The organ as a wind instrument • Hacker News Board

Re: The organ as a wind instrument

#11

Post by PathOfEclipse » Mon, Jan 09, 2023, 5:32 PM UTC

cptcobalt wrote: post #3

The pipe organ is surely one of the most majestic & grand instruments, and I long for the day its most frequent use won't be drab church hymns. It's capable of so much more. It's also difficult to get exposure to. You've basically got make friends with a church music director to let you play theirs. That's not easy, especially as a queer self-taught musician—no religion, no music degree won't get you too far. It's a…

As an amateur pianist trying to learn organ specifically to play "drab" church hymns, I can say that while I admire the complexity and scope of the organ, At the same time, I don't find the organ particularly interesting musically. I just don't think it "sounds" great. I think this explains the lack of popularity of organ more than anything else. In my free time, I would much rather listen to piano music than organ music. I remember even recently finding a new pianist I liked who also played the organ, and I simply didn't like his organ tracks.

> You've basically got make friends with a church music director to let you play theirs

No one is stopping you or any other secular organization from building your own organs. It seems weird to complain that churches were the only organizations willing to spend the money to build and maintain organs. If anything, you should be grateful they invested the resources in the first place. Without these churches, is it not possible the organ would be virtually extinct at this point?

Re: The organ as a wind instrument

#12

Post by adql » Mon, Jan 09, 2023, 5:33 PM UTC

cptcobalt wrote: post #3

The pipe organ is surely one of the most majestic & grand instruments, and I long for the day its most frequent use won't be drab church hymns. It's capable of so much more. It's also difficult to get exposure to. You've basically got make friends with a church music director to let you play theirs. That's not easy, especially as a queer self-taught musician—no religion, no music degree won't get you too far. It's a…

> It's a self-reinforcing negative feedback loop that gatekeeps its wider use.

I'm pretty sure there is no loop here, just "you need that much money to play". Not exactly something easy to fit in the house either

> (Yes, sample libraries work, but they're just intermediate representations of a full console with multiple manuals, pedalboard, couplers, reverberant room, etc.)

From what I heard simulated ones get pretty close

Re: The organ as a wind instrument

#13

Post by adql » Mon, Jan 09, 2023, 5:36 PM UTC

cptcobalt wrote: post #6

rwmj wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The sound track of Interstellar? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstellar_(soundtrack)

Basically, the exception which proves the rule. I sincerely doubt most folks could name other titles which prominently feature organ as a focal instrument in a work. There's more, of course, but Interstellar tends to be people's first example.

* Warhammer 40k Mechanicus OST - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLsX9WUdYnU&list=PLnSG0OA5vY...

* A bit on that on IXION one by same author https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhTXyUERugQ althought more on synth side

Also kinda many tracks by organ's tiny brother, hammond/tonehweel organs seen plenty of use for the obvious reason of being portable.

Re: The organ as a wind instrument

#14

Post by mikeyouse » Mon, Jan 09, 2023, 5:47 PM UTC

I went to a small, vaguely religious, liberal arts school and one of my classmates who I didn't know well but was friendly with was heading to medical school after college. During our graduation ceremonies, he surprised most by leaving the student section and taking his seat behind the organ at the church our ceremony was in and just slayed the ivories (are organ keys called ivories?). It was phenomenal.

After the official program, he was just messing around playing popular music and shooting the shit with everyone for another hour or two. It turned out he was a biochem major, chemistry & liturgical organ minor. Pipe organs seem like such magical instruments, I'm always shocked when I meet someone who can play one.

Re: The organ as a wind instrument

#15

Post by bluGill » Mon, Jan 09, 2023, 6:03 PM UTC

cptcobalt wrote: post #3

The pipe organ is surely one of the most majestic & grand instruments, and I long for the day its most frequent use won't be drab church hymns. It's capable of so much more. It's also difficult to get exposure to. You've basically got make friends with a church music director to let you play theirs. That's not easy, especially as a queer self-taught musician—no religion, no music degree won't get you too far. It's a…

There is a small group of people who have built their own console with "multiple manuals, pedalboard, couplers". I've been meaning to do that myself, but time is lacking. With software and good speakers you can probably get the reverberant room as well, though to my knowledge this hasn't been done yet.

Re: The organ as a wind instrument

#16

Post by falcolas » Mon, Jan 09, 2023, 6:07 PM UTC

Also of interest: Wurlitzer Organs. Their biggest difference is the addition of non-wind instruments, and intentional vibrato added to the wind instruments.

They were originally used to provide music and sound effects for silent movies and plays.

There's one in Scottsdale, AZ that's a lot of fun to visit in person (there are YouTube videos of it too). Organ Stop Pizza

Re: The organ as a wind instrument

#17

Post by tzs » Mon, Jan 09, 2023, 6:08 PM UTC

cptcobalt wrote: post #6

rwmj wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The sound track of Interstellar? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstellar_(soundtrack)

Basically, the exception which proves the rule. I sincerely doubt most folks could name other titles which prominently feature organ as a focal instrument in a work. There's more, of course, but Interstellar tends to be people's first example.

Theme from Rollerball [1]?

[1] Yes, I know it is Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, but cptcobalt said "name" not "recognize", and while a vast majority have probably heard Toccata and Fugue in D Minor I'd guess most of them don't know that is its name. They will name it after somewhere they heard it used. Similar to Strauss' Also sprach Zarathustra. Everyone has heard it but I bet most people would name it as the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Re: The organ as a wind instrument

#18

Post by wl » Mon, Jan 09, 2023, 6:12 PM UTC

cptcobalt wrote: post #6

rwmj wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The sound track of Interstellar? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstellar_(soundtrack)

Basically, the exception which proves the rule. I sincerely doubt most folks could name other titles which prominently feature organ as a focal instrument in a work. There's more, of course, but Interstellar tends to be people's first example.

Saint-Saens Symphony No. 3

https://youtu.be/eW-7S9fjyfU?t=33

Re: The organ as a wind instrument

#19

Post by tgv » Mon, Jan 09, 2023, 6:13 PM UTC

cptcobalt wrote: post #6

rwmj wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The sound track of Interstellar? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstellar_(soundtrack)

Basically, the exception which proves the rule. I sincerely doubt most folks could name other titles which prominently feature organ as a focal instrument in a work. There's more, of course, but Interstellar tends to be people's first example.

Well, if you like classical music ... there are some organ concertos. There's e.g. a modern-ish one by Poulenc (but melodic, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsFsBNAmCd0), and a romantic one by Saint-Saens (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GrO47WJKTI), and there are baroque organ concertos by Handel (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RNUsN0Kh3A&list=OLAK5uy_k1u...).

Re: The organ as a wind instrument

#20

Post by actually_a_dog » Mon, Jan 09, 2023, 6:14 PM UTC

bluGill wrote: post #15

cptcobalt wrote: post #3

The pipe organ is surely one of the most majestic & grand instruments, and I long for the day its most frequent use won't be drab church hymns. It's capable of so much more. It's also difficult to get exposure to. You've basically got make friends with a church music director to let you play theirs. That's not easy, especially as a queer self-taught musician—no religion, no music degree won't get you too far. It's a…

There is a small group of people who have built their own console with "multiple manuals, pedalboard, couplers". I've been meaning to do that myself, but time is lacking. With software and good speakers you can probably get the reverberant room as well, though to my knowledge this hasn't been done yet.

Yeah, it really does seem like you can bodge something like this together with reasonable fidelity out of off the shelf stuff, starting with 3-4 synthesizer keyboards and a few pedals. Of course, that's no small expense right there already, and I'm sure this is one of those things that can get arbitrarily expensive as well, depending on that level of fidelity you're after.