Question about registration
  • Felicia
    Posts: 111
    I have a piece I'd like to play sometime, but I'm having difficulty with registration. The score calls for 8' Gambe and Celeste in the Swell; 8' Quintade, 4' Rohrflote, and Tremulant in the Choir and 8' + 16' in the Pedal. The organ at my church is a 2-manual Wicks, so I'd have to use the Great instead of the Choir division. Moreover, neither manual has a Quintade. The Tremulant is in the Swell, but I hardly use it anyway. We have a Salicional instead of a Gamba on the Swell, so I use that with the Celeste, sometimes adding an 8' Flute. So, I'm OK as far the Swell and Pedals go.

    I asked my former organ teacher (who plays on a very different instrument) how to approximate a Quintade. She suggested coupling a mutation stop with the 8' Rohrflote on the Great. The mutation on our Wicks is a Nazard, and adding it to the flute produces a lovely, clarinet-like sound. The problem is, the Nazard is in the Swell, and I can't couple it to the Great and still have the string celestes in the Swell at the same time. The 8' + 4' Rohrflote without the Nazard isn't enough, but an 8' Principal or Trompette is too much. I've also added an 8' Salicional (another pull-down from the Swell) to the flutes, which helps a little, but I'm still missing that "reedy" sound from the Nazard.

    Any suggestions?

  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,934
    Registration is specific to the instrument you are playing. Unless you have the composer's organ, your registrations will likely not sound the same. The closest I could come to that reedy sound was an 8' Spitzflote, 8' Viola that was kind of reedy sounding (unless you used the tremolo) and the Nazard 2 2/3'. Pulling on the 4' coupler raised the pitch, but gave it a more 'reedy' sound. I had to accompany with 8' flutes on the great. Adding the Bourdon 8' gave the swell more of a clarinet sound and a little more volume. However, each organ is different.
    Thanked by 2CHGiffen Felicia
  • francis
    Posts: 10,668
    no two organs will register the same... trust your ears and remember, registration is only about color... not content... the notes and the performance are that.
    Thanked by 3CharlesW sdtalley3 CHGiffen
  • Nathan_the_Organist
    Posts: 434
    I will echo Charles and Francis. Every organ will sound different (and the same organ would sound slightly different if you put it in a different church). It has happened to to me where I don't have the stops that the composer calls for. In that case I just have to find something close. The only way to get good at registration is by sitting down at the organ and pulling stops until you find something you like that balances.
    Thanked by 4CharlesW francis Felicia CHGiffen
  • M. Jackson Osborn
    Posts: 8,368
    If I were in your place I would very likely play the accompaniment on a flute on the great (even if that would sacrifice those lush strings) and play the solo on your swell with a flute and the nazard. Try this and see if it works. Your idea of strings in the swell and a principal in the great is a good one - too bad that doesn't seem to work well.

    By the way - what is the piece and who composed it?
    It sounds like it may be romantic or some kind of twentieth century work.
    Thanked by 3francis Felicia CHGiffen
  • francis
    Posts: 10,668
    good composition works on any registration... bach is an example... if you are playing all the right notes, it's hard to make it sound 'bad'.
    Thanked by 2Felicia CHGiffen
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