A small pipe organ design.
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,934
    Well, totally out of luck on the "Herald March" by Mark Thewes. Nobody publishes it anymore. Too bad. It's rather nice.
  • suavial
    Posts: 1
    In this area the economy is extra depressed and thus a small outfit has sold several
    5-rank organs for under 20,000 USD. They are very fine little organs and in each case replaced aging non-pipe organs.The chests are new. The pipes are vintage stock and the consoles rebuilt as needed.
  • hartleymartin
    Posts: 1,447
    Well if we were avoid unified ranks then perhaps something more along this design would suit a small church/chapel:

    Man I:
    8' Chimney Flute
    4' Open Diapason
    *2-2/3' Nazard
    *2' Flute

    Man II:
    8' Bordoun
    *4' Chimney Flute
    *8' Reed (Oboe/Trompette) - Divided register

    Pedal:
    16' Stopped Diapason
    * 8' Bordoun

    Couplers:
    Man II to Man I
    Man I to Ped
    Man II to Ped

    Stops marked * are prepared-for and can be added later as funds permitted

    If the instrument is being built from scratch there are many other detailed options, such as whether to have a 30 or 32-note pedalboard or whether to have 54, 56 or 61 note manuals. Money can be saved by not having Man II enclosed, but if the designer is smart provision can be made for having this made available later.

    A small instrument such as this could be entirely mechanical, would not need pistons, or any other digital complications, thus saving money.

    Pipes could be second-hand (many builders seem to have a supply of used pipes these days).

    Space can be saved on the windchest by making the bottom 12 pipes of the 8' Chimney Flute, 4' Diapason and 8' Bordoun sit in the facade, and even the pipes of the 16' pedal stop could form the sides of the organ case.

    The initial build on the instrument would contain only 215 pipes (assuming 61 note manuals and 32-note pedalboard), and at full specification would have 419 pipes.

    How does this sound for a small 2-manual parish church instrument?
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,934
    Doesn't sound bad at all. Granted, it doesn't have everything an organist would want. But it is a design that one could work with.
  • hartleymartin
    Posts: 1,447
    The main idea is that it be a small and reasonably cheap instrument, pared back to the essentials. I would hope could be made at a price competitive to that of an electronic instrument and would be suitable in small-medium churches of say up to 400 in the congregation.

    The facility to add ranks later to spread out the cost is one feature. It is envisaged as an instrument that is designed to primarily support the liturgy and also be capable of basic repertoire for postludes and interludes.

    I imagine that the 2' and 2-2/3' pipes, being smaller would be cheaper and could probably be added at the same time.

    If I wanted to make it a louder instrument, I could also see providing an 8' string stop on the pedal division and say an 8' Open Diapason on Man I using a shared bass octave with the Rohrflute.
  • BruceL
    Posts: 1,072
    HM: a couple notes: 1) I think the 8' Open very important for congregational singing. Unless it's a very, very small room (seating 20-40?), it's essential if congregational music is intended. 2) The mutation is nice, but I would probably go for a double-draw 2 2/3 + 1 3/5 so that you have a solo voice for outlining hymns. Similarly, I would discard the reed. It will just cause tuning issues, and in an organ this small just isn't that versatile. 3) Beware something like a string on the pedal. Full length=wasted space. Always best for basses to be stopped in an organ this size. If you DON'T do a shared bass in the 8' Open and flute, you won't need the string anyway. 4) I would vote for a principal scaled 2' or at least a hybrid, since the flute is going to sound weird on top in a chorus registration. 5) It's always nice to look at the design of old American trackers for new organs of this size. They were versatile and had a great variety of color for their size. A lot of upperwork is nice, but in a small room can get somewhat oppressive. Focusing on 8 & 4' pitch allows great variety.
    Thanked by 1hartleymartin
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,934
    My small Schantz has the Great 2' Principal inside a 3-rank mixture. When the console is rebuilt, I plan to have a stop tab included for the 2' so it can be played without the other two ranks. The Swell Flute 2" is voiced very brightly and loudly, I am sure, to compensate for the lack of a separate 2' Principal. Maybe that all made sense in 1953 when the instrument was built, but I kind of scratch my head over it today.
  • hartleymartin
    Posts: 1,447
    BruceL

    My theory with the 8' Rohrflute is that the 4' Diapason provides most of the partials/harmoics that are missing from the 8' Rohrflute compared to an 8' Open Diapason. It seems to work quite well on my chapel organ (Chapel seats just over 100) which I often use with the 8' Stopped Diapason and 4' Open Flute drawn. The 8' Stopped Diapason with the swell shut makes a very good soft sound for accompanying Psalmody/Cantoring

    The Reed stop is proposed with the idea that it would be useful for fanfares and voluntaries. A lot of Early English music for manuals only calls for this sort of stop.

    The 2-2/3 nazard is included since an 8' Flute, with 2-2/3' and 2' is used to fake a clarinet sound. If one is clever, it is possible to have a Cornet V from Middle C, borrowing off the 8', 4', 2-2/3' and 2' stops with a separate 1-3/5' rank provided. However, I have doubts about the usefulness of such an arrangement in a small instrument such as this.

    I somewhat agree that a 2' stop of principal tone would probably be more useful. I am somewhat influenced by English naming convensions, and a 2' stop was often called 15th or sometimes vaguely "flute", although it was more common for a 4' stopped or half-stopped flue pipe.
  • BJJ1978
    Posts: 22
    I'm new to this forum, my name is Brad and I'm an organist (I'll fill out my profile later). I want to say that I completely agree with Noel. There is nothing cynical or negative about what he states regarding a small instrument made by one of the good builders. It's not cheap, and there are never any cut corners from the good builders, they won't allow it because it compromises the sound. The good builders have proved that a small organ can sound GOOD if it's built right. I know of a 9 rank Schantz organ that is by far the nicest small instrument I've ever heard. The parish spent a pretty penny for it, but they have a very versatile, small organ which may be successfully added to later. The windchests are of appropriate size, for one, whereas the Artiste organs had smaller windchests. More on this later...
    Thanked by 1noel jones, aago
  • ClergetKubiszClergetKubisz
    Posts: 1,912
    These can always be fun to speculate on. Here's my take:

    II/8

    I Positif:

    8 Bourdon
    4 Prestant
    2 Doublette

    II-I Coupler

    II Recit: (enclosed)

    8 Flute a Cheminee
    4 Flute Conique
    8 TROMPETTE

    Pedalier:

    16 Soubasse (possible ext. from Pos.)
    8 Bourdon (possible borrow from Pos.)

    I-P Coupler
    II-P Coupler

    This organ was designed to do the following, if installed in a small space:

    General 4-Part Hymn Playing: Full chorus forte and piano

    Accompany Cantor/Choir: 2 Manuals: A. 1 full chorus for congregation, 1 Quiet registration; or B. 1 Solo voice, 1 Acc/full chorus

    Solo Organ Playing

    What I usually do is limit myself to 8 stops, or something like that to make it more interesting. This organ wouldn't give much to a large space, but in a smaller one, this organ would provide more than enough sound. It would be kinda bland if you had to listen to it for many weeks at a time, but it would get the job done like a champ.
  • noel jones, aagonoel jones, aago
    Posts: 6,605
    Contact Mark Thewes at his church about Herald March:

    http://www.morningstarmusic.com/composers-thewes.cfm
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,934
    I contacted Mark some time ago, and he wasn't aware that "Herald March" had gone out of print when the publisher was sold. He graciously sent a copy.
  • hartleymartin
    Posts: 1,447
    I'm in the process of finalising a few purchases. Late last year I purchased a 2' Hohlflute rank, and an 8' Gamba from Middle C. I am in the process of finalising the purchase of an 8' Lieblich Gedact and a 4' Open Diapason.

    From these there shall be a chamber organ built. I imagine it will take 2-3 years.
  • BJJ1978
    Posts: 22
    Hey everyone, I'm enjoying reading your discussions, I'm still new here and finally able to spend some time here. In discussing small organs and what the minimum is for a church, so I'll share my present experience which I think represents a similar situation. The organ I play is 15 ranks all mechanical action, I absolutely love it, there is no unifications whatsoever and I never feel limited in choices. It's disposition is thus:

    Great:
    8' Open Diapason
    8' Rhorflote
    4' Octave
    2' Super Octave
    IV Mixture
    (sw to gt)

    Swell:
    8' Lieblich Gedeckt
    4' Koppel Flote
    2' Principal
    II Sesquialtera
    8' Trumpet

    Pedal:
    16' Bourdon
    16' Fagott
    (sw to ped)
    (gt to ped)

    The reeds are only recent additions, however. Even before the addition of the reeds I considered it a sufficient organ.
  • Geremia
    Posts: 261
    Have you seen http://www.smallpipeorgans.com/ ? He sells some pretty neat small pipe organs.
  • ghmus7
    Posts: 1,465
    Many organ builders have ranks sitting in thier workshops that are waiting to be used for the right situation.
    May I put a shamless plug in for the Ross King company? They build many midsize and larger organs, but really specialize in small organs. They just installed an 18 rank instrument in our seminary chapel. I have never played an organ that is so versatile and beautiful. It has very thoughtful and judicious borrowing. There is only one reed, but what reed, it is in the (very solidly built) swell box, playable on both manuals and at 16,8,4 in the pedal. When the box is closed, It sounds like a crommhorn or oboe, with box open, it is powerful and can solo against the full organ. You can find the Ross King company on the web, or email me to chat. Ghmus7@hotmail.com
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