Robert Quinney - Live in Concert

[mangerton]

Interesting to hear of brave plan to lower the pitch to 440 - didn't seem radically sharp to me compared to, say, St Michael's, Cornhill, though playing with orchestras would obviously be an issue. I wonder how the work would be scheduled and how long it would take to complete.

Does anyone know how it will be done? Do they move the existing pipes up, and construct a new bottom pipe for each rank?

That sounds too simple, and I'm sure there will be a lot more to it.

[mercia]

we did have a thread about this, though I don't think it answers any of those questions

http://www.for3.org/forums/showthread.php?9953-Peterborough-pitch-change

[ardcarp]

I'm sure there will be a lot more to it

There is!

[Roger Judd]

Basically, to lower the pitch of the organ every single pipe has to be made a bit longer - an incredibly time-consuming operation, hence the vast expense - I think a sum around £300,000 has been mentioned. If you built a new bottom pipe for every stop and moved the others up one note, then you'd have to shave wood or metal off every shifted pipe, because the pitch adjustment isn't exactly a semitone. I'm not sure I've expressed myself very clearly, but I hope you get the drift! I think that I'll go and lie down in a darkened room, but not before saying that Robert's recital was brilliant, and what a very lovely sounding instrument they have there.
RJ

[Vile Consort]

Could I please add a note c) to Contre Bombarde's excellent instructions?

c) Remember that organs are not "played". They are "put through their paces".

Only during recitals. During services, the organ plays itself.

[Lento]

Ah yes, thanks! The 2 links are very informative.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-enlagnd-cambridgeshire-25092918[/URL]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0hMH61Hzyo

[mangerton]

Basically, to lower the pitch of the organ every single pipe has to be made a bit longer - an incredibly time-consuming operation, hence the vast expense - I think a sum around £300,000 has been mentioned. If you built a new bottom pipe for every stop and moved the others up one note, then you'd have to shave wood or metal off every shifted pipe, because the pitch adjustment isn't exactly a semitone. I'm not sure I've expressed myself very clearly, but I hope you get the drift! I think that I'll go and lie down in a darkened room, but not before saying that Robert's recital was brilliant, and what a very lovely sounding instrument they have there.
RJ

Roger,

Thank you, yes, that's quite clear and rather what I had thought.