On a lovely April spring day, we had exclusive use of St Kenelm’s Church Enstone to film a much more detailed presentation of our popular Envoy 35-F church and home practice instrument. The particular model we used having been ‘upgraded’ to provide sub and super swell octave couplers.
Francis Rumsey in charge
As ever the presentation, both script and playing, was in the capable hands of Francis Rumsey who has been of invaluable help with so much of our recent filming tasks. Our only challenge on the day being the usual battle with low flying aircraft and a nearby garden lawnmower interrupting the otherwise tranquil country setting of St Kenelm’s.
We took advantage of the permanent speaker system installed about a year earlier when the church was refurbished. They chose a similar but smaller Envoy 23 as their permanent instrument. The main speakers are situated high in the roof structure above the south aisle. Additional speakers in the chancel were not used and our microphones were place to get the best possible result from the 4 main speakers. A sub bass woofer was added and placed against the south wall, just below the level change you see in one of the photographs.
A look at the equipment used
Lighting and cameras were provided by James of JDA media who work extensively in the church music world. The filming got underway early in the morning and finishing by lunchtime so leaving scope for a good long afternoon session filming the Chamber Organ made by sister company Regent Classic Organs. You can see that video at the end of this blog post.
It is fair to say each time we have a filming session we get a little bit better and of course add to the inventory of equipment we use. Lighting originally depended on what a church had available. We also now have a reasonably good auto-cue which helps reduce the work load on the presenter and allows them to look directly at camera when talking.
I hope you will find the images of what was going on in the background to make this video presentation for you interesting. There are now so many options available from even standard Viscount Instruments that I doubt we will run out of opportunity to set up the cameras to help make it easier for you to find out all about the features and of course the all important sound.
The two videos recorded
Viscount Envoy 35-F video recorded at St Kenelm’s Church in Enstone:
The Regent Classic Chamber Organ (recorded at St Kenelm’s Church):
I have had a passion for church organs since the tender age of 12. I own and run Viscount Organs with a close attention to the detail that musicians appreciate; and a clear understanding of the benefits of digital technology and keeping to the traditional and emotional elements of organ playing.
