7 rank highly unified Estey Pipe Organ with Swell and Great enclosed in one box
  • WayneMondello
    Posts: 2
    Is there another organist out there that has a 7 rank or smaller pipe organ with the Swell and Great in the same box. When accompanying the congregation hymns even the slightest movement of the Swell pedal becomes way too loud? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. A friend of mine came in to play at a funeral and told me it got away from him as he was singing. He is an accomplished organist and plays at a neighboring parish with a digital Allen. I have been a church organist for 40 years and have played mostly tracker organs. I came out of retirement to play in this church to help them out as they had a pianist playing for them for 7 years and everything was played fff and congregation complaining she drowned out the cantor. I have been there for one year and have been well received. I would love to hear some honest feedback.
  • francis
    Posts: 10,668
    Use only prin 8 and 4
  • ServiamScores
    Posts: 2,724
    Perhaps the swell motor could be adjusted to favor being more closed, and only fully open on the last pin. Maybe the half-way point of the pedal is programmed to open the box to 75%, for instance, rather than 50, and that could be adjusted?

    It could be that your friend just needs to rehearse anticipating swell motions to time them better. What I mean is, sometimes with organs whose swell adjustments are not well regulated, you need to begin opening/closing a box ahead of when you actually need it to be open/shut. It also seems like registration choices maybe weren't as thoughtful as they could have been?

    It's so hard when you're a sub and you aren't sure what the congregation is used to hearing and what combos of stops work best.
    Thanked by 2francis DavidOLGC
  • WayneMondello
    Posts: 2

    Thank you for your response. I am very careful with what I use for registration for congregational singing and the people are quite happy with the sound. I have been there for over a year and have been well received and complimented on the way I make the organ sound for the size church.
    I was just wondering how many 2 manual Estey organs there are out there that the Swell and Great are both in the enclosed box. I have played on a 9 rank Estey with Swell in a box and Great pipe exposed. That is the norm, no? Doing more research on the organ I found out that the original Estey was bastardized by a pastor that let Resig in to redo the organ as it was a tubular pneumatic and needed to be redone. They truly ruined the organ making it almost impossible for the tuner to get inside to tune the pipes. It surely is a unique organ that should have been brought back to its original condition. Thanks again for passing on your info.
  • kevinfkevinf
    Posts: 1,184
    FYI: My parish is receiving a 12 stop Estey from 1906. It is Gt, Sw and Pedal. It is a tracker but some of the pedal is pneumatic. It is being rebuilt and some stops are added ( an Hautbois on the Swell and a 8 and 4 flute harmonqiue on the Gt. The Swell will be enclosed separately.The Great is also getting a Noack principal and the Swell is getting new Gamba and celeste pipes. Everything of this organ is getting rebuilt. We will recieve it August of this year. We are very excited.
    Thanked by 2lmassery ServiamScores
  • ghmus7
    Posts: 1,465
    With many of these smaller organs from Estey, Kilgen and others, both manual divisions were frequently enclosed, to provide more versatility for a small stop list..These organs, often about 10 ranks can be quite wonderful.
    I am sure that the operation of the boxes cam be adjusted to provide a more gradual crecendo. A qualified organ tech can do this. Sometimes, if the organ professional is a distance away, he can advise you on how to do something like this by phone, depending on how handy you are. You have a little treasure.
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