Yep, I composed that title just to stir up trouble!  Though I hope it
will be polite trouble, at least; I don't want to start a nasty flamewar.
But before I launch into the tirade referred to by this message's Subject,
I want to address the issue of whether this list should permit discussions
of synthesizers.
 
For starters, here is the official introduction to this List:
 
| PIPORG-L discusses musical, technical and historical aspects of
| organs of all kinds -- classical, theater, electronic, reed, tracker,
| electropneumatic, etc., etc.  Stoplists, recitals (past and future),
| recordings, jobs (wanted and available), restoration hints, news of
| progress in restoration projects are all interesting.  Requests for
| advice or information are encouraged, and stories of your experiences
| and knowledge are eagerly consumed.  In short, if it is interesting and
| about organs, this group would like to hear about it.
 
This intro sets up boundaries which seem reasonable to me.  A case could
be made for limiting it to PIPE organs, but I think that would be
needlessly restrictive.  If we are willing to accept this intro, then
the problem is one of definition: what is an organ?  I don't see much point
in quoting a dictionary; I can think of only three reasonable definitions for
the word "organ" as we more or less understand it:
 
1.  An instrument which is simultaneously a wind instrument and a keyboard
    instrument.  (This definition nicely encompasses both pipe and reed
    organs -- but also melodicas.  Remember them?)
 
2.  An instrument which is simultaneously a wind instrument and a keyboard
    instrument; or an electronic keyboard instrument which is designed to
    imitate a winded organ.  (A somewhat broader definition which includes
    electronic organs.)
 
3.  Any keyboard instrument with a pedalboard.
 
"Whoa, wait a minute!" I hear you cry.  "A pedal harpsichord or pedal piano
isn't an organ, and many organs don't have pedals!"  This is true.  However,
I'd like to make a case for including both (2) and (3) above as being within
the bounds defined by our charter.  I don't claim to be a historian, but I
think that by far the most common use for pedal harpsichords and pedal pianos
was to serve as inexpensive practice instruments for organists.  This does
not make them organs, but it does make them germane to this list.  Furthermore,
I will claim that, even were they instruments whose own unique histories were
anywhere equal to that of the King of Instruments, they are still instruments
on which one can perform organ music in its original form (i.e. without having
been arranged, transcribed, or otherwise altered).  Now, this is a shaky
claim; while Bach or Pachelbel or Couperin can be rendered beautifully
on a pedal harpsichord, I doubt that Vierne or Widor or Dupre would come off
nearly as well.
I have a more personal reason for wanting PIPORG-L to permit discussion of
any keyboard instrument with a pedalboard.  Given such permission, even if
discussion of synthesizers in general is to be discouraged, I can still
legitimately continue to jabber on about my Pedal Synthesizer.
Oh no, not THAT again!
Yep, THAT again.  Not only CAN I play organ music on my pedal synth, 90% of
what I play on it IS in fact classical organ repertoire.  Which leads us
right into the subject of this message...
 
-> Why (pedal) synthesizers are better than (pipe) organs:
 
1.  They are portable.
2.  They are considerably cheaper.
3.  They take up a whole lot less space.
4.  They don't go out of tune (unless you want them to).
5.  They aren't affected by typical extremes of temperature.
6.  They have, potentially, a MUCH richer tonal palette.  In fact, a
    theoretically infinite one.
7.  They are velocity sensitive, giving the player more expressive control.
8.  They can easily be fitted with wider keyboards, up to 88 keys.
9.  The keyboards and pedalboard can be "split" into zones.
10. They are more amenable to orchestral transcriptions, as you can more
    closely approximate orchestral sounds.
 
Are you already mentally forming a scathing response, listing the reasons
why pipe organs are better than synthesizers?  Then forgive me if I beat
you to the punch.  For, notwithstanding that I do believe very strongly
everything I've just said, I also believe the following...
 
-> Why (pipe) organs are better than (pedal) synthesizers:
 
1.  Generally speaking, they don't become obsolete.
2.  You can fix (at least temporary) most problems with a few screwdrivers,
    pliers, soldering iron, baling wire, duct tape, and super glue.  :-)
3.  You don't have to spend a few hours with the owner's manual to
    learn how to use one.
4.  They're a lot harder to steal.
 
However, all of this is missing the most important reason, which I know I
don't have to point out to most of you, though I will anyway.  I was fortunate
enough to learn classical organ in St. John's Episcopal in Waterbury CT,
whose organ, which is described in Barnes' "The Contemporary American Organ",
is worth a whole discussion of its own.  Whenever I hear or play the Gm
Prelude and Fugue from Bach's 8 Little, I hear that organ, and see the
light streaming through the rose window across the Great, between the banded
tops of the 16' pedal Prestant, and my breath gets short and my eyes blur and
my spirit takes off and soars with the notes, deep and bright, all through
that wide Gothic space, till the echoes of the final chord dissolve into
aching silence.
 
It's an emotional thing; either you feel it or you don't.  I'll shut up now.
 
 
=============================================================================
Edward L. Stauff, Nashua NH; [log in to unmask] *or* uunet!mv.com!gozer!stauff!ed
        "Specialization is for insects." -- Lazarus Long