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Volume Four - Issue Three
The Control Room - Richard Mogridge - Webmaster
Walnut Hill Productions |
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FROM THE WEBMASTER'S DESK |
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ORGAN OF THE MONTH
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We begin the month of March getting settled in at our new location in Ridgecrest, California. This city is much closer to Los Angeles and the surrounding areas, including Pasadena and San Bernardino, where there are a wealth of fine installations abounding. To see some of these great organs, visit our 2005 Convention page. The Founding Father of Walnut Hill, Fred Willis, is continuing to let Doc stay at his place until things settle down and Doc can find a place of his own.
Ridgecrest Organ Club Bi-Weekly MeetingsHere in the city of Ridgecrest, California folks love organs of all kinds. Many have electronic organs in their homes. There are enough of these in the area that a club has been formed for the local enthusiasts to get together and enjoy great music and fellowship while gathered around the organ to play. The Ridgecrest Organ Club meets twice a month on every other Tuesday. The meetings are held at a member's home, whoever chooses to host the meeting for a particular Tuesday. This month on the first Tuesday, the meeting was held at the residence of Bob Leonard, organ techinician for the All Faith Chapel, NAWS, China Lake.
In the picture above, we see Bob Leonard getting the Technics Digital Organ ready to play. This instrument has a floppy diskette reader that can load all sorts of stuff including voices and songs. He has loaded data and is prepping the switching for the first player.
First up at the console was a fellow Bob Leonard has known for a long time, Cliff Anderson.
Next up is one of the club's fine ladies from Ridgecrest, Eleanor Winnemore.
Third in line to play was Cyrus Roton, famed organ technician for the city of Ridgecrest and one of the Ridgecrest Organ Club's founders. We should have had the recorder rolling, for Cyrus put on a great show.
Finally, the Bone Doctor took the bench and gave a mini-concert for all to enjoy. After Doc finished playing, Eleanor invited him to come out to her place to play her instrument. It was also noted that next month's meeting would be held at her home.
After everybody had a go on this fine instrument, Bob Leonard took the bench and showed us what the instrument could do, both with playback autimation and the various voice libraries in his collection. It was amazing, indeed.
In this picture, we see three of the members of the Ridgecrest Organ Club enjoying the music this great machine makes. From left to right, Bob's wife, Dovie, Pearl Loyal, and Cyrus Roton. The theatre organ sample set sounded quite realistic and had a wonderful reverb as if it were in a large auditorium.
The Theatre Organ Bob Leonard BuiltDuring the meeting of the Ridgecrest Organ Club held at Bob Leonard's house, we got to see the large electronic Theatre Organ Bob built. This instrument is not playable today, but it used to house custom tone generators. Today, the console is all that remains. It is for sale if anyone is interested. The price has not yet been set. The Bone Doctor has expressed and interest in it.
Bob had told Doc about the console during their work at the All Faith Chapel, and Doc was anxious to see it. Many pictures were taken. The console is made from solid wood and has been polished to a mirror gloss with a clear coat over natural stain. Sitting on the top lid is a set of Conn Electronic Pipes.
Here, we see the stop sweep of the console. Note that there is room for many more stops in the horseshoe. The stop tongues are not engraved, rather, the labels are printed. Also note the large number of black coupler stops.
Here, we see the left bolster curve of the horseshoe containing the Pedal and Acccompaniment stops.
Moving around to the center of the horseshoe, we see the Great stops, and on the fallboard below, the light blue Tremulant stops.
Moving on around to the right side of the horseshoe, we see the Solo stops. Doc asked Bob if any of the manuals have second touch. The answere was no. This console would be ideal for the VTPO project Doc has in mind, and that is, building a MIDI controller for a 3/19 specification.
The Second Ridgecrest Organ Club MeetingThe second bi-weekly meeting of the Ridgecrest Organ Club was held at the home of Julia Stortz in Lake Isabella, about an hour's drive from Ridgecrest, California on March the 14, 2007.
In this photo, we see the grand vista of Lake Isabella, a man-made water resavour near the town of Lake Isabella, California.
In the picture abaove, we see the town of Lake Isabella basking in the Southern Califonia sun from high on the mountain.
This is the beautiful home of Julia Stortz in Lake Isabella, where the meeting took place.
This is the music room at the home of Julia Stortz, containing the wonderful Technics Digital Organ we got to play.
Here, we see the keydesk of the Technics Digital Organ. This wonderful machine can sound like just about anything you program into it, from
Here, the members of the club are listening to some great music as they wait for their turn on the bench.
First on the bench was Julia Stortz. Even at 94 years of age, she still plays great, sitting stately at the console of her magnificent Technics Digital Organ.
Next to take the bench was Earl. He had alot of fun entertaining us.
Bob Leaonard followed Earl and gave us some fine renditions of some of his favourite tunes.
Cyrus Roton followed Bob at the console and blew our socks of with some wonderful theatre organ arrangemnets.
Last up was the Bone Doctor, who played several arrangements using some Robert Morton voices loaded into the organ.
After everyone had a go, Julia poses proudly for the camera at her beautiful organ. We all had a super time and enjoyed some fine fellowship, indeed.
RELOCATION FUND DRIVEAlthough we are settling in at the new location, Walnut Hill Productions is still in somewhat of a bind from a business perspective. Household and personal expenses are taking a hefty slice out of the money Doc gets, as he is disabled and on a fixed and limited income. Replacing his personal property and the musical equipment lost after the relocation will be very expensive. Most of the company's original equipment was left in Tennessee due to the high cost of shipping. The items must eventually be replaced. Below is a list of the items we are needing for the studio in order to get back to the recording sessions Doc would like to complete, including albums from the Sub Urban Cowboys and Doc at the Mighty MidiTzer.
We do not have current pricing or availability of this equipment, but it is conservatively estimated that we will need to raise over 4,000 dollars to eventually aquire everything on the list above. When we finally relocate to a residence big enough for an electronic three manual Theatre Organ, we will be looking for the Conn 650 mentioned above. We will also install a digital piano. Our end goal is to construct a portable four manual console for the Walnut Hill 4/36 Mighty WurliTzer Virtual Theatre Pipe Organ, to be powered by jOrgan running a custom disposition and font set from Allman Music of Saint Petersburg in Florida. Doc and Tom Hoehn have created a Pay Pal account for easily and securely receiving contributions from all who want to see this relocation take place, which will allow Walnut Hill to make major strides forward for the King of Instruments. Below is a listing of those who have genorously contributed funds to date:
There are other pledges pending. Anyone can contribute as much or as little as they see fit by clicking the "Make a Donation" button above. You can also send checks via standard mail to the following address, should you choose to not use the Pay Pal account. Please make checks payable to Richard Mogridge, with the words "Relocation Fund" in the memo line. The address is:
If you have questions about the relocation fund, you can call the Bone Doctor at the Walnut Hill Office of Operations to learn more. That telephone number is 1-727-230-2610. All contributors will get recognized at the site should they choose, or they can remain anonymous, simply by letting the Bone Doctor know their preferences via email. This is a major move forward for Walnut Hill Productions, one of the fastest growing TPO sites on the internet. Become a part of history by making your donation today. Please help us to continue the work we are doing as we continue to grow, adding new features and more services such as broadcasting audio and video for all to enjoy. You'll be glad you did. We are thanking you in advance for your generosity and support in this grand endevour. God bless, and happy playing.
The Bone Doctor "It's all about the King of Instruments!" |
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EDITORIAL ARTICLES |
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HEADLINE NEWS |
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On March the 13th of 2007, Eugene Hayek sent in some recordings of him at the console of the Paramount Theatre's Mighty WurliTzer Theatre Pipe Organ at Midtown in New York. To listen to this new material, click here and scroll down to the Paramount Mighty WurliTzer picture you see above. Enjoy!
All Faith Chapel Recordings
The Bone Doctor made another trip out to the All Faith Chapel on March the 3rd around noon to make some new recordings on the 4/89 Mighty Allen Digital Church Organ installed there. Doc recorded six classic mountain gospel songs on this magnificent machine he has dubbed "The Lady of the Desert." Click here to download a 2592 x 1944 JPG picture showing the console of this beautiful organ. Click here to visit the page featuring the instrument and listen to some lovely music from the Good Doctor at the console. Enjoy!
Hit Count Since 04/02/2004The figures below represent the approximate daily hit count for the site since going online on April 2nd of 2004. Counter checks begin around ten in the morning and end around ten in the evening. Currently, that total stands at over 49,410 happy campers in the Land of the King!
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