John Apple said:

>Again, acoustics make or break any organ. (Have you heard the >Hammond on
the Virgil Fox recording [NYC] or the Mario Salvador >recording [Mexico City
cathedral]? It even sounds pretty good!)

I've heard and played the organs in the churches he talks about in his post
about the Schlicker rebuilds.  I couldn't agree more with him.  The results are
pretty hideous.  At least Covenant Presbyterian has rectified their acoustics
and David Nelms (Mid-Atlantic Organ Company) is doing a fine job of restoring
the Aeolian-Skinner back to G.D.H. quality.  Stuart Goodwin will be coming in
to do tonal finishing once the mechanical work is complete.  One of the
things that is being done is that all the chest work has been moved forward in the
chambers, so the sound is not lost in the chambers like it was before, and new
swell motors are being installed, so the shades will open a full 90 degrees,
instead of the 30 degrees like they did.  It already makes a HUGE difference.

As has been said many times before, the most important stop on the organ is
the room.  When we got into the design phase on our new sanctuary, the Director
of Music and myself told our architect (who thankfully sings in our choir!)
that we needed to hire an acoustician, he was all in favor of it.  We had
selected the builder of the pipe organ already and I was working on the tonal
design of the instrument.  The builder (Ruffatti) and the architect were working
together to design the chamber space, so Ruffatti also suggested that we hire an
acoustical engineer.  We were all in agreement to use Kirkegaard since they
had worked to create such a magical marriage of organ and space in Miami at The
Church of the Epiphany.  Of course, since our musical requirements are
radically different, our acoustics will be considerably different, but still at 1.8
seconds occupied, I can't complain.  When the builder knows what kind of
acoustical environment the organ will go in, an astute builder can voice the organ
accordingly.  Francesco wanted to know as many details about our room so he
could judge scaling and such, so that is why I had him talk directly with the
acoustician and architect.  I know what kind of tonal result I want, so I can
explain to him what I envision, and from what information he gathers from the
building people, he can amalgamate everything, and then figure out scales,
windpressure, metal, etc.  Our new organ is going to be a success and I want the
acoustics to enhance it.  Music plays too important of a role in the life of our
church for the acoustics to ruin the sound of the new organ.  Our
congregation is so exctited about the instrument that if the acoustics were to ruin the
sound of it, somebody's head would roll and I would have the axe in my
hand....and since I'm also a funeral director, I can always dispose of the evidence.

Monty Bennett
Friendship Baptist Church
Charlotte, NC
waiting for the V/169 Ruffatti--scheduled for Fall 2005 delivery

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