When I was a student at SLU (68-72), I walked past that building innumerable times with no idea that there was a large organ in there. It wasn't until the 90's when I discovered that those facilities frequently had organs (*learned this when toured the Indianapolis Scottish Rite Cathedral).
1:15 The piece that Dr. Ball plays, titled "Under the Double Eagle" by J.F. Wagner (no relation to the more famous Wagner) gets its title not from Freemasonry (the double-headed eagle is a symbol of Freemasonry) but from the "Doppeladler" that was a symbol of the Austro-Hungarian empire. But the double meaning (hah!) is no doubt intentional.
Bravo! I truly enjoyed hearing and seeing this magnificent 1924 Kimball, after being so lovingly "restored" and worked on ---- and to hear it play! I love orchestral instruments, as an organist, and have enjoyed the Guthrie OK organ with Mark being so very kind to me in allowing several hours at the console -- and a personalized tour of the chambers. I sincerely hope your building can be saved and used -- ALONG WITH THE ORGAN! -- in a fine arts/cultural avenue. As a church organist in Wichita, Kansas for over 45 years (having studied with John Obetz at UMKC in KC, MO - for my Master's Degree) , I also have enjoyed the Mighty Wurlitzer at Century II -- which your St. Louis Fox has a "sister organ" (I believe) to the theater organ here in town. I spent 10 years at First United Methodist on the 1961 Moller (4 manuals, 61 ranks - now a Schantz/Moller that I dedicated in 1998. I then spent 7 years at First Presbyterian, enjoying the Reuter/Rodgers 4-manual instrument (50 ranks of pipes). After being "struck down" with spinal degeneration problems, I can no longer hold down an organ job -- something I truly miss. I look forward to other videos you might post. A question -- is the large (Austin?) pipe organ still playable in the Chicago Scottish Rite Temple? I often wonder. As I stated, I love the orchestral sound, and especially enjoy the "EM Skinner magic" that Mr. Skinner created in his organs. San Francisco's Palace of the Legion of Honor and the Trinity Church EM Skinner were true joys to get to enjoy playing. In KC, Grand Avenue Temple Meth has a 1912 EK Skinner (Opus 912, I think) and I've performed on that instrument a couple of times in concert. Anyway --- fun memories. WHAT JOY !! to see your videos. Please give a huge THANK YOU to all the people involved in caring about this building and its organ. David Josefiak, Wichita, KS
I am a staff organist and the curator of this organ's sister opus; the 1926 IV/65 Kimball in the Scottish Rite Temple in Guthrie, OK. I understand the Scottish Rite folks are selling this building and its accompanying parking structure. I sure hope this organ is carefully and professionally dismantled, stored and will fall into the hands of someone who will appreciate it.
From what I understand, Freemasonry is suffering because young people are not interested in joining. This is unfortunate because many of these buildings have fantastic instruments in them that are landmarks of early 20th century orchestral organbuilding. The building in San Antonio has an organ like this.
Love Kimball organs! So unique! Gorgeous instrument....acoustic seems to be quite good & sympathetic. The variety of colors in this instrument are marvelous. Dr. Ball's demo and commentary is wonderful, calls to mind Leonard Bernstein's demonstrations & commentaries for Young People's Concerts with NYP Orch.
15:38 The Kimball Waldhorn is called a "powerful flute" by one source and a "Diapason" by another. The Midmer-Losh Waldhorns at Atlantic City are said "to bridge the gap between diapason and string tone". www.organstops.org/w/Waldhorn.html 20:23 The Kimball Melophone, which seems to be a stop unique to Kimball (except for one example by Anneessens), is called a "string-toned Flute" by one source and a "large-scaled stop of the Melodia type" by another. A third source claims that it "sounds as a hybrid between the horn's overtones and an open Flute", which seems to be what we are hearing here. www.organstops.org/m/Melophone.html I am curious to watch the next video and see the construction of these stops.
I used to help maintain the 4/37 Kimball that had been moved from the Forum theatre to the Wilturn. I hear many of the same sounds in this instrument. Sadly, the 4/37 Kimball was removed and parted out.
The shrinners love there organs..sad to see thise building s going away ..like the movie houses...now 2021..its going on in these places...chicago lost its shrinners great austin pipe organ..those strings are awesome...I hope this organ and the building is saved...
In DC the Scottish Rite building is a fantastic building, but like most of the DC area, big impressive pipe organs were not to be had. DC has always had too few people of wealth from DC, who would donate a great organ. They installed a 15 rank Kimball in the attic of the main ritual chamber with the console down on the main floor of the room. It was a nice sound, but very distant. The many layers of paint over the grille cloth did not help. it was replaced in the late 70s with Schantz.
and people still insist that Freemasons rule the world. In my city we have a modest 1898 tracker organ, still in largely original condition because we never had the funds to replace it.
I had wondered if Dr.Ball was going to mention the Kimball at the AC ballroom. I must say, I much prefer the look of the console for this organ than I do the AC Kimball But the AC Kimball is more set towards theater so it makes sense why it’s setup how it is.
[This comment made only a few minutes in.] A fascinating instrument in an impressive building, I'm looking forward to what is to come. Re the opening music, the organist is very accomplished but wish he had made registration changes (careful not to be too busy though) for the several repeated sections. [A bit later.] This shows how unification can bring a lot of versatility when budget didn't allow for many independent ranks. Not ideal of course, but a solution too often rejected by purists overlooking practicalities of available finances. Not suitable for a cathedral for example, but for an auditorium like this it provides a very versatile, enjoyable and rewarding instrument with the recognizable "Kimball sound". I can well appreciate the organist's observation that it is a very complex instrument to master.
Organs of the 1920s typically had a lot of unification. Thus, a 15 rank instrument, which we would consider a small 2-manual today, was a 3-manual with all the families of tone in each division.
@@thebog11 I haven't played a large number of organs from that period (except for theatre organs) but have never encountered an instrument with significant unification. These have been larger churches or concert halls So not sure how "typical" the practice was; but I may not have played a wide enough range of instruments. Of course unification was a cornerstone in theatre organs, and I've played quite a few of them - mainly WurliTzer. I have played a modern instrument in a small church that had just 3 ranks (from memory Diapason, Flute and a String rank) with all ranks unified so extensively as to provide a significant number of stops for 2 manuals and pedals. It did sound a bit stretched, but was an excellent solution for the budget they had.
@@bryangl1 I'm a member of the Scottish Rite, and a theater organ would be quite appropriate. Scottish Rite degrees are in dramatic form & can require sound and special effects as well as any sort of music.
@@ericalbany Thanks for the info. [a little later] Thanks for re-introducing me to this instrument - I had forgotten all about it. So I watched the 2 videos and reacquainted myself with this fascinating organ, I would love to play it, but unfortunately I live on a totally distant continent. (Can't help but reiterate that I wish the very skilled organist had used a lot more colour in playing that march.)
I’m always amazed how Kimball, who made some fantastic instruments and was the largest manufacturer of pianos in the early 1900s, could later bring us things like the “Mezzo-thermoneal stabilizer” 🤦🏿♀️
Paul Wanders, There are the 64' Contre Trombone on the pipe organ at the Sidney Hall, in Sidney, Australia and the 64' Dulzian at the Atlantic City Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Well, you've got to differentiate between stops that speak at 64' and stops that actually contain 64' pipes. Nigel and William are describing stops that contain 64' pipes, and they are correct in that there are only two of these in existence. There are more 64' stops than that, but these stops are resultants - two pipes play at once. These pipes will be a maximum of 32', or 16', depending on the type of stop. The 64' stop on this organ uses pipes that go up to 16'.
The conference center in Salt Lake City, UT. When the center was being planned,the top leaders of the Mormon church actually wanted an electronic organ, however the Tabernacle Choir won out and Schoenstein organ builders from San Francisco, CA. Was asked to build the instrument. Over 7700 pipes/with a 64' in the pedal division, so that makes 3.
Wonderful instrument. Although it seems the best way to get people to appreciate these wonderful instruments is to make sure to reprimand them. :/ almost forgot you also probably couldn’t play this instrument cuz of how difficult it is. I hope he doesn’t find out that I sometimes play in my socks :0
Unfortunately the Scottish Rite has decided to sell the building due to its size and maintenance costs. The future of the organ is unclear at this time.
Brent said at the beginning that the building is heated by steam and that this produces background sounds. The building must be heated, or the pipes will be out of tune (and the crew will be very uncomfortable!).
![[Re:all TREASURE] EP.6 in 방콕ㅣ🚩 쩡캠의 방콕 투어 빵 마이 와이 👍](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/uyFw-nItA_s/mqdefault.jpg)
Dr. Ball is one of my favorites!
When I was a student at SLU (68-72), I walked past that building innumerable times with no idea that there was a large organ in there. It wasn't until the 90's when I discovered that those facilities frequently had organs (*learned this when toured the Indianapolis Scottish Rite Cathedral).
Indy is fantastic SR Cathedral, too!!
The strings are gorgeous.
1:15 The piece that Dr. Ball plays, titled "Under the Double Eagle" by J.F. Wagner (no relation to the more famous Wagner) gets its title not from Freemasonry (the double-headed eagle is a symbol of Freemasonry) but from the "Doppeladler" that was a symbol of the Austro-Hungarian empire. But the double meaning (hah!) is no doubt intentional.
Kimball made the BEST strings!
Some stunning sounds!. Thanks for the wonderful demo!
Bravo! I truly enjoyed hearing and seeing this magnificent 1924 Kimball, after being so lovingly "restored" and worked on ---- and to hear it play! I love orchestral instruments, as an organist, and have enjoyed the Guthrie OK organ with Mark being so very kind to me in allowing several hours at the console -- and a personalized tour of the chambers. I sincerely hope your building can be saved and used -- ALONG WITH THE ORGAN! -- in a fine arts/cultural avenue. As a church organist in Wichita, Kansas for over 45 years (having studied with John Obetz at UMKC in KC, MO - for my Master's Degree) , I also have enjoyed the Mighty Wurlitzer at Century II -- which your St. Louis Fox has a "sister organ" (I believe) to the theater organ here in town. I spent 10 years at First United Methodist on the 1961 Moller (4 manuals, 61 ranks - now a Schantz/Moller that I dedicated in 1998. I then spent 7 years at First Presbyterian, enjoying the Reuter/Rodgers 4-manual instrument (50 ranks of pipes). After being "struck down" with spinal degeneration problems, I can no longer hold down an organ job -- something I truly miss. I look forward to other videos you might post. A question -- is the large (Austin?) pipe organ still playable in the Chicago Scottish Rite Temple? I often wonder. As I stated, I love the orchestral sound, and especially enjoy the "EM Skinner magic" that Mr. Skinner created in his organs. San Francisco's Palace of the Legion of Honor and the Trinity Church EM Skinner were true joys to get to enjoy playing. In KC, Grand Avenue Temple Meth has a 1912 EK Skinner (Opus 912, I think) and I've performed on that instrument a couple of times in concert. Anyway --- fun memories. WHAT JOY !! to see your videos. Please give a huge THANK YOU to all the people involved in caring about this building and its organ. David Josefiak, Wichita, KS
KIMBALL KNEW HOW TO CREATE AN ORGAN
I am a staff organist and the curator of this organ's sister opus; the 1926 IV/65 Kimball in the Scottish Rite Temple in Guthrie, OK.
I understand the Scottish Rite folks are selling this building and its accompanying parking structure. I sure hope this organ is carefully and professionally dismantled, stored and will fall into the hands of someone who will appreciate it.
From what I understand, Freemasonry is suffering because young people are not interested in joining. This is unfortunate because many of these buildings have fantastic instruments in them that are landmarks of early 20th century orchestral organbuilding. The building in San Antonio has an organ like this.
Screw instruments when they are in control of our own minds,or is the goal anyway
Don't loose this Great Organ !!!
They Don't make them like that anymore !!!!
In my opinion, in its era Kimball was second to none in the US in creating wonderful orchestral stops and sonorities.
Love Kimball organs! So unique! Gorgeous instrument....acoustic seems to be quite good & sympathetic. The variety of colors in this instrument are marvelous. Dr. Ball's demo and commentary is wonderful, calls to mind Leonard Bernstein's demonstrations & commentaries for Young People's Concerts with NYP Orch.
Excellent Demonstration very stunning sunds
Thank you for a nice demonstration of such a fascinating instrument! I don't think I've ever heard such effective enclosure shades.
Indeed, the shades on each division make the softer stops almost inaudible. The size of the room helps with this.
Amazing talent
Super excellent
Thank you for the detailed tour.
15:38 The Kimball Waldhorn is called a "powerful flute" by one source and a "Diapason" by another. The Midmer-Losh Waldhorns at Atlantic City are said "to bridge the gap between diapason and string tone". www.organstops.org/w/Waldhorn.html
20:23 The Kimball Melophone, which seems to be a stop unique to Kimball (except for one example by Anneessens), is called a "string-toned Flute" by one source and a "large-scaled stop of the Melodia type" by another. A third source claims that it "sounds as a hybrid between the horn's overtones and an open Flute", which seems to be what we are hearing here. www.organstops.org/m/Melophone.html
I am curious to watch the next video and see the construction of these stops.
I used to help maintain the 4/37 Kimball that had been moved from the Forum theatre to the Wilturn. I hear many of the same sounds in this instrument. Sadly, the 4/37 Kimball was removed and parted out.
The shrinners love there organs..sad to see thise building s going away ..like the movie houses...now 2021..its going on in these places...chicago lost its shrinners great austin pipe organ..those strings are awesome...I hope this organ and the building is saved...
Thanks to Dr. Ball from Springfield Illinois! ✌
In DC the Scottish Rite building is a fantastic building, but like most of the DC area, big impressive pipe organs were not to be had. DC has always had too few people of wealth from DC, who would donate a great organ. They installed a 15 rank Kimball in the attic of the main ritual chamber with the console down on the main floor of the room. It was a nice sound, but very distant. The many layers of paint over the grille cloth did not help. it was replaced in the late 70s with Schantz.
and people still insist that Freemasons rule the world. In my city we have a modest 1898 tracker organ, still in largely original condition because we never had the funds to replace it.
I’ve been missing these!! Thank you!
I had wondered if Dr.Ball was going to mention the Kimball at the AC ballroom. I must say, I much prefer the look of the console for this organ than I do the AC Kimball But the AC Kimball is more set towards theater so it makes sense why it’s setup how it is.
[This comment made only a few minutes in.] A fascinating instrument in an impressive building, I'm looking forward to what is to come. Re the opening music, the organist is very accomplished but wish he had made registration changes (careful not to be too busy though) for the several repeated sections.
[A bit later.] This shows how unification can bring a lot of versatility when budget didn't allow for many independent ranks. Not ideal of course, but a solution too often rejected by purists overlooking practicalities of available finances. Not suitable for a cathedral for example, but for an auditorium like this it provides a very versatile, enjoyable and rewarding instrument with the recognizable "Kimball sound". I can well appreciate the organist's observation that it is a very complex instrument to master.
Organs of the 1920s typically had a lot of unification. Thus, a 15 rank instrument, which we would consider a small 2-manual today, was a 3-manual with all the families of tone in each division.
@@thebog11 I haven't played a large number of organs from that period (except for theatre organs) but have never encountered an instrument with significant unification. These have been larger churches or concert halls So not sure how "typical" the practice was; but I may not have played a wide enough range of instruments. Of course unification was a cornerstone in theatre organs, and I've played quite a few of them - mainly WurliTzer. I have played a modern instrument in a small church that had just 3 ranks (from memory Diapason, Flute and a String rank) with all ranks unified so extensively as to provide a significant number of stops for 2 manuals and pedals. It did sound a bit stretched, but was an excellent solution for the budget they had.
@@bryangl1 I'm a member of the Scottish Rite, and a theater organ would be quite appropriate. Scottish Rite degrees are in dramatic form & can require sound and special effects as well as any sort of music.
@@ericalbany Thanks for the info.
[a little later] Thanks for re-introducing me to this instrument - I had forgotten all about it. So I watched the 2 videos and reacquainted myself with this fascinating organ, I would love to play it, but unfortunately I live on a totally distant continent. (Can't help but reiterate that I wish the very skilled organist had used a lot more colour in playing that march.)
I’m always amazed how Kimball, who made some fantastic instruments and was the largest manufacturer of pianos in the early 1900s, could later bring us things like the “Mezzo-thermoneal stabilizer” 🤦🏿♀️
No offense, but some of the pipes in the organ need to be tuned. Not the celestes tho.
Great 👍🏼 Video demo. How many 64’ stops are there in the world on Pipe Organs and what organs are they on🤔🤷♂️?
Only two Paul, the organ in the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City and the organ in Sydney Town Hall, Australia.
Paul Wanders, There are the 64' Contre Trombone on the pipe organ at the Sidney Hall, in Sidney, Australia and the 64' Dulzian at the Atlantic City Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Well, you've got to differentiate between stops that speak at 64' and stops that actually contain 64' pipes. Nigel and William are describing stops that contain 64' pipes, and they are correct in that there are only two of these in existence. There are more 64' stops than that, but these stops are resultants - two pipes play at once. These pipes will be a maximum of 32', or 16', depending on the type of stop. The 64' stop on this organ uses pipes that go up to 16'.
The conference center in Salt Lake City, UT.
When the center was being planned,the top leaders of the Mormon church actually wanted an electronic organ, however the Tabernacle Choir won out and Schoenstein organ builders from San Francisco, CA. Was asked to build the instrument. Over 7700 pipes/with a 64' in the pedal division, so that makes 3.
Are there stops that have never been used aside from installation and tuning?
Wonderful instrument. Although it seems the best way to get people to appreciate these wonderful instruments is to make sure to reprimand them. :/ almost forgot you also probably couldn’t play this instrument cuz of how difficult it is. I hope he doesn’t find out that I sometimes play in my socks :0
Unfortunately the Scottish Rite has decided to sell the building due to its size and maintenance costs. The future of the organ is unclear at this time.
What's wrong with the c on the choir organ.
Pabal
The dreadful background noise makes it almost impossible to understand anything that is being said!!!! Awful, just awful audio!!!!!
There is some background noise, but it certainly did not adversely affect the organ sounds. The narration was very clear. 🤔
Brent said at the beginning that the building is heated by steam and that this produces background sounds. The building must be heated, or the pipes will be out of tune (and the crew will be very uncomfortable!).
oh boo hoo!!! get over it.
You're probably just too old to hear the noise!!!! Played it back at my neighbor's home and THE SAME NOISE!!!! GAL