June 14th, 2014: Yuge Organ

[xoxoxoBruce]

Who has the biggest organ in the world? No, not me (blush), not John Holmes, not even Roberto Esquivel Cabrera.
It’s Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall.

Atlantic City’s Historic Boardwalk Hall is proud to proclaim several amazing firsts – and official “largests” as designated by The Guinness Book of World Records.
Fact: When completed in 1929, the Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall was the world's first and largest full-service convention facility.
Fact: The majestic structure of that historic hall was the largest in the world to be built without roof posts and pillars.
Fact: Boardwalk Hall also houses an enormous musical treasure: the Midmer-Losh Pipe Organ, which was then and is still today the biggest organ in the world.

The Guinness Book of World Records recognized the Midmer-Losh with multiple entries:
Largest pipe organ in the world based on the number of pipes – more than 33,110 in 449 ranks
Loudest musical instrument/loudest organ stop – with sound described as “a pure trumpet note of ear-splitting volume”
The only organ to have stops that run on record air pressure (100”) – about 30 times more than a normal organ stop
One of only two organs in the world with a true non-digital, acoustic 64-foot stop, the Grand Ophicleide stop is unique in the organ world because it’s a reed-flue hybrid
Largest musical instrument ever constructed – with eight organ chambers and nine 32-foot stops (stops are the components that control the amount of pressurized air going into the pipe chamber)
The biggest console with seven manuals [keyboards] and 1,200+ stop-keys complete with orchestral instruments, from flute to violin.

This is the second try, I didn't save the first one and had to gather everything again. Couldn't even find my original link.

link

[SPUCK]

DUDE! It's not the "second one" you put it in 'Steve'. Left us all scratching our collective heads.

Sorry for your screwup. I'm sorry you had to gather it all again-what a PITB.

[Griff]

Cool restoration video promo.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by SPUCK

DUDE! It's not the "second one" you put it in 'Steve'. Left us all scratching our collective heads.

Sorry for your screwup. I'm sorry you had to gather it all again-what a PITB.

Yeah I discovered that this morning. Oh well, what's an extra hour of lost sleep.

Griff's video is well worth clicking on to watch it on Vimeo.

[glatt]

Cool. Huge pipes and even a gong rung by a mallet on bellows.

[Diaphone Jim]

From Wikipedia:
"The organ possesses a unique stop in the organ world, the 64-foot Diaphone..."

Just sayin'.

[xoxoxoBruce]

di·a·phone
ˈdīəˌfōn noun
a low-pitched fog signal operated by compressed air, characterized by the “grunt” that ends each note.


So shouldn't that be...
"The organ possesses a unique stop in the organ world, the 64-foot Diaphone..."

Just sayin'. Grunt.

[Diaphone Jim]

Huh?

[xoxoxoBruce]

The definition of diaphone says it ends with a grunt. So what you say should end with a grunt.

[Diaphone Jim]

The organ diaphone preceded the fog horn diaphone and does not grunt.
Of the fog horn diaphones, only the Type F2T "grunts."

Every family has euphemisms for certain bodily functions; that word was operative in a couple of friends' families when I was a kid.
Anyone else?
If this catches on, I'll tell you ours.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Had a plumber, a nurse, horses, cows, pigs, and a sheep, but no euphemisms.

[Pamela]

I have heard that organ. It's amazing. The floor, even the very air vibrates when it is played.

I love pipe organs. More expressive than a violin, sexier than a tenor sax and impossible to synthesize, no matter what Korg and Yamaha say.

The Wanamaker organ is among the best in the world also, and a lot closer to home. Lots of videos on Youtube of organists playing these and other organs. Amazing how they do it. They even use both feet in addition to their hands and some pieces of music require TWO players!