West Texas is not a wasteland. Rather, it is a land where there is considerable distance between each musical oasis. Are organs – real organs with wind-blown pipes – practical in such a land? Here is what we found this month in Odessa and Albany, Texas.

It was 18° F. the morning we got to First United Methodist Church in Odessa, our first visit in over a year. The building’s heat had been running for only 4 hours. The 14 year old organ was in good tune except for a few reed pipes and a few flue pipes that had been bumped by a painter. The organ has no special temperature control system other than this: The Return Air register for the building’s heating/cooling system is in the back of the organ chamber, which means that tempered air from the choir loft is automatically drawn past the organ pipes. In addition, all the pipes are at the same elevation rather than having some pipes above others. This avoids temperature stratification, with an upper section of pipes warmer, and thus sharper, than a lower section, which would otherwise be the case. The church does not spend more for utilities than it would if it had no organ.

Best of all, the organ sounds in tune. This is perhaps more important to lay persons than it is to organists. We organists are kind of like the frog in the pan of water when it comes to tuning. If the pan of water heats up gradually, the frog doesn’t recognize the problem until it’s too late to jump. So it often is with us. If an organ begins to sound out of tune, the change is usually so gradual that we who play it daily or weekly don’t recognize the problem, but the lay person who hears the organ only occasionally knows right away that something is wrong, even if he or she can’t identify the problem precisely.

This Odessa church has been an inspiration. They chose an excellent organ committee of persons who knew how to handle money wisely, how to make difficult decisions about technical issues, and how to inspire and create confidence among their fellow church members and among the contractors and consultants involved in what turned out to be a sizeable building renovation project. Also, they had high regard for artistic and aesthetic matters, they knew what it takes to attract and retain qualified staff, and they were willing to take risks to achieve the best results. They knew what it takes to maintain an oasis.

The organ built in 1956 by Otto Hofmann at Matthews Memorial Presbyterian Church in Albany has the reputation of being the first encased modern mechanical action organs in America. (http://www.mmpcalbany.org/history for details). It too receives no special heating or cooling and needed only minor repairs on our visit. 55 years of good music.

This trip also brought us to another intriguing organ with a history. First Presbyterian in Big Spring is the new home for a colorful, solid organ built in the 1930s by Schoenstein for a church in California. Once again: good investments, long-lasting effects, attractive to capable musicians, inspiring to congregations.

We wish the very best for each of you in the upcoming new year.

We have covered a lot of ground servicing organs the last few weeks—Abilene, Waco, Corpus Christi, East Texas, Austin, Dallas— even Michigan if one counts our work there. A few conclusions:

• There are a lot of fine organists and fine organs; the better organs attract organists. Examples: the church in South Texas with a fine 4 manual organ plus an excellent music program and fine acoustics attracted an organist from another state who had almost given up on church music when her previous church had tilted to less form music; the liturgical church near Fort Worth that attracted a fine organist from another denomination because of the new position’s leadership, instrument, acoustics, and tradition of fine music; the church in West Texas, again with a fine organ, lively acoustics, and solid leadership, attracted an enthusiastic and capable organist who now has a number of college organ students.
]]> http://www.rosskingco.com/newsletter/december-2010/feed/ 0 http://www.rosskingco.com/articles/27/ http://www.rosskingco.com/articles/27/#comments Tue, 07 Dec 2010 20:50:06 +0000 Ross King http://new.rosskingco.com/?p=27 The goal is to allow organists to know more about the instrument. The goal is not to encourage organists to work on organs. (I want to know all about my teeth and about the dentist’s tools; I don’t want to work on my own teeth.)

Don’t expect much personal interaction. Organists tend to be either introverted or shy. Therefore, it is wise for an exhibitor to stand to the side, not between the exhibit and the visitors.

Don’t expect much response from professors. They are likely to have their own agenda and to be suspicious or yours, or they are fearful of getting involved in a situation where they are not in control or where they are not expert.

Have a wide variety of hands-on materials as well as printed material. Some visitors are visual-oriented and will respond to words and pictures; others are more tactile and want to do something. (From Odell’s report: “Having the pipes on display or being voiced definitely drew attention.”)

Give away small pipes but have the organists tune the pipes before they leave. Stopped wood pipes are best simple, don’t bend, don’t go out of voice, etc. They also give the opportunity for gluing felt and leather to the stoppers, a good hands-on activity.

Have plenty of photos of small organs, new and old. The publicity that follows large organs in symphony halls and old or distant downtown church buildings conveys the impression that organs are rare, expensive, and outdated. We must counter that impression.

Take a poll of the successful organists we know. Chances are, most of them were first inspired to take up the career by an organ that had fewer than 30 ranks of pipes.

Have some of everything blower, wind pressure regulator, chest, flues, reeds, stopped pipes, leather, pipe metal, etc. It’s a lot of work, but every group will focus on something different. It’s always a surprise.

Demystify! Wow and gee-whiz don’t sell. Facts and reasonableness do.

Measure effectiveness. Write out an agenda. Plan ahead what to say and what to avoid. (We all know our own weaknesses, so it’s wise to name those weaknesses silently before going public so that we can avoid repeating them. Naming the weaknesses takes away their power to derail us.) After the event is over, ask an objective participant to evaluate the presentation. Compare the written agenda with what the observer says actually transpired.

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