jt1stcav

Thanks for the head's-up, Lonelobo...always looking for something new and different.

As nice as they once were, I wouldn't give two cents for 'em in the condition they're in now.[]

In Markham, VA (wherever that's at).

Heh heh, Bruce[]...I know the pipe's physical dimension isn't 8' but it looks as if it's from a rank of pipes belonging to the 8' series of wooden flute stops (and it's either missing its foot or it's broken off). It's hard to describe to those who aren't familiar with pipe organs and their registrations (or group of stops/ranks which are broken into the usual 16', 8', 4', 2' catagories), and I won't go off topic here to get more specific.[:#] Now, that guitar I know absolutely nothing about, other than it's real nice...what brand is it? PRS?[]

Bruce, your wife must've been one helluva interior decorator...your room looks so cozy and lived-in! But did she like you having that 8' Lieblich Gedeckt sitting in the corner?[^o)]

Thanks for the story, Thebes. Gonna look forward to reading about their history.[D]

This explaination from NeedleDoctor.com should answer some questions you have: http://www.needledoctor.com/core/media/media.nl?id=2701&c=ACCT106601&h=192e59a68f2e49fdd1f8&_xt=.html

The things college kids do to the school's organs...sheesh! IIRC, one of the employees of the organ servicing firm my dad used to work for told him awhile back that in the '70s he was called on a job to work on one of the old Moller 4-rank practice unit organs there at the Hartt School of Music at the University of Hartford (CT)...seems there were quite a few dead notes and the students couldn't practice on it. He shows up after hours to do the repairs only to find many of the high notes wheezing or not speaking at all. Once inside the cabinet (the entire organ is exposed on a single 4-rank windchest) he quickly discovered the small pipes on up to 2' lengths were stuffed with condoms!

The only organ manufacturer from Kansas that I know of is the Reuter Organ Co. What I'm trying to figure out is kind of "string" is inside a Swell chamber for you to swing on![^o)] Were you hanging onto the steel cable that attaches to the swell motor (that operates the venetian blind-like swell shades)? If so, it's a wonder you didn't damage something or fall onto the pipework, or get kicked out by the professor for such shinanigans![] That is funny, though...

Recording inside an organ chamber is cool, Dave! My brother and I did that once with my Panasonic pro DAT recorder and two Shure mics right in the middle of the single expressive organ chamber between the Great and Swell divisions of our dad's residence instrument! Keep in mind this single chamber was enclosed inside what once was a two car garage and all 19 ranks had to neatly fit inside those solid 3/4" treated plywood panel walls. With the left mic facing the Swell and half of the Pedal division, and the right mic facing the Great and other Pedal half (with the Pedal reeds way in the back), you not only could hear the articulate speech of practically every single organ pipe, but also the air rushing inside windchests and reservoirs, pneumatic valves, and the swell shutter motor that controls the expression (volume) inside the listening room only...all these sounds that are unique to the operation of a pipe organ but seldom (if ever) heard outside the organ chambers. There's no volume control inside a working organ chamber...all pipes speak at full volume all the time! I selected a short piece of music I had arranged and edited to a MIDI file on the Cakewalk sequencer (can't recall what piece or by what composer, but it was a composition that slowly built up in intensity from a few soft stops to full organ), selected the play button on sequencer, and quietly walked inside the organ chamber as my bro started the recording while seated on a stool inside. We both sat there inside as the piece was playing thru the computer (like a computerized player-piano if you will); it slowly began to bloom and take shape, and progressively got louder the more stops that were turned on. It had to be well over 100dB when the final chords were being played, along with the full reed chorus and the added 16' Contra Bassoon in the pedals! It truely is an interesting experience to be inside a working pipe organ chamber as the instrument's being played. If you ever get the chance to record inside one, Dave, don't hesitate...go for it (and bring ear plugs)! And you're right, Dave, the room that houses a pipe organ is like a sounding board and is very much a part of the instrument. I would very much look forward to hearing your perceived "The Exploration of Space" series of recordings...if I had a million bucks, I'd make a sizable contribution to your project.

Dave, thanks for your response. I see where you're coming from concerning your choice for mic positioning..."where my ears want to be" is a logical theroy for placing your mics, but it's also true that it might not be "right" for all listeners and recording engineers (which is why some position mics high up from the ceiling; a position I admit to liking as well given the circumstances). Not all churches and concert halls are the same, though, so careful consideration has to be made regarding proper mic placement in each instance. What works for one space will not always work in another...I guess there's no right or wrong way of doing these things. As long as the final product is pleasing to our ears and sounds as natural as possible to virtually everyone, then you know you've scored big! I personally have always enjoyed a closer prospective to the instruments when recording...not right up to them, mind you, but close enough to where you can get the cleanest, sharpest articulation from the pipes (along with excellent stereo seperation between chambers) and still enjoy the full ambience from the room the instrument's in. One old organ album I have on the Vox Turnabout label literally places the stereo mics up against the organ chambers...granted, you hear the pipe's clear voices in all their glory up front and personal, but the long reverberation time in the large European church is barely audible! And on one CD of Ian Tracey playing the massive Liverpool Cathedral organ, the engineer decided to place the mics half way down the nave (or more) away from the instrument...where "his" ears want to be, as are most of the congregation when they hear the organ being played...and all you hear is the long reverberation time (which is a cool 7 seconds IIRC) which virtually masks the wonderful voicing of the instrument. To me it sounds like a blur...it's acceptable listening, but you lose all aspect of the pipe's articulate speech IMO. Don't worry about providing me the specs to the organ at your church. Just thought I'd bring it to your attention for when you post it elsewhere the complete specifications are there for those who want to see it.

Absolutely wonderful! Enjoy your new Mac!

Dave, you outdo yourself as always! Not to nit-pick, and please don't take this the wrong way. But knowing your limited considerations with mic placement at the church, I wonder if you could've gotten a little closer with your mic placement, so as to capture more of the pipe's individual articulation and clearer speech? I know from my own limited recording experience with my dad's residence pipe organ, the closer I placed the mics to the chambers instead of more into the living room to capture room acoustics, the clearer the pipes sounded, with less smearing of the overall soundscape when more stops were drawn. I'm not saying your Widor (and Hook organ) recordings are flawed in any way, shape, or form! I wish I had the pro recording chops you possess. You certainly want to get the best of both the instruments and the room acoustics the organs are housed in (and your recordings are definately not smeared). I guess it's just personal preference. If it were me, I'd just place the mics a little bit closer to the instrument...kinda like loudspeaker placement in your listening room; just a slight amount of repositioning can make a difference in overall sound. FWIW, IMHO, and all that jazz. And BTW...the organ specification above is incomplete. The Great Division is completely missing, and I'm not sure the Pedal Division is all there either (no Pedal mixtures or reeds, especially the 32' and 16' stops). Is there an updated/revised spec list?

What? Does Conte not have enough of an instrument to play already? Does he really need to double the 462 ranks already in place?[] Actually, it's a cool idea...if they can actually add complete instruments to the existing organ. And since all three manufacturers are now defunct (Austin was the latest to go under a few years ago, with Moller several years before, and Skinner in the '70s), it'd be an excellent representation of some of America's greatest organ manufacturers under one roof. I wonder if they'll have any space available for another addition...I'd love to see a complete set of Cavaille-Coll ranks added! This 19th century French builder designed some of the grandest reed choruses ever conceived for the instrument. Cavaille-Colls were the epitome of "symphonic" organs...listen to any recording of the famed Notre-Dame Cathedral (Paris) instrument to hear what I mean, especially at grande tutti![8] The Organ Historical Society's Organ Clearinghouse has a vast inventory of used organs at their disposal...I can't imagine Macy's purchasing the entire lot, unless they picked through 'em and chose only the best selections...it does boggle the mind!

Yikes, Ron...now I'm worried![] For the past several months now my 640C's been acting up intermittently (dammit). I open the tray and place a disc inside, then close the tray. The player doesn't read the disc at all, and after a few seconds reopens the tray automatically (with the word "CLOSE" on the display until the tray opens). I close the tray again, and 9 times out of 10 the player will read the disc; sometimes not...mostly, it does read it and resumes normal operation. It hasn't gotten any worse, but it still does it from time to time and it's more an aggrevation than anything. I can't imagine the lens being dirty would cause this, but who knows. Guess I should go thru the first steps with my 640C (an AudioAdvisor demo) like you did last year when I get the chance and see if that helps. I like this player and can't really afford to buy another one right now...just hope my 640C doesn't crap out entirely anytime soon (that would suck).

Read Dave's first post: http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/t/102885.aspx

Sorry, Dave...guess I should've read your post all the way thru (I'm a dumba$$).

Bummer...the "04 Vivace" file failed after 15 seconds of play on WMP and the same message popping up! I did notice while downloading the file that after 30 seconds into the download, it just then zipped to the end of the download rather suddenly! Maybe the file is corrupt somehow, I dunno...has anyone else experienced the same problem with these three files on their computers using WMP (or any other player)? Or is it just me?

A few minutes into both the "01 Allegro" and "03 Larghetto" files, a WMP pop-up window rears its ugly face, saying that WMP can't play the file; that either the player can't support the file type or support the codec that was used to compress the file. The other two files play completely through...why these other two files will not play is a complete mystery to me. I even deleted the original two and copied them again onto my PC, and the latest copies also don't play all the way with the same error message displaying each time. Guess I'll miss out on these two WAV files...

And you do all this (recording) for fun? Look how Dorian and Chesky started out...and look where they're at today! I think the Mallette label has a certain ring to it, don't y'all?

What were the Linn recording engineers thinking here? Scratch that CD off my short list...

After about 15 minutes of download time, I plugged in my li'l Sennheiser CX500 earbuds into the ProMedia 2.1's control pod for a critical first listen via WMP (I'll eventually burn a CD for playback on my stereo system; I couldn't wait to listen now)...this is my first impressions on Dave's remarkable recording style, equipment, and technique: St. James Infermary - OMG! Earth and All Stars - NO F***IN' WAY! Brahm's Andante - THE CRICKETS ARE IN ATTENDANCE! Claire de Lune - MORE BENCH SQUEAKS! Mozart - OMG AGAIN! Handel on the Stand - I'M GOBSMACKED! I now weep tears of sadness knowing what could've been regarding Dave wanting to record our organ...[:'(]

Sorry 'bout that, Mark...the buzzing was not from the XTi-1000 since it was only driving his subwoofer (with its DSP off...bad choice of words there). What he heard seemed to be generated from the other amps/active crossover EQ that were used to power his DIY open baffle loudspeakers (511B/Usher combo). I knew I wasn't qualified to comment on this...[:$]

Don't change 'em out quite yet, Dave...I'm downloading the WAV files as I type this... Can't wait to hear your recordings. If only I could turn back the hands of time when our pipe organ was in peak performance and the MIDI files were updated/reedited...those would've been stellar recordings IMHO!

I dunno...I'm not qualified to say since I never owned one, but IMHO it is a "pro-audio" amplifier that's designed for sound reinforcement in recording studios, live concert venues and such, and not really designed for the home audio market (with their different, more highly refined set of requirements). My brother's XTi-1000 was used only to power his DIY subwoofer system (DSP bypassed), so I can't comment on the buzzing issue (which he did have with his DIY 511B/Usher woofer open-baffles and bi-amped and active-crossovered/EQed setup...now all sold). In the end if this Crown pro-audio amplifier works out with other's home audio systems, then they're indeed the lucky ones and more power to 'em! It's just my observation that this (and other pro-audio devices) doesn't always mesh well with consumer related 2-channel/HT audio systems and shouldn't always be expected to be satisfactorily used for such...YMMV and all that.