What organ music are you listening to right now?

I've been listening to: 89 key Leach & Overington volume 3, 72 key Carl (based in Holland) volume one,112 key Marenghi/Carl Frei at the Haarlem organ museum in Holland. Ben :D

The Roehl's W146 playing "Mighty lak' a Rose". Next up is "The Triumphant Banner"

"De Blauwe Pilaar" playing "Wiener Praterleben". Lang leven het pierement!

Organist Paul Binko playing The Stars and Stripes Forever http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SssKtzLn-Ns

Roehl's W146, "Robinson's Grand Entry"

Same organ, "Triumphant Banner"

The Tuscora Park W153, "Wings of Gold March" http://www.nca-usa.org/psp/TuscoraPark/

Steamboat Delta Queen's calliope: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xv4Lwq9IqsU

That sounds like two hands, not a roll, playing the music. Quite possibly Captain Doc Hawley at the keyboard. Doc served on the Delta Queen for many years. You can hear and see Doc at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlXnv68r7BU and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFrSGqvxWIk&NR=1 The whistle barge is an old sternwheel steamboat hull, the Anna Marie, with a massive industrial steam generator owned by Madison Coal & Supply Company of Charleston, West Virginia. The cal-i-ope is a modern one built for the owners. A National type, I think, but it may be a reproduction Tangley. The barge is also used to play historic steamboat whistles, some of which are as much as 4 feet long and weigh several hundred pounds. When the owner and friends pull up in a river village, have a few beers, and embark on a midnight concert, they sometimes get run out of town. I've been there on the barge, but never when arrests were made.

Thanks for those links. Here's one of the Delta Queen showing close-ups of the pipes and the player. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFgqDSBba1g&NR=1 You can't appreciate just how loud these instruments are unless you've heard them live. So loud in fact, that you can't tell how out of tune they are. This one's not bad, unlike the Anna Marie. Regards, John

You can't appreciate just how loud these instruments are unless you've heard them live. So loud in fact, that you can't tell how out of tune they are. This one's not bad, unlike the Anna Marie. It is amazing how close to "in tune" the Delta Queen's caliope is. I would guess that someone - probably Doc Hawley, devoted a lot of time to achieving that. Band and fairground organs aree hard to keep in tune, particularly metal pipes, because of temperature changes. A change of 20 degrees or so can make a difference noticible to a good musician. On a stream caliope, when started, the pipes may be at room temperature, but when the music starts some will rise to "steam temperature" of 220°F or more very quickly. If a note is played regularly it is hot and flat, but is sounded only occasionally it will be cool and sharp. I do not know how it is handled on the Delta Queen, but I would guess that there is an unseen "pipe heater" doing its best to keep everything hot, and, in addition, the steam is held to rather low temperatures and pressures. On the Whistle Barge (on the hull which was once the Anna Marie) there are generally no musicians, and the mechanics (UK engineers) like to keep everything as hot as possible. The pipes are out in the open where they can cool, and the only heat comes from steam flow through them. Obviously Doc is a good sport when he does guest appearances.

In this video, you can see the Natchez's calliope warming up before playing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ilWW8uMjlA

Now I'm listening to Organist Ton Koopman playing Bach's Passacaglia on the Rudolph Garrels organ (http://home.wxs.nl/~vdkolkm/orgel-en.html) in the Grote Kerk in Maassluis, Holland.

Kit Carson County's 100-key Wurlitzer 'Monster' playing "The Diplomat" http://www.kitcarsoncountycarousel.com/about.html Click on "The Organ" for sound clips.

Ron Bopp's Gebruder Bruder 107 playing the overture to "Martha

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