Finally a feature length compilation of everything that you want to know about the incredible Wanamaker Organ, both inside and out. From my first video visit in early 2016 (Yes, it was still the world's biggest organ then!) to my later explorations of the console and organ shop. Details details details! Savor the minutia of exactly how the organ works, take a visit to the very loud Blower Room, squeeze through the intricate snaking crawl spaces that make up the inside of the instrument, and see the fascinating and time consuming business of maintaining this huge organ. It's all here - so get comfortable, ready the snacks of your choice, and enjoy!
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#franlab #Wanamaker #organ
Imagine, all thoughts and plans Wanamaker had going through his brain about this contraption as he was falling asleep?
i struggle to find the words for such a magical place
The genius engineering and musical knowledge to create this colossal organ just blows my mind! I am flabberghasted! When I was young, I would rollerskate at a place that had a pretty big pipe organ…but it was a grain of sand compared to this crazy thing!
Nice Fran! I remember my mother taking me there every Christmas time. Great memories
So Cool!!
This is amazing.
Why did I keep thinking of Norman Bates throughout this video?!
The pipes are made of tin. It's mostly lead. There is an organ manufacturer here in Milwaukee and I've seen how they make the metal for the pipes. They pour the molten metal into a wooden trough and slide it in a set of ways, and the metal comes out onto a table as a shiny silver sheet. It is very soft and malleable – easy to cut and form. Fascinating to watch.
The Wanamaker Organ is able to play all of the Classic/Modern Organ Repertoire very faithfully with zero compromise. It has been cared for consistently thorough the past century with a few exceptions. It is one-of-a-kind and will never be replicated. As your host pointed out this instrument is in a very favorable acoustic environment for it's size (the room is the most important organ stop) and it is much more subtler than the Atlantic City, New Jersey instrument which is much larger with several keyboards of 88 notes and a couple with 73 notes each, but massive pipe scales, huge high pressure stops of 100" of water column displacement, which is also one-of-a-kind and installed in a room that is about 12 times as large so it has a lot of air to move but also sounds fantastic and gets better every year since they began to get serious about the restoration and has mostly NOT been playable since the late 1920's-early 1930's. The Wanamaker Organ I think has more ranks that are not duplexed at another pitch. Atlantic City has many, many stops or ranks that can play at other pitches, but is done in a very discrete way so it is still very versatile.
Matt is correct – Each organ has a unique smell. I liken it to smoking pipe tobacco (generally cherry flavored) but very weak and sweet mustyness.
Amazing! Thanks Fran.
An engineering/wiring nite mare