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The
Ballroom Organ
The ball room
organ is the largest and most complete semi-theater organ
ever built. The organ has two chambers with two
expression pedals that make a marvelous fading efect,
even in such a large auditorium. The auditorium itself is
a gigantic 181 feet long, 128 feet wide, and 75 feet in
height. Therefore, it is actually larger than the
Rocafeller Center Music Hall, and nearly twice the size
of the Symphony Hall in Lincoln Center. Despite it's
size, it is acousticly better that either of these(though
the delay is .5 seconds long!). The organ is a Kimbal. Of
course, a very famous theatre organ builder. The organ
was originaly built to acompany motion pictures, which
sound pictures soon replaced. Then, the organ was used
for balls and formal dancing. I enjoyed playing this
organ, but, like the hall organ, it is very large and
hard to maintain. Most of the percusion dosen't work,
mostly because there is only one matinance man, Mr.
Dennis McGurk, to work on the organ. Mr. McGurk does an
excellent job, but like I say, it is like the Aegean
Stables... Once you get to one end, the other end needs
cleaned up!
The Big Organ
This organ
was so loud when I first played it, I was nausiated for 6
hours! The most impressive stop on the organ would have
to be the Ophicleide, which is the world's loudest stop.
This stop has six times the volume of the loudest train
whistle. This stop just happend to form a cipher on E
flat while I was messing around with it. It took about a
minute to get it un-stuck. Very traumatic for me! I also
enjoyed playing around with the 64' Diaphone Profunda,
the first I have ever heard. At first, it sounded like a
noisy air conditioner. Then, the room and my insides
started to shake.Thats why I was so naucious!
the
monsterous console of the world's largest organ
The
Ballroom console
a
larger black and white picture from the brochure
The
curator of the organ, Mr. Dennis McGurk, with the largest
pipe of the 64' Diaphone Prufunda, a wooden reed
Me
gawking at some 16 footers on my first trip to see the
organs at age 12. Look at the geek! Haha! :)
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