Bach played on a Wanamaker organ

[electra225]

Check out this organ, Bill.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkIh3N8 ... rt_radio=1

[William]

Thanks, Greg, I have always wanted to go there. And then there is this organ, another one I would like to see.

https://www.google.com/search?q=atlanti ... 6L9lA,st:0

Bill

[electra225]

Bill, could you, personally, play that Wanamaker organ?

[William]

Yes, I could play either of them. The principal is the same, there is just more of it. Keyboards are keyboards, and stops are stops. The more keyboards there are the more versatile it is to play, and the more stops there are the more sounds or colors there are. The notes on the music remain the same, there are just more places to play them and different sounds you can create.

Bill

[electra225]

Amazing! There must be 500 buttons and switches on that console......

What kind of electronics would that Wanamaker organ have? Tubes?

[William]

To quote from the Friends of the Wanamaker Organ:

Commanding these huge resources is a massive console with six ivory keyboards and 729 color-coded stop tablets. There are 168 piston buttons under the keyboards and 42 foot controls. The console weighs 2.5 tons; the entire instrument weighs 287 tons.

The smallest pipe is a quarter-inch in length. More than 8,000 pipes were added to the Organ between 1911 and 1917, and from 1924 to 1930 an additional 10,000 pipes were installed, bringing the total number of pipes today to 28,750. The organ is classified as a 6 manual 465 rank electro pneumatic organ which means electricity and the 9 blowers that produce the air is kind of how it works. Having said that, original there was a electro pneumatic relay system that was between the console and the pipes. It has now been replaced with an Opus-2 computerized relay system which allows greater flexibility with in the workings of the organ and what an artist can now accomplish.

So to answer your question, Greg, there are no TUBES, but with modern technology it does have a computer.

One last quote:

Now a National Historic Landmark and valued in excess of $79 million, the Wanamaker Organ is of the American Symphonic design, which can play the great organ masterworks as well as the entire range of orchestral literature.

A final thought from Me:

In this time frame, or currently, the Wanamaker organ is the largest playing organ in the world. Having said that, it is not the largest organ in the world in size. The organ in the Atlantic City Convention Center is the largest organ in the world. It has 7 manuals and over 33,000 pipes. It is also only one of two organs in the world that contain a true 64' stop which means that the lowest "C" note in that particular rank of pipes is actually over 64 feet long.

I hope no one found this too boring, I find it all fascinating.

Bill

[TC Chris]

The Atlantic City organ isn't completely restored yet, is it? Wanamaker may get the nod for largest working one.

It would be interesting to feel that 64 foot pipe in action. 32-footers are already in the "feel" territory.

Chris Campbell

[William]

No, Chris, the Atlantic City organ is about 2/3 through its restoration which makes the Wanamaker organ the largest playing organ in the world. Although, the Wanamaker organ is not available right now as the new owners, a real estate firm from NY, is totally renovating the Wanamaker building. The Grand Court, the Organ, and the Eagle are protected by historical preservation with the city of Philadelphia and the Wanamaker building itself is protected by National Historical preservation.

Bill