There is nothing like an organ and organ music

 For something a little bit different, let's explore Theater Organs.  Theater pipe organs came into their own with the advent of silent films, and electric controls to open and close valves. These old pipe organs were complex mechanisms, with 3, 4, or even 5 manuals, of course pedals, and many ranks of pipes imitating the sound of a number of instruments. Some even had literal drums that could be operated from the console.  The American Theater Organ Society works to keep these old organs repaird and playing...no small feat. And most of the work is done by volunteers and doners who appreciate these old organs.  But even though they were expensive, having one organist playing a theater organ was cheaper that paying an orchestra to play several times a day. If you get a chance, check out the database of organs at the ATOS website. Even better, find a local theater organ and go to a concert. If you haven't been to a pipe organ concert, the power of the instrument will impress. When they spoke of the Mighty Wurlizter, they weren't kidding.

For small churches, and home use, the pump organ, or reed organ was available. These generated tone by blowing air past a metal reed. The air was generated by pumping two belows alternately with the feet, while playing the manual like a piano. But of course, the organ tone doesn't decay as long as a key is pressed. This makes the playing of the organ, even a relatively simple pump organ different form a piano.  And while discussing reed organs, did you know that the accordian is in this family?  The accordian makes its tone also by blowing air past virbrating reeds, the air supplied by pumping back and forth by hand. 

The first successful electric organ was the Hammond organ in the 1930s. Hammond organs used mechanical tone wheels, driven by an electric motor, to make the "organ sound." Hammond also used draw bars to vary the tone. The most famous Hammond organ was the may have been the B3. Its counter part for churches was the C3. Indeed, I fell in love with the organ in my youth listening to hymns played on the Hammond C3.  These organs are prized for their tone, and are keep running at great expense by people who love them.  Here is Mike Reed playing his Hammond with How High the Moon  

The Hammond B3 was small enough to be used at home, and was featured in pop music with such songs as A Whiter Shade of Pale . Still, Hammonds were complex, heavy expensive and required regular maintenance. With the invention of solid state electronics in the 1960s, the home theater organ came into it's own. Organ and piano builders like Thomas, Kimball, Baldwin, and of course, Lowrey offered many models at a number of price points. But other makers also got in the act including Yamaha and Gretcsh. These organs added features as time went on allowing people to quicly learn to play them and get good sounding results. 

I took piano lessons from the age of 7 until 15, when I switched to the organ. I had saved up my earnings from mowing the lawn, cleaning my Dad's office, and summers spent surveying with him and used them to buy my first organ, a used Thomas console organ with no automatic features. You had to play the full organ, both keyboards, called manuals and pedals. I still have my method books from those days, and my teacher's notation of the dates on each page. My teacher had a beautiful Baldwin organ with full American Guild of Organist (AGO) style pedals. My teacher taught classical organ technique, although I never did fully "get" the use of pedals. Unfortunately, once I went off to college, and then started my career, there was little time for playing the organ, and I eventuallly sold it.

Interestingly, Baldwin also had method books teaching something called the "pointer system" that kept the left hand chords in a fairly narrow range, and the pedals playing the tonic tone of the chord.  These used in some cases inversions of chords to keep the left hand from moving too much.  I rediscovered these and use them with some songs.  

In the late 1990s, my lovely bride, Mrs. PolyKahr, purchased a used Kimball console organ for $100.  I practices some, but still didn't do the pedals that much.  Interestingly, the Kimball had some sort of "easy" chords and simple percussion, but the system was more complcated than just playing the actual chords.  Of course, by then it had been 25 years since I had played anything, so I struggled.

Fast forward to 2010, I had retired, and we had moved to Stately PolyKahr Estates, and I started taking lessons again at the local Lowrey dealer.  Lowrey has a patented system where left had chords can be played with one finger on the tonic note whose chord you wish to play.  So, for a "C" chord, you play a "C" with your left hand on the lower keyboard.  This activates a C chord with pedal.  But Lowrey organs also have a lot of extras like percussion, background orchestration, and a huge assortment of instruments to chose from.  Each week, I would attend class, we would get assignments, and I would go home to practice diligently, with the full organ on my little Kimball.  I did learn a great deal about harmonics in the process, and rediscovered the pointer system.

That was when I went searching for a used Lowrey organ.  Here is a picture of my Lowrey Majesty theater organ:

Now, I like all the "automatic" stuff on a lowrey organ.  It has maybe 50 sampled organs available, as well even more sampled instruments like trumpets, guitars, pianos.  It even has vibraphones, marimbas...even a carillon.  All that makes it possible to produce professional sounding music.  But lately, I have been working on getting back to playing the organ the way it is meant to be played.  At 70 years old, who knows how long I have, but I will spend what time I have left pursuing this goal.

Sadly, the home organ builders have slowly but surely dropped out of the market, including Lowrey.  Despite solid state electronics, these instruments got more and more expensive,  Young people could not afford them new, and as organs age, certain components like the capacitors eventually go bad.  So, there are few young people learning the organ, and buying used organs can be a crap shoot. It is really too bad, because the world needs great organists who can play these machines for all they are worth.  There really is nothing else like an organ. 

Edit:  I stated earlier that the Pointer System was a Baldwin invention.  Actually, it was J.W. Pepper that coined the system.  Essentially, you point to the chord tonic note with your index finger, and the chord will be under your hand.  So, for a "C" chord, point to C, then spread you thumb up to E and your pinky down to G.  You have thus made a C inversion spelled GCE.  Harmonically, any combination of those three notes is a C major chord.

For adults with no previous music experience, who have myriad other things to do, and can maybe spend 1 hour a day practicing, but who want quick results, a melody line with pointer system chords gives them that.