge of my chair similar to a three year old on Saturday morning. I'm not certain how much time has past since I've felt as interested, amazed, captive by your content. Thanks again.
I WANNA PLAY THAT!! yes I literarlly want to play every organ I see XD
just kidding, but they are amazing, I am in love (again XD)
This is fricken awesome! I've seen organs being built, but never had the experience of being inside one whilst it's being played (well, apart from a fairground organ - which gave me a headache after about an hour)
Fran, Thank you for that! One of the coolest videos you have done - well, you've done quite a few really. Amazing ! I could almost feel the power of the notes looking at the pipes. The cam was like - get me outa here !! trying it's best to clamp the gain...
Very cool fran, thank You.
Distorted/Overdriven Organ Sound, that could be really something. I bet there ist some old analog gear which can do exactly that :D
Awesome tour! Can't wait for part 2! Had to get Mannequin out and watch it again. What a great movie! Seems to get better each time I watch it. Hope you do many more video tours like this. Thank you!
This building is one of the few on this planet that I will care about if it gets demolished/burns down. Not only a massive feat in the music world, not only a piece of art, but an archetectural marval. And retail!!
Thanks for a look behind the façade of this magnificent creation,
Has anyone fed a smoke machine into the blowers? It would be fun to see it coming out of the pipes in time to the music.
Well, you wouldn't see it unless you were inside, as the facade pipes don't play.
Shining Armor
The best seat in the house would be inside the works in my opinion!
@@AverageJoe2020 Then you will mainly hear the division you are sitting in, and not much of the rest of the organ
This is a wonderful documentary about the John Wanamaker Organ. Not to be a smartass, but I would bring us some earplugs 😁 I enjoy watching this video every year during the Christmas Season Christmas ⛄🎄 🎅🤶🧑🎄 I love the John Wanamaker Christmas Tree Light Show. I miss the water fountains that used to be on both sides of the tree. Great times! Every year I would take the day off from school and enjoy Philadelphia during Christmastime with my Aunt Debbie and my Great Aunt Pauline 💖
RIP to my 5th generation grandfather💕
3:47 I got chills when I realized that Schubert's Ave Maria was playing there.
brings back my memories in the 80s working for George Stevens pipe organ builder in Adelaide city of Churches usually tuning the gems-horn ist followed by the flute and there were 3 sometimes 4 working from tuning being 2 people one playing the notes the other tuning up to 4 pipe organs a day i used to work before at Adelaide Pianos great fun did you know if A440 is multiplied by 1.059639528 yes you get A#466.24139232 do it again is B 493.792020048 c 523.24 there are 4 main countries that build pipe organs England Germany France USA
You almost expect the hunchback to come out, very cool.
A friend and the person whom I work with, sat at this console many times with Virgil Fox. I remember he said the first time he played this instrument he was age 12.
Thank you so much for this video! I will have to visit that organ when I move to Reading.
I think you would like the 5 manual Grandfather Willis organ at Blenheim Palace. My grandfather played it often and even had a small 16 foot one in his lounge (he took the floor above out). Only 3 of the large Willis organs were made - 32 foot pipes. All the pipes were solid tin as silver didn't sound right. Just one point. There is a tiny dent in one pipe - it annoys me. It took 6 men at the bellows room to keep it going and even when the duke electrified it the lights in Woodstock village had to be turned off. You could have a go for half a crown. My father said my 'chopsticks' was quite good, I was 5. You don't really hear the 32 foot pipes but your body does. Bach on that beast and all else is nothing.
14:35 sounds AMAZING how it starts to distort more and more!
Its even louder at 16:20 xD
Mannequin is my guilty pleasure movie! If it ever gets a UK bluray release, I have a whole new viewpoint to watch it from. How loud was that at 16:00 in? Was it rock concert loud or even more? How long did your ears ring for after?
From my experience, it barely gets rock concert loud on the outside, and on the inside a little more with every stop.
Btw its not biggest pipe organ in America. Largest is in Atlantic City; Boardwalk Hall Auditorium Organ by the Midmer-Losh Organ Company in 1932.
The exact words but the pipe organ has to also be celebrated as AN ENGINEERING MASTERPIECE/ACCOMPLSHMENT/ FEAT of history as for example the mountain climbing Moris canal, 1824 (???) of NJ!!!
I'm going to shop at Macy's for something JUST to do my miniscule part in helping to maintain this incredible instrument. It's unbelievable how much space they've dedicated to this instrument.
Very informative and interesting tour of such a magnificent instrument. However, that young man could have provided a running commentary of what you and the viewers were looking at. At the beginning he left you to figure things out while he scampered off!! He didn't start commenting until 9 minutes into the presentation. A lot of the organ components have names that are unknown to most viewers, and how they work is vital in understanding and appreciating that instrument!! 🤔☹
I thought it said widow-maker at first. Although, that applies!
Check out the Barton organ at the Ringling Brothers theater in Baraboo Wi. Another amazing place. We got them to play Phantom of the Opera, Music of the Night. This one is a true wonder.
Such a glorious way to go deaf!
19:59 I would be so scared for accidentally tripping and squashing multiple ranks 😓
Look at this bellows....it's huge...the size of a minivan (but doesn't show it). We'll take your word for it. I guess.
Imagine if you have to use the bathroom while you deep in there? Sucks for the person trying to rush out of there lol
:) Too bad you didn't bring a decibel meter with you on your tour! Ahah! Thank you for bringing everyone along with you.
I live near the Bok Tower Gardens carillon, 23 bronze bells operated by keyboard, Check it out
The diatonic scale is c,d,e,f#,g#,a# is on one side of the windchest and the other side of the windchest is c#,d#,f,g,a,and b.
29:20 Could be the sound of some squeaking part of an elevator mechanism going?
When you were inside, one of my favourite songs was being played. Ave Maria by Schubert
I’m wondering about certain resonant frequencies. Were any provisions made to the building?
This is the most awe-inspiring thing I've ever seen. If it were some complicated, finely-crafted mechanism, you'd never get the full effect. But because it's so brutalist and inelegant in design, you can fit it all in your head, and it's mind-boggling.
Miles of corridors and stairways, every one clumsily stuffed with hundreds and hundreds of pipes, powered by nothing but electricity and wooden levers. It's massive, it's loud, it's dangerous, and it belongs in a fantasy novel. But here it is, in a shopping mall.
Does anyone else get flashbacks of the SNL radio sketches, The Delicious Dish, when listening to the host? 😁
And the openning sound is Dr Scott Joplin's THE EASY WINNERS RAG......YYYYAY!!!!!!
This is merely the largest fully functional musical instrament. There is a bigger one in Atlantic city, it is undergoing restoration.
Those sort of tones at those volume levels can permanently injure your ears. That mechanic was negligent not to warn you or give you protection.
I heard The Great Stalacpipe Organ is the largest instrument, but after seeing this, I think Wanamaker truly is the largest! After a bit, I just scanned through the video. No console?
Organ crawls are now a rare privilege, because of insurance concerns and possible damage to pipes or tuning. The metal pipes you commended on the coloration is called "spotted metal". They are tin/lead alloy, and the spots are an intrinsic property of that ratio of 45%-55% tin/lead. Visually the spots indicate the pipe is made from high quality metal, as pure lead pipes are not very strong. Lead is cheap, and when making thousands of metal pipes, some less reputable organ builders will "cheat" and not use enough tin in the pipe alloy. I'm huge pipe organ fan. Check out The Art of Organ Building by George Ashdown Audsley. All of the internals of any organ are covered in this two volume tome.
Technically, you should also check out Virtual Pipe Organs (VPO), which are realistic sounding pipe organs, but all digitally rendered. The best VPO software today is Hauptwerk. They "wet sample" various pipe organs, every note played one at a time, for every rank of the instrument being sampled in the acoustic setting for that instrument. A highly sought after sample set is the St. Sulpice organ, which is the instrument Charles-Marie Widor played the majority of his career.
Here is a very good performance of the Widor 5th symphony Toccata (last movement) on a very good VPO practice organ:
th-cam.com/video/b0tmUCHA6fo/w-d-xo.html
Sounds like the organist was playing Pirates of Penzance act 1 finale at the beginning!
I'd love to have that opportunity to be in the chamber while the organ was being played.
The sound was some completely overdriving the microphone circuit on your camera!
i lived by philly for years and had no idea that was there
The only compaint I have with the Wanamaker organ is all the facade pipes are fake!
18:23 what is this song?