four, allowing individual tutoring on repertoire, manual and foot exercises, finger substitution, chordal structures STATE OF THEART and inversions. Worksheets, vocabu­ lary puzzles, quizzes and visits to IN "PIPELESS"ORGANS: other consoles in the town are in­ cluded. Several guest organists have AN IMPRESSIVEINSTALLATION been invited to visit the class, with a question and answer period after each IN appearance. All that is required for enrollment VISALIA,CALIFORNIA is a minimum of one year of keyboard training, whether it be organ, piano by Ron Musselman or accordion. There are music teachers, housewives, nurses, dentists and a mortician in the class, as well as Ever since the introduction of the handful of voices from a single set of a man and wife team whose goal is to Hammond organ in the 1930's, organ oscillators, the various voices being play organ and piano duets in their re­ enthusiasts have tended to use the produced by modifier circuitry. A tirement. What a thrill to be able to pipe organ as a yardstick in judging typical organ of this type often sup­ teach and inspire all these different the merits of electronic organs. While plies a good flute and Tibia sound, a levels of talent and ability. They are absolutely realistic pipe sound has not decent string and Diapason, with the of different ages and at different been achieved to this day, some in­ other voices, particularly the more stages of achievement - all moti­ struments, the original Hammond in­ pungent reeds, sounding noticeably vated to improve and learn. They cluded, were never really intended to synthetic to even the most casual lis­ proved that when the entire first class go head-to-head with the pipe organ tener . And the ensemble sound is not signed up for the second semester. A in a battle for tonal equality. what would be expected when the lOOOJofollow-through is pretty hard Of course many makers of elec­ voices are combined. But this is not to to beat! tronic organs have tried over the years criticize the average electronic. All of It is a joy to see the smiling faces to duplicate the sound of pipes, with these perceived shortcomings are every day. Wait till they find out we varying degrees of success. The vast simply a function of price. And when will be learning the 11th and 13th majority of instruments designed for one considers all that goes into the chords! The second semester will in­ home use have been built down to a making of an organ selling for four or clude more basics, as well as an intro­ price to place them within the reach of five thousand dollars, it is clear that duction to "Chicago Style," open almost anyone. An organ in this class­ the best instruments in this price harmony, glissandos, transposition ification is usually a loose approxima­ range are ingenious and effective and modulation, and improvisation. tion of a theatre organ. As an impres­ pieces of engineering. Those who have a· flair for theatre sionistic attempt to simulate the While most electronic organs are organ music and wish to have concert sound of a pipe organ, they satisfy the built on the basis of compromise with experience before an audience are needs of thousands of amateur organ­ the general consumer market in mind, given an opportunity to play a three­ ists without entailing an impossible a few firms have turned out organs manual custom Allen organ for a half expense. It is this affordability, along designed to be a challenge to the real hour before the Adult Education with modest space requirements and thing. Naturally, an electronic instru­ Travel Forum lecture and film series. minimal maintenance that make the ment that ambitious is going to be When the first year is completed, it electronic organ such an attractive more complex, with requirements will be time to compile the textbook proposition for home use as well as such as a set of oscillators for each in­ for the class. At the moment it is all in for some public installations. These dividual voice for improved accuracy my head. □ instruments normally generate a of each rank by itself, as well as a con­ vincing ensemble sound that retains The College of the Sequoias Theatre, the integrity of each pipe, rather than dissolving into homogenized sonic mush. And each oscillator of the Posthorn, for example, is going to be comprised of more components in or­ der to provide more of the harmonics and partials that are present in an ac­ tual Posthorn. A no-holds-barred electronic that strives for as much realism as possible is not inexpensive to build: The pursuit of perfection has never been cheap. But there have been enough customers in the market for premium electronics to make their manufacture feasible. In the case of the church, many congregations with

MAY /JUNE 1983 a considerable amount of money to well, I'll fix it tomorrow.' Now all I spend on a new organ found that for a have to do when I want to practice in given pnce, a greater number of the evening is hit the switch, set up voices were obtainable from a top registration and start playing. It's

electronic than a pipe organ. Other very close to the sound I had with .# ...... ,...... ~. · -·· ..... ?:':' ~.,,.,,.--.....-...... ~ ...... considerations echo those of individ­ pipes. Not an exact replacement, but -r · - - - -;:;;r-::, - !J: ual purchasers; the mitigation of a very good substitute." space requirements and most mainte­ The price of an instrument like the nance. 965 at the college was a little out of ....._. ' :_4~ . One of the leaders in the field of reach, so he settled for a scaled-down ~ I .~ ;-'·~-:: .,.:::;....::::-,:~IU' J- two-manual version for his home high-tech "pipeless" organs is the . '·•·•·• • l·t l , f·I I f ·f•,·' Allen Organ Company, which gained studio. On my way down, Pete had attention 44 years ago with the intro­ me swing by his house first before we duction of the first organ utilizing all­ went over to the campus. After a get­ electronic oscillators. The Allen or­ acquainted chat, he showed me his gans I've heard the past few years, live studio, a room measuring about 15' x and recorded, have sounded basically 22'. In the middle of one wall was the very good, with some stops and cer­ two-manual horseshoe console. As he tain combinations sounding, as one slipped onto the bench and began individual put it, ''like a recording of playing, one thing that impressed me a pipe organ." One of their latest ma­ was the effect produced by the four jor installations (representing an in­ separate speaker systems placed in looked like a Wurlitzer 260. Stretch­ vestment of over $50,000) is in the each corner and enhanced by a fac­ ing upward at a steep angle from this College of the Sequoias Theatre in tory-built digital delay system. With­ imposing sight on the stage was an au­ Visalia, California. Located in the out the delay, the voicing of the organ ditorium of about 400 comfortable San Joaquin Valley between San sounded good, but as you would ex­ theatre seats arranged in curving Francisco and Los Angeles, this com­ pect, the room was dead. Switched in, rows. With the steeply inclined floor, munity has more than one other size­ the walls almost seemed to drop away one got the feeling of being seated in a able electronic installation, but the and the illusion of being in a much movie house balcony. The audience new COS organ is in a league by itself. larger room did a lot to make the had a nice overview of the stage, yet Gaylord Carter and Tom Hazleton sound of the organ much more effec­ the loftiness was not excessive. And have each played it for college events tive. I was pleasantly surprised to hear while the house had an air of snug in­ and both were pleased with its sound. a very good Tibia Clausa, clearly­ timacy about it, the steep rows gave a My first look at this instrument was etched strings that were most realistic, certain sense of bigness to the space. arranged by calling the college's Di­ and the best imitation of a Posthorn It was one of the few modern audito­ rector of Organ Studies, Pete Swee­ I've heard yet. Although I was inter­ riums I have really enjoyed being in, ney, who is very enthusiastic about ested mainly in the quality of the pipe and it complemented the console well. the organ. I had planned a trip that voices, I was intrigued with and Pete's studio organ had proved to would take me through Visalia, so I amused by the synthesized Chryso­ be a flexible instrument, so I was anx­ set up a meeting with him to have a glott that featured detailed action ious to hear what this big brother to it look at it on my way through. After noise! While it was not a 100% faith­ would do. If it sounded anything like being asked to look around and select ful simulation of pipe organ sound, its console looked, it was bound to be what he felt was the best sounding it's definitely good enough that a per­ a winner. A quick look around the electronic on the market for the col­ son can stop picking out differences stop rails while Pete and his assistant lege's new theatre, Sweeney chose the and enjoy what it does. After this were getting everything hooked up re­ three-manual Allen 965. The former short sample, I could understand how vealed a number of familiar names: owner of a middle-sized Robert-Mor­ this dyed-in-the-wool pipe organ man Posthorn, Kinura, Krumet, Vox Hu­ ton (whose chambers were sacrificed could find happiness with an imita­ mana, Viol d'Orchestre, Solo String, to bedrooms to accommodate a grow­ tion. Saxophone, and so on. I took a seat in ing family), he turned to electronics as We drove to the Visalia college the auditorium as Pete walked back a substitute. He is the first to admit campus and pulled into the parking out on stage and took his place at the that although electronic organs are lot of the theatre, a crisply-attractive console. As he launched into "Lover" now very accurate in imitating the modern round-shaped building, and used several combinations in sound of pipes, the Morton (and any vaguely reminiscent of Hollywood's rapid succession, it was apparent just theatre pipe organ he might have in­ Carthay Circle Theatre minus the how far electronics had come in the stalled in the house) cannot be com­ tower, with a massive stage house. last decade. A medley of old stan­ pletely duplicated electronically with The entrance corridors were simply­ dards followed and I heard many absolute accuracy. "However," he appointed, but richly-colored sur­ sounds in the next 20 minutes that says, "aside from needing to free up faces lent an air of understated lux­ were very much like those of a typical space, I found myself spending a lot ury. We entered the auditorium just 15-rank theatre organ. Pete remarked of time tuning, patching, regulating above stage level and there she was on later that the synthesized "space" of and fixing occasional ciphers. When the center of the stage elevator; a this installation could have been a lit­ you come home after work and find a three-manual, double rail, wood fin­ tle more pronounced, and would have new problem, it's easy to say, 'Oh ish, scroll console that at first glance been, had they anticipated the relative

MAY/JUNE 1983 THEATRE ORGAN 27 deadness of the room. But I found the noticed by some, but it's an item typi­ son, horn and string to produce a tim­ ambience of this large room added a cal of the attention to detail found bre I recall hearing on some of the bet­ fair amount of augmentation even throughout this organ. Oddly enough, ter sounding electronics a few years without help. The various combina­ the only place a Tuba appears on this back. Sounded pleasant without tions meshed well, yet the properties organ is in the Pedal. This 32-note trems. of individual ranks were intact. The stop, starting at 16', is a very good im­ Two different Oboes, both good, Posthorn has been the downfall of al­ itation, with just the right amount of were heard from the Great and Solo most all electronics which have at­ smooth "throb" in the bottom octave manuals (incidentally, the different tempted that voice, but the best of and an upper-end sound with a strong pitches on each manual are indepen­ more than one variant on this instru­ resemblance to the brassy Morton dent of each other, and each manual ment had a nice authoritative "bark" Tubas. There was a curious harmonic is independent, giving this model the when chorded as an accent, but had a on this stop that stood apart from the equivalent of 66 ranks). The Oboe way of almost disappeating in full en­ fundamental and other tonal makeup drawn on the Great had an Oboe semble. In addition to a large room, in the lower half of its compass. Giv­ Horn quality to it, and was a broader the COS organ benefits from a beefy ing that portion a slightly artificial sound than that on the Solo, which is amplification system totaling 1400 quality, the sound was one of very few a close approximation of an orches­ watts and feeding 28 separate loud­ "seams" showing anywhere. In the tral Oboe. The English Horn (not a speaker enclosures. I would bet this top half, this extra "bite" sounded Posthorn) gave out a pretty sound organ would sound good with just just like the singing buzziness heard in that would be right at home as a solo one hefty amplifier and sizeable high some real Tuba pipes needing a little stop on a church organ. The Saxo­ quality speaker system, but the 28 attention, and in that sense, the sound phone is another effort that hits the units go a long way in dispersing the was extra realism. Perhaps Allen mark, sounding like a cross between a sounds and keeping intermodulation deliberately added it for that reason. Kimball Sax and the Brass Sax of a distortion down by limiting the num­ Whatever the case, it's the best elec­ Wurlitzer. The Vd'O, while sounding ber of simultaneous notes issued by tronic Tuba I've heard. As to its ab­ stringy in its upper register, wasn't any one driver. sence from the manuals, this could what you would expect to hear. But After hearing how the organ probably be remedied by the extensive the cards provided a string and Cel­ sounded using combinations in nor­ list of extra stops available with the este similar to a Violin and Celeste mal playing, I was curious to hear stop cards that add stops playable (keen) that proved to be both striking­ how the individual voices would through special tabs. The Krumet was ly beautiful and credible. One of the sound by themselves. So we listened true to the name on the stop tab, but best sounds on the instrument. to several ''ranks,'' one note at a time there was a strong fundamental that The Accompaniment's Diapason is and in chords. First was the largest almost sounded like another stop quite useful, being between the dull scale Tibia, which sounded somewhat playing in unison. The only out and Phonon Diapason and the brighter like a Wurlitzer specimen and even out electronic-sounding stop was variety found on some theatre organs. had a hint of breathiness to it. Up at something on the Great simply tagged A Diapason chorus from the stop the top where real Tibias break into "Horn." I'm not sure why this color cards exhibited one of the straight or­ metal pipes, the Allen Tibia even was included (or what it is supposed gan qualities available from the 965. duplicated the brightness of that oc­ to sound like, if anything), but parts An amazingly real Trumpet was also tave; a small thing that would not be of it combine the qualities of Diapa- demonstrated. Not a Style Dor Brass ------STOP LIST------

PEDAL ACCOMPANIMENT Snare Drum Flute ...... 4 Piccolo ...... 2 Diaphone ...... 32 Snare Drum Roll Twelfth ...... 2-2/3 Larigot ...... 1-1/ 3 English Post Horn . ... 8 Tom Tom Piccolo A ...... 2 Fife ...... 1 Bourdon ...... 32 Trumpet ...... 8 Wood Block Piccolo B ...... 2 Chiff Tuba ...... 16 Open Diapason ...... 8 Sand Block Alterable 7 Delay Off Diaphone ...... 16 Tibia ...... 8 Claves Alterable 8 Alterable 11 TibiaClausa ...... 16 Clarinet ...... 8 Castanets Alterable 9 Alterable 12 Violone ...... 16 Oboe ...... 8 Alterable 10 Sub Octaver Bourdon ...... 16 Viole d'Orch ...... 8 GREAT Percussion A Sustain Tuba Horn ...... 8 Viole Celeste ...... 8 English Post Horn ... 16 Percussion B Piano Mode Open Diapason ...... 8 Oboe Horn ...... 8 Trumpet ...... 16 Chiff Solo Vibrato Tibia Clausa ...... 8 Cello ...... 8 Tibia Clausa ...... 16 Delay Off Delay Vibrato Tibia ...... 8 Vox Humana ...... 8 Oboe ...... 16 Solo to Great ...... 8 Piccolo ...... 4 Violone ...... 16 GENERALS Clarinet ...... 8 Solo to Great ...... 4 Chi ff Gt/ Ace A String ...... 8 Violed'Orch ...... 4 Krumet ...... 16 Viole Celeste ...... 4 Vox Humana ...... 16 Chi ff Gt/ Ace B Flute ...... 8 SOLO Flute ...... 4 Horn ...... 8 Trumpet ...... 8 Chiff Solo Octave ...... 4 Piccolo ...... 2 Open Diapason ...... 8 Tibia Clausa ...... 8 Chorus Alterable 1 Chrysoglott Tibia Clausa ...... 8 Oboe ...... 8 Reverb Alterable 2 Alterable 3 Clarinet ...... 8 Kinura ...... 8 Memory B Accomp. to Pedal Alterable 4 Viole d'Orch ...... 8 English Horn ...... 8 TREMULANTS Great to Pedal Alterable 5 Viole Celeste ...... 8 Saxophone ...... 8 Solo Tibia / Sax Solo to Pedal Alterable 6 Concert Flute ...... 8 Solo String ...... 8 Gt/ Ace Tibia / Vox Percussion ...... 8 Solo to Accomp...... 8 Cello ...... 8 Clarion ...... 4 Solo Main Sustain Percussion A Tibia Quint...... 5-1/ 3 Piccolo ...... 4 Gt/ Ace Main I Bass Drum Percussion B Tibia Clausa ...... 4 Solo String ...... 4 Gt/ Ace Main 2 Cymbal Delay Off Viole ...... 4 Twelfth ...... 2-2/ 3 Brass

28 THEATRE ORGAN MAY/JUNE 1983 Trumpet, but the skinny (and to some, rather anemic) sound of a church organ trumpet. It's beside the MUSICALEXPLANATION point to argue what one likes or dis­ likes about this type of voicing: The point is, the re-creat_ion was excellent, OF sounding just like that particular small-scale reed. Some interesting THEALLEN sounds are possible just by using the chiff on some theatre organ voices and leaving the trems off. Doing this DIGITAL COMPUTER with one of the Tibias yielded a per­ fectly good Gedeckt. E. Power Biggs would have loved it. ORGAN I left the campus that day with a great deal of respect for this newest furnished by the generation of electronic organs. Both Allen Organ Company instruments I heard were, overall, quite good at imitating the essence of both theatre and straight organ sound. On a scale of 10, they averaged Those already familiar with general cuits - the character of the sound is a solid 8 or 9. In a few instances, the organ technology will need to shift inherent in the circuit. In the Allen realism was almost startling. Elec­ gears when probing the workings of Digital Computer Organ, we also tronics are not in a position to replace the Digital Computer Organ, as built hear the sound wave of pipes, but pipes, as the illusion still falters in by the Allen Organ Company. The without the pipes having to be pres­ places, but if the weak areas are best mental approach to this instru­ ent. The "pipes" are stored at the avoided and the strongest utilized to ment to avoid the confusion is that of Allen Organ factory, not in the indi­ their fullest, one can experience the thinking of the Allen as a ''third kind vidual organs. Sound interesting? sensation of a more than listenable of organ." Here's how we do it. middle-sized theatre organ. As we The first step of explanation should Around 1970 at the beginning of rolled out of the Visalia city limits and be that of "why the computer or­ the Computer Organ program, Allen hit the open road, I started daydream­ gan?'' The answer is very direct - began collecting fine organ pipes for ing about the possibilities of a true sound. Nothing else, short of pipes, the purpose of sampling. The sam­ money-is-no-object electronic audito­ can create authentic pipe sound. Let's pling process involves picking up the rium installation using the technology examine what it is that we are hearing sound of the pipe with a fine and ac­ to which I had just been exposed. I when we listen to an organ. In a pipe curate microphone, then sending the imagined an auditorium of at least organ, we are hearing the sound resulting signal to a laboratory device 3000 seats with a high ceiling, widely waves created by organ pipes. In an called a Spectrum Analyzer. The an­ separated chambers and live acous­ electronic organ, we are hearing the alyzer breaks the pipe sound down in­ tics; a large four-manual console with sound waves created by electronic cir- to its harmonic components, giving a stop complement something like, say, a Wurlitzer Fox Special. Into the chambers, carefully placed, go the most accurate loudspeakers avail­ able, at least one per rank, driven by amplifiers with enormous power re­ serves. The voicing on the instrument has been gone over rank-by-rank, note-by-note, with a fine-toothed comb by several respected "ears." And of course, when the premiere concert is played, the ornate French­ style console (an integral part of the il­ lusion) is spotlit as it rises from the pit on a lift. With the right person at the console, such an instrument could make for an exciting experience. But even the stock models being turned out now, as I can attest, are very capa­ ble music makers. The best efforts of electronic organ makers of the 1930's and '40s tonally resemble the current state of the art about as much as a tri­ cycle resembles a Rolls Royce. D

MAY/JUNE 1983