My home organ has as its basis a 1918 Kilgen organ. The great and
swell windchests, ventil stop action and electro-pneumatic now
(originally tubular pneumatic) are wonderfully designed, and respond
reliably on wind pressures as low as 1 7/8" of wind. Of course who
would want to have such low pressure. The great and swell are voiced
on 3 3/4" of wind. The pipework was of excellent quality, although I
wasn't keen on retaining a dulciana and a VERY soft string, so some
trading has taken place. Interestingly though a fair amount of
replacement pipework has come from other Kilgens because it sounds
great and is of good quality construction.
 
So my experience supports the general trend in this thread.
 
Lou
 
 
 
 
---Scott Foppiano <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> In a message dated 8/25/98 1:58:55 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
> [log in to unmask] writes:
>
> << A friend is an organist for a church in Philadelphia that had the
exact
>  same problem.
>  The organ is a 3/40something Kilgen with PLENTY of pedal and 8' tone.
>  The organ sounded somewhat "sloppy", and when we temporarily raised
the
>  wind pressures on all divisions, the organ came to life with a
>  vengeance!  What a thrill it was to hear those tremendous great
>  diapasons and TWO open pedal diapasons at their true wind pressures!
>  The reeds were, of course the real treat.
>   >>
>
> And we are experiencing the EXACT same thing here at the Shrine.
One thing I
> forgot to mention is that the man I named in my previous post, who
was on the
> installation team and who regulated the reeds for the Kilgen, told
me that a
> "refined installation" simply was not possible due to the lack of
time they
> had on site.  Because of the huge number of installations that hit
them
> (Kilgen) during those years, since St. pat's had set a precidence in
many
> Roman Parishes throughout the country, they simply did not have the
time to
> fully voice every pipe, adjust and regulate wind pressures
throughout, adjust
> trems etc etc etc.  The name of the game was:  throw it in, get it
playing,
> tune it and get to the next job (much like theatre organs in the
preceeding
> years).
>
> And through the years, the Shrine's organ has been described exactly
as above-
> "sloppy," lathargic and, worst of all- BURIED. Well- we now know why.
>
> Two weeks ago we temporarily brought up the pressures to hear what
they would
> sound like.  They were not permanently adjusted at that time due to
the fact
> that we had to order springs and weights.
>
> But what we heard was nothing short of miraculous.  The organ,
literally- came
> to life with a vengeance (sound familiar???)  The flues became "full
throated
> and very well harmonically developed and the reeds, oh the reeds-
well- they
> were not the same reeds.  The Great reeds, which had been descrobed
as "three
> ranks of halloween horns" suddenly became a true chorus of 16 Double
Trumpet,
> 8 Tromba and 4 Clarion.  the Open Woods and Bourdons blossomed and
developed
> and gave the organ a bottom end and  "support" that it never had and
the
> presence of the overall instrument in the rotunda was vastly and
beautifully
> improved.  (Remember- the main divisions speak through gallery
arches that are
> a bit deep, not excessively but enough to bring the sound "back"
from the ears
> of thise on the main floor.)
>
> Anyway- the Choir pressures were brought up last week.  Tomorrow
(Wednesday)
> the Swell and Great pedal offsets and Great Main will be brought up
and the
> Swell main chests when the new springs arrive.  I will keep everyone
posted of
> the progress but I will finish with this: the organ is NOT, by any
means,
> anywhere NEAR the same instrument it was when I auditioned here in
April and
> May!
>
> Scott Foppiano
>
>
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> Note:  opinions  expressed on PIPORG-L are those of the  individual
con-
> tributors and not necessarily  those of the list owners  nor of the
Uni-
> versity at Albany.
>
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>
 
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Note:  opinions  expressed on PIPORG-L are those of the  individual con-
tributors and not necessarily  those of the list owners  nor of the Uni-
versity at Albany.
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