Nutball Posted September 20, 2020 Share Posted September 20, 2020 It keeps getting better and better in this video. [video:youtube] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GRollins Posted September 20, 2020 Share Posted September 20, 2020 Showoff! Grey Quote I'm not interested in someone's ability to program. I'm interested in their ability to compose and play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legatoboy Posted September 20, 2020 Share Posted September 20, 2020 Mr. FancyPants... let's seem him do that on pyanna... pretty amazing actually Quote CP-50, YC 73, FP-80, PX5-S, NE-5d61, Kurzweil SP6, XK-3, CX-3, Hammond XK-3, Yamaha YUX Upright, '66 B3/Leslie 145/122 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baggypants Posted September 20, 2020 Share Posted September 20, 2020 Theatre Organ players really don"t have anything better to do, do they? Very skilled playing though, a great watch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
232006 Posted September 20, 2020 Share Posted September 20, 2020 Thanks for the post. He"s certainly a very accomplished player! Nice bloke too. I saw Richard play this on the Compton organ at the Bournemouth Pavilion Theatre here in the UK, probably not long after that video was recorded. I"m not a huge fan of the 'Theatre Organ Sound' as such, it tends to have a bit too much trem. for me, but the Compton I saw him play this on, was designed as a dual purpose Theatre and Concert organ. The Concert side was included to accompany the then Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra, now better known as the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. John Compton apparently spent quite a time personally on site, voicing the organ, as it was the first such 'dual purpose' one they had built. Richard, unlike some other theatre organ players who don"t explore that aspect, can make that more 'concert' side of the organ sound great too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Threadslayer Posted September 20, 2020 Share Posted September 20, 2020 Showoff! Grey Well, to plagiarize and bowdlerize Mark Twain, there are three kinds of showoffs: showoffs, damned showoffs, and this guy. Quote Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect. -Mark Twain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAJUSCULE Posted September 20, 2020 Share Posted September 20, 2020 I would appreciate a non-zooming stationary camera, but yeah, big skills. Quote Eric Website Gear page Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElmerJFudd Posted September 20, 2020 Share Posted September 20, 2020 I"ve met a few church organists in my day who have mastered some enormous contraptions. Aside from the stops, jumping manuals and the feet - the timing, latency from the pipes on the opposite sides of a really large room, slap back reverb - annoying as hell. I guess you just need to move your body in rhythm and ignore what you hear. A dying art form but I"m glad it still attracts enough talented people to keep the instruments in use and congregations in awe. Quote Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MathOfInsects Posted September 20, 2020 Share Posted September 20, 2020 Great skill and complete mastery of the instrument, and also I could not wait for it to end. (I bailed out halfway through so I could just drop the needle from there and get an idea what else was in the bag of tricks.) Quote Now out! "Mind the Gap," a 24-song album of new material. www.joshweinstein.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Docbop Posted September 20, 2020 Share Posted September 20, 2020 Theater organs are quite a trip for me. Back when Spitfire was doing that series of videos of film composers studios one the guy purchased the massive theater organ from 20th Century Fox studios when they decided to sell theirs using in many movies over the decades. The video showed the new installation and got into all the percussion and special effects big theater organs have along with all the musical sounds. I never knew there was so much but considering they were for silent movies all the special effects make sense. The new studio designed the new installation so the organ would be quieter for recording moving all the bellows and effects into their own separate rooms only the big pipes were still in the studio up high with shutters to close them off when not in use. The studio owner into old instruments and had the first upright piano. It looked like a work of art the harp of the piano was exposed and no case quite interesting to see. Studio was still in process of restoring it so they didn't play it When I lived in Oakland CA the old Fox Theater (I think was the name) still had their old theater organ. I loved to look at it all those keyboards and switches and levelers. I was told they still have someone come in on a weekend night and play before the movies. I never made it to hear the organ hope its still there I believe the Fox Theater is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-REXx Posted September 20, 2020 Share Posted September 20, 2020 The Fox Theater (aka Showplace of the West) in San Francisco had a 36-rank Crawford Special Wurlitzer (as I found out when I looked it up just now). The organ was sold and the theater torn down in 1963, but not before a series of 'Farewell to the Fox' concerts in February that year. I was living in Berkeley at the time and was fortunate enough to attend the first of the farewell concerts. Quite a thrill to see the console rise up out of the orchestra pit with George Wright* at the keyboard. Not many details of the music remain in my memory, but he took the time to talk to the audience about the instrument and demonstrate many of the special effects it provided, including snare drum and church bells. The highlight was the sound of the largest pipe, which brought showers of dust down from the ceiling. After the last concert, all the interior fittings of the theater were sold off and the building torn down. *He didn't play anything as fancy as the video at the top of this thread - that is just sick! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Emm Posted September 20, 2020 Share Posted September 20, 2020 I got to see the master organist of Westminster Abbey do a concert christening a fairly stout chapel organ. He not only played a few traditional pieces, but did a couple of avant-garde-ish things and ended with a hilarious sitcom-ish exaltation that was a serious keeper. It was like a meaningful workstation composition that had some real tread on it. Theater organs have too high a cheese content for me, as a wannabe pipe organ snob, but that means zip to this guy's mastery. Had some Red Bull pre-show, eh? (A nob in the balcony yells "Do 'Freebird!'" and an usher threatens him with Mace.) Quote "Well, the 60s were fun, but now I'm payin' for it." ~ Stan Lee, "Ant-Man and the Wasp" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamuelBLupowitz Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 Theatre Organ players really don"t have anything better to do, do they? There was a member of the school board at my district growing up that was (fortunately) a big supporter of music education and its associated programs. The only trouble was, he was a diehard theater organ aficionado, and he was determined to pass his appreciation on to the next generation. He used to haunt the middle school cafeteria and solicit students to join his Theater Organ Club, which took bus trips to various old Pennsylvania theaters that still had these organs functioning. He would hover over you while you were eating with your friends, occasionally sit down next to you if you seemed interested, coerce you into signing his contact list, and leave you with Xeroxed informational literature. Basically, any minute chance of anyone finding these instruments cool, he snuffed out completely. Even the high school band director had trouble taking this guy seriuosly. Mr. FancyPants... let's seem him do that on pyanna...I did get to watch ragtime piano virtuoso Terry Waldo play this piece in college, and it's pretty breathtaking. He had a humorous introduction where he described the original key, tempo, etc and after each would say "...but that's really hard, so I'm going to transpose it down to C" and take the tempo down and that sort of thing. He lurched into a lackluster rendition for a chorus or so, then winked and launched into orbit with the intended key and tempo. Irrestistable. Quote Samuel B. Lupowitz Musician. Songwriter. Food Enthusiast. Bad Pun Aficionado. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Nightime Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 I caught myself singing "Hold that tiger" WOW! Quote "In the beginning, Adam had the blues, 'cause he was lonesome. So God helped him and created woman. Now everybody's got the blues." Willie Dixon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyRude Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 I was going to rain on this parade, as there were at least 762 buttons & levers that he doesn't touch. Then at 2:15 he does something and it looks like all 762 move at once. Bravo! Quote Some music I've recorded and played over the years with a few different bands Tommy Rude Soundcloud Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Lobo Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 I was going to rain on this parade, as there were at least 762 buttons & levers that he doesn't touch. Then at 2:15 he does something and it looks like all 762 move at once. Bravo!Then at 2:40 some of the levers come back up, and at 3:30 most of the rest come back up, then at 4:10 you see the levers go down again. I can't see what he's doing to do that. Quote These are only my opinions, not supported by any actual knowledge, experience, or expertise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamuelBLupowitz Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 I was going to rain on this parade, as there were at least 762 buttons & levers that he doesn't touch. Then at 2:15 he does something and it looks like all 762 move at once. Bravo!Then at 2:40 some of the levers come back up, and at 3:30 most of the rest come back up, then at 4:10 you see the levers go down again. I can't see what he's doing to do that. I believe there are preset foot switches that move the tabs, similar to the registration presets on a pipe organ. Quote Samuel B. Lupowitz Musician. Songwriter. Food Enthusiast. Bad Pun Aficionado. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobadohshe Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 This is serious badassery. I am also with Math's comment. I only made it 2/3 of the way before I'd heard/seen enough. I have come to really appreciate this whole vibe after a few years playing organ for the Padres, studying the axes some of the other organists get to play around the league and getting to record a ton of organ content for Sony's MLB: The Show. These instruments are fun and definitely a dying niche. Quote Kawai C-60 Grand Piano : Hammond A-100 : Hammond SK2 : Yamaha CP4 : Yamaha Montage 7 : Moog Sub 37 My latest album: Funky organ, huge horn section https://bobbycressey.bandcamp.com/album/cali-native Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mate stubb Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 I was going to rain on this parade, as there were at least 762 buttons & levers that he doesn't touch. Then at 2:15 he does something and it looks like all 762 move at once. Bravo!Then at 2:40 some of the levers come back up, and at 3:30 most of the rest come back up, then at 4:10 you see the levers go down again. I can't see what he's doing to do that. I believe there are preset foot switches that move the tabs, similar to the registration presets on a pipe organ. There are preset buttons between each manual as well as toe pistons that can change every stop on the organ. Quote Moe --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Williams Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 Organ Pistons vs stops ~= Synthesizer / workstation Setups / Multi's vs individual patches. On big organs, each manual has its own pistons, which are dynamically customizable, for selectively turning on 1-to-N stops. Whatever stop combination has been set (from zero to all stops in that manual) will be selected with one button push. In addition, there are "general" pistons which affect multiple manuals. Just as there are pushbuttons below the manuals (for easy thumbing), there are also lovely large piston buttons above the pedals. But wait, there's more! In addition to the swell pedals, which open and shut wooden vertical blinds to modify the sound of one or more manuals, there is usually an additional pedal called the Crescendo pedal, which incrementally adds more stops as you push it down, until you reach (presumably) full organ when fully depressed. It's reversible, taking stops out as you pull the pedal back. Last but not least is a foot piston usually adjacent to the crescendo pedal, the Sforzando piston, which instantly turns on the whole works -- and is reversible, so you can press it again to pull back to the original stop setting. It's not for nothing that the organ is the King of the instruments. Quote -Tom Williams {First Name} {at} AirNetworking {dot} com PC4-7, PX-5S, AX-Edge, PC361 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Harrison Posted September 22, 2020 Share Posted September 22, 2020 [video:youtube] [video:youtube] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutball Posted October 7, 2020 Author Share Posted October 7, 2020 I just found this Just click the link, so it starts at the right spot and the 240p video doesn't get blown up way too big by the forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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