Steamboats and Pipe Organs

I guess it would be asking too much to think that it traveled by river?

Keith,
You used the term "voiced". I can only guess what it means, although several interesting fantasies arise within the cobwebs of my mind. Please enlighten me and others in equal darkness, exactly what transpires when a pipe organ is "voiced". Tuned?

Thanks for posting such Keith! I love pipe organs and church music and alike played on the pipe organ. What an appropriate tune to play on the organ!

Sam,

Voicing is the process of setting the parameters of pitch and instrumental quality(s) to an individual pipe with in the organ. Tuning is the setting of the musical note and chromatic pitch to the individual pipe.

Did I get the verbage right, Keith? I know the answer but the formal words are foggy.

~Travis~

I knew that. I think. No, I don't have a clue. Thanks for the insight. When Roddy was still on the DQ, he took me to a movie theatre in Memphis for a pipe organ concert in one of the old movie theaters not far from the landing. We watched, enchanted, as "The Mighty Wurlitzer" rose up from below the stage and began a concert unlike anything I was a witness to before. Rod knew where all the great stuff was, and he made sure his friends did too.

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I first got interested in pipe organs in 1968 at the age of 18 when the Harrison & Harrison organ was being installed in Corbett Auditorium in the College Conservatory of Music on the campus of the University of Cincinnati. Since then I've been hooked.

In 1974 I got involved in the restoration of the former RKO Albee WurliTzer in Emery Auditorium, later renamed Emery Theatre. I spent many a Saturday afternoon with a crew of about 10 other members of the Ohio Valley Chapter of the American Theatre Organ Society helping restore this magnificent instrument. It was during this time that I met the Straders, who are descendents of Jacob Strader, for whom the boat was named.

During this time I also designed and built a small pipe organ which was featured on WCPO TV in 1981. The little instrument was once played by the late Gaylord (Flicker Fingers) Carter, who was known as the organist of the old Amos and Andy radio show. I also built an exhaust whistle for my car that was a full 20 dB louder than the car's horn, which I once blew in Lytle Park Tunnel. A truck about a block ahead of me put on his brakes, so I would not blow it if I saw anyone in the tunnel after this.

During the four years 1974-1978, I spent much of my own time building pipes and whistles, using my technical skills as a TV Broadcast Engineer to independently research the cause and effect relationship between the scaling and cutup of flue organ pipes and their operating pressure and output. The results of my research can be found at http://rjweisen.50megs.com This led me to a number of acoustical patents, both domestic and foreign on two entirely new classes of whistles of exceptionally high output and efficiency, known as toroidal whistles.

A toroidal whistle is the acoustical equivalent of a large phased array of about 30 high power steam whistles and is capable of very high output at relatively low pressure. The prototype was successfully tested in July, 1982 at the Greater Cincinnati International Airport and was heard over a large portion of Northern KY and Greater Cincinnati by producing a 70 dB radius of 2.5 miles at a frequency of 430 Hz. This was far in excess of what the warning sirens could do.

The 20" diameter prototype used no more power to blow than a common 6" locomotive chime, since it operated at a relatively low pressure! This explains my deep interest in steam whistles and my desire to educate people in how to design steam whistles of their own by moderating a Yahoo group all about steam whistles and their design. My interest in whistles led to my interest in steam locomotives and steamboats.

My goal is to get whistles back on newer locomotives and towboats again, by making the technology to design them efficiently accessible to everyone. I hate to see everything going to air horns, sirens and even electronics when the technology now exists to ressurrect the steam whistle as a viable alternative.

Keith. Isn't the Miller Pipe Organ Company near the Phoenix Hill area of Louisville? I remember seeing it when on 31E.

How about in layman's terms--voicing is "tweeking" the pipe(s) so that in one rank of pipes (one group from bottom note to top note--typically 61 pipes) all the pipes sound alike, so when one plays various notes of the rank, they sound all like one insturment. Each rank of pipes is designed to replicate an instrument, trumpet, clarinet, oboe, flute, etc. Voicing also sets the volume of a rank, so it mixes well with the other pipes in accordance with the acoustics of the room in which it speaks. A well-voiced organ has crisp individual voices that also blend into a harmonius whole. Hmm, so much for layman's terms! And, as travis said, tuning is setting the pitch so all the notes in a rank are at the right pitch, and a 'C' on one rank is the same frequency as a 'C' on another rank.
Now to complicate things--there are different theories on what makes for good voicing, and what air pressure is best for an organ. But this is more trivia than you'd want on a steamboat site!!
Steamcerely,
David D.
(Restoring a 1928 Reuter 36-rank church organ)

David,

Much better wording than I could come up with! I knew the concept and have a complete understanding in my mind However sometimes (try as I might) I can't put what is in my head into words others understand.
(restoring a 43 note Tangley Calliphone, no comparison)

~Travis~

I had no idea my posting would generate such interesting replies! Thanks! As I mentioned, MANY steamboat people are also pipe organ enthusiasts. Some on this site will remember the late Richard Simonton and E.J. Quinby, of Delta Queen fame, both of whom had large pipe organs in their West Coast homes. Dick Simonton had TWO; a theatre and a church organ! Capt. C.W. Stoll was also a fine organist and had the three manual console of the Pilcher organ from old Trinity Methodist Church in the basement of "Rock Hill" after the church was torn down. C.W. always maintained that "THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A PIPE ORGAN THAT IS TOO LOUD!" I typed that in all caps because C.W. usually shouted the phrase when somebody in his church complained that the organ was too loud! Those who knew C.W. will understand!

Voicing an organ has already been well explained, so I won't go into that again. Pipe organs are very much affected by temperature, so our technicians are just completing tuning some 350 organs throughout our ten state service region. We'll go back in the spring/summer when the heat is turned off and air conditioning comes back into use.

Like the Rising Sun organ, I'm sure that MANY other pipe organs have been delivered by steamboat. The organbuilding firm of August Prante and Sons was here in Louisville and one of their organs (an 1895 tracker action instrument) still exists in a Madison, Indiana church. I know of another that was in Owensboro, KY, so it was likely delivered by river as well. Koehnken & Grimm in Cincinnati also shipped organs by river. Pilcher was in St. Louis for some years before coming to Louisville (they were also in Chicago at the time of the big 1871 fire and then relocated to Louisville) and the beautiful 1860 Pilcher organ in Grace Episcopal Church at St. Francisville, Louisiana (undoubtedly visited by MANY steamboat passengers and crew since the DQ Company boats regularly visit St.Francisville and the church is located in a gorgeous historic cemetery setting of ancient oak trees dripping with moss) was delivered down the Mississippi. When the organ was restored in 1981, Texas organbuilder Roy Redman told me that he found pieces of old shipping crates inside the organ that were stencilled BAYOU SARA. I was told that the church archives contain the freight documents for the organ's delivery by riverboat.

In my hometown of New Albany, Indiana (across the Ohio) the only remaining "historic" pipe organ extant is in St. Mary's Catholic Church, an architectural treasure built in 1858. The pipe organ was installed in December of 1886 by the Carl Barckhoff Organ Company of Salem, Ohio and its cost was $3,100. Our Southern Indiana Chapter of The American Guild of Organists is sponsoring a concert to celebrate the organ's 120th anniversary on New Year's Eve at 7:00 PM. I served as assistant organist of the church for 18 years and will be one of a half dozen or so musicians playing on the program. It's a fine two manual and pedal organ of 21 ranks of pipes, with a facade of 31 hand stencilled pipes which also speak. Miller Pipe Organ Company has gradually renovated the organ since 1986, including the replacement of the Trumpet stop. The organ was originally hand pumped and there is evidence on the oak case of where gaslights were once placed. The organ is mechanical (tracker) action and when all the stops and couplers are drawn it has been referred to as "TRACTOR ACTION" because it is difficult to play and gives the organist a true aerobic workout!

Richard: Miller Pipe Organ, founded in 1975, was located at 1291 Bardstown Road until 2004, when we had outgrown our building and relocated to a much larger facility in the Gilmore Industrial Park near the airport. I have a much bigger office which is referred to by staff members as "The Steamboat Museum". You can imagine why!

We have a website, currently under construction at www.millerorgan.com

In the late 70s, Mr. Shrake and I took various DQ crew members into the CAPITOL theater in downtown Davenport where there resides a big theater organ. Unfortunately it is no longer used and is probably in great disrepair. That building, the Kahl, has been home to a xxx * palace and now is owned by the community college. So the theater is deserted. But back in the '70s, the Cedar Rapids Amateur Theater Organists Society maintained the organ. It too rose up out of the floor. I'm sure Roddy would have enjoyed it, but he was never up in this area when I knew him. On one occasion, Jim Blum, Lexie Palmore, Bob Reynolds, and Keith Norrington and I went there to inspect. As the unmusical one, I could only sit and enjoy the sounds. I remember that Jim and possibly Bob climbed back into the pipe chambers. Maybe one of them could enlighten more on that... I did attend a CRATOS society concert there once, complete with the silent movie. It was well-attended and I believe those stopped once the * people overtook the main floor of the building. I also had the opportunity to visit one of Miller Organ's 'competitors', Levsen in Buffalo Iowa when we were having our church's pipe organ redone. We were given a tour of the place and saw our organ in various locations being worked on in sections. While the pipes were gone, we took the opportunity to clean and paint the room? chamber? in which they reside - all in all an interesting experience. Does Miller ever give tours or update on sight visits????

The memorable thing about that visit is that a bonifide theatre organist was in residence and played tunes for us by request. Wunnerful, wunnerful!

Didn't CW always converse in all caps? This thread just shows that we steamboaters are well-rounded individuals, so I hope Franz doesn't mind our occasional wandering off the subject. Is there any record of pipe organs being installed on steamboats?

Almost forgot about that great tour of the pipe chambers, probably have a couple slides of that hiding in a box somewhere.

In Louisville there is a large Thearer organ in Memorial Auditorium. Don't know just how often is played these days. Our "to a legion of us--once youngins" great steamboat friend the late Bill Bauer was involved with its care and feeding.

Hopefully Keith can give us an update on this instrument.

In the Ft. Madison, Iowa area there are a couple of restored/rebuilt Pfeffer Trackers in Churches. The fellow (name ?) responsible lives out in the "country" somewhere around there and has his shop in a building in his backyard.

Then there is the Wurlitzer in the Fox Theater in St. Louis. Well maintained and played from time to time.

Today must be an asterisk day - they appeared in my posting too. I guess though with the xxx in front of them, one can figure out what kind of p.... palace with xxx movies it was!

Jim: The organ in the Memorial Auditorium here is the largest instrument ever built by Pilcher, installed in 1929. There are 88 ranks of pipes and the four manual console is on a lift in front of the stage. During the 1937 flood, the console was elevated as high as it could go and the water stopped just beneath the pedalboard! Sadly, the organ receives minimal use, mainly for graduation ceremonies each spring, yet it plays on valiantly, and was featured just two weeks ago with some silent movies. The auditorium was drastically altered in 1954 and some of the organ chambers are rather entombed, but it's still a fine old pipe organ!

Capt. C.W. Stoll gave me the program from the dedicatory concert of the Memorial Auditorium Pilcher. The famed New York organist Charles Courboin was the recitalist and his program closed with the Widor "Toccata" from the Fifth Organ Symphony. C.W. was 13 years old at the time and said that at the reception Dr. Courboin said, "Yes, I saw you up there in the balcony!" C.W. mostl likely was doing cartwheels or hanging from the railing! The "Toccata" was always his favorite piece and it was, of course, the postlude at his funeral service -- played very loudly on the fine Casavant organ at Second Presbyterian Church!

The auditorium organ was fully tuned, for the first time in 40 years, when we featured it on the 1993 national convention of The Organ Historical Society, played by auditorium organist Timothy L. Baker. Several selections from his program can be heard on the 4 CD set of recordings, "Historic Organs of Louisville", available from the OHS catalog at www.organsociety.org and which includes many of the other fine old organs in this region. After Bill's death in 1994, Tim formed The William H. Bauer Foundation, which presents occasional programs on the organ and strives to maintain the 5,000 pipe instrument as well as possible through donations at concerts. Mary Bill Bauer presides at the reception table for all concerts and proudly tells of Bill's longtime involvement with the organ.

I think the gentleman you mentioned at Fort Madison is Phil Hoenig. Pfeffer was another fine organbuilder and I'm sure many of their instruments were delivered by river. A large downtown Louisville church on Market Street has a Pfeffer case (now containing a Pilcher) that came from St. Louis long ago -- and most likely by means of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers!

As someone previously mentioned, Richard Simonton was an organ aficionado. In the late '70s he brought a group on board a DQ UMR trip. Their featured performer was Bob Ralston of Lawrence Welk show fame. Apparently the brand of organ on the DQ wasn't his, so they rolled his brand on in St. Louis. Well, you don't just roll it off in St. Paul, at the beautiful Lambert sidewalk/stairs Landing. Henry Mitchell was told by Ralston to get it up to the street level with his crew. Those of you who knew Henry know his bulk - he puffed out even fuller and in his quiet polite way told him his crew was not performing that dangerous task. The organ rode the boat back to St. Louis...

Richard Simonton was the founder of the American Theatre Organ Society. He had a deep interest in the theatre pipe organ and to preserve it for future generations to enjoy. He was indirectly responsible for the resurgence of the theatre pipe organ's popularity during the 1970s-1990s. I was a member of ATOS between 1974-1982 when I lived in the Greater Cincinnati area.

In addition to the WurliTzers formerly installed at Emery Theatre and the Springdale Music Palace, there were several members in the Cincinnati area who installed these huge and wonderful instruments in their own residences. Among them were the Straders from the Clifton area and Ron Wehmeier of Price Hill. The blower and pipework of both instruments were installed in the basement and the sound came upstairs though grillework in the floor, with swell shades located directly beneath. The sound in the basement was overwhelming, especially in the case of the Wehmeier instrument, but upstairs the sound was magnificent!

Ron Wehmeier later built a large studio addition to his house and installed his instrument upstairs. I now own two CDs of organist Barry Baker playing the Wehmeier instrument. It's quite a challenge for even the best of stereo equipment to accurately reproduce the sound. I believe Barry was originally from nearby Highland Heights, KY.

[QUOTE=Judy Patsch;2907]As someone previously mentioned, Richard Simonton was an organ aficionado.

Travis,
Thank you. Tangley, eh, sounds like an interesting project. Hey, a restoration is a restoration, some are achiveable in a life time, some are not! ( like this organ project! ) 🙂
S'
David D.

David,

Luck put the old calliope into my hands and time will complete her restoration. Somehow, most on this board who know me will agree, me having a calliope is a natural thing!

~Travis~

Annie Blum here. I know we are off the subject of boats now but Keith rang a bell for me. I fully agree with him about using a full organ at the right times. Some organists seem to be afraid to used their instrument. I have been in choirs where we had to almost beg the organist for a full organ because it was called for.

I remember when Prince Charles got married and the music was being discussed in the papers. He is himself a celloist. He was quoted as saying that at the right times the swell of the organ and other music should be so uplifting that your knees start shaking.

Here is a recent photo me standing beside the small pipe organ I designed and built between 1974-1976. As you can guess, it sounds much like a Tangley Calliophone. It operates off a shop vac. It's on temporary loan to the Music Department at the college where I am employed as Engineer of the Television Department.

Keith. Here is a photo, taken circa 1976 of the Main chamber of the former RKO Albee WuriTzer installed in Emery Theatre in Cincinnati. Working on this instrument every Saturday for nearly six years is what got me so interested in researching the physics behind the sound.

Amen Annie! Like our dear friend C.W., I have always liked pipe organs to be LOUD! During my time as a church organist NOBODY has ever accused me of playing too softly! At funerals, I always played a FULL ORGAN postlude, regardless of the number in the congregation. St. Mary's seats 1,000 people and, at one funeral, there were only 7 people seated in the front pew, the priest, two altar boys, two funeral directors and yours truly in the rear gallery at the organ. Nonetheless, the departed parishioner received a FULL organ sendoff!