If like me you are rather addicted to the organ and its music you will have gone to considerable lengths to enjoy your hobby, passion or profession. And in some cases for us and our customers it is all three.
Not disturbing the neighbours
There are a small group of us who perhaps go beyond what could be considered to be any reasonable limit of indulgence. I am aware of a few around the UK who have spent well over £k100 on installing pipe and digital instruments and that is before you consider the cost of the room, very occasionally built just for the purpose needed for a large pipe organ. Is it an illness – probably. Is it fun – well of course it is.
I like to think of myself as well beyond a cure but not with a life-threatening condition. As you will see from the pictures with this blog a benefit of having a large room with a pipe organ is that it makes a great location for filming our smaller instruments. It is also out in the country so we do not have to worry too much about extraneous noise unless there is heavy rain when you hear that on the roof even though there is about 6 inches of insulation up there.
Viscount Organ Video Demonstration
This October day however was nice and sunny which brought another issue as the sun moved round and came ever more directly in through the south facing windows making the light levels change quite dramatically as the day progressed. 5 organs were filmed on the day including a short video presentation on the clever features of the Cantorum VI instrument that required speaking to camera, a part of the process I know Jonathan particular dislikes.
I also had delegated management of the day to Francis Rumsey who is increasingly helping us with all video and audio media work. He has an excellent pair of ears and is very good at planning matters so the day ran very smoothly and all was finished on time. We even managed a relaxed lunch break as you can see.
The Hill Pipe Organ
For those of you interested the pipe organ is a Hill built in 1875 for St Peter in the East Oxford. It was moved to St Edburgh’s Bicester in the 1960’s when St Peter became the library of St Edmund Hall and then it moved to my home in 2001 when St Edburgh’s replaced it with an Allen organ as the space was required for new kitchens and toilets. Removal of the pipe organ provided this. It was also woefully under powered for a church seating many 100’s of people.
At some stage we plan to prepare a compilation of outtakes. What happens at times is quite beyond funny so watch out for this in the future. We will bleep out any offensive language!
Viscount Product Videos
You can watch videos of the following instruments on their respective product pages:
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.
