May 2005
Two-manual Organ + Keyboard = Three-manual Organ!	Show Menu

By Randal Henly

Well, not quite, but it has possibilities. There seemed to be much interest in the demonstration that I gave at the Organists’ Workshop on 22 January, of hooking up a keyboard to a pipe organ, and several of those who couldn’t be present said they were sorry to have missed this.

About two years ago I had a bride who wanted a real trumpeter to play the Trumpet Voluntary as her wedding recessional. I had a trumpeter lined up for the occasion, but on the day beforehand he had to opt out. Knowing how much the trumpet was anticipated, I tried out an experiment that had been in my mind for some time — to play the solo trumpet part on a keyboard and the accompaniment on the organ The keyboard I had at the time had quite a good trumpet sound and the bride next day was delighted. (I never told her the truth!)

However, musically it was not quite perfect, as organ and keyboard were not tuned to the exact same pitch — the keyboard’s A was 440 Hz while A on the organ was 444 Hz. I have since acquired a keyboard that can be tuned, and when its A is set to 444 Hz, the blend is quite impressive. The keyboard slides into a bracket that I have mounted underneath the Great manual of the organ. The amplifier/ loudspeaker is sitting on an open space of the floor inside the organ. One of the big disadvantages in the setup is not being able to change volume, or stop, in mid-stream. To do that involves pulling the keyboard forward (and this requires two hands), pressing the appropriate buttons on it as many times as are needed, and then pushing back the instrument into position. Another disadvantage is that the keyboard does slightly get in the way of the knees, so I don’t keep it in situ permanently.

On the keyboard there are three good ‘trumpety’ sounds — a trumpet, a trombone and a tuba, though I still haven’t decided which sounds most authentic (of course purists will say that none of them does!) The tuba, incidentally is a 16’ stop and has to be played an octave up. On the same keyboard there are a couple of other sounds that I have found to be useful (and acceptable). The Pan Flute becomes a beautiful solo stop when used with a light Swell accompaniment, and there are Chimes, which I used last Christmas for a piece that demanded that sound — “Christmas Improvisations” by Virginia Carrington Thomas. There is also a sound called ‘Voice’, which I am holding in reserve for some Sunday when the choir fails to turn up!

Anyone who is interested in seeing the arrangement is quite welcome to contact me and pay a visit to St Mary’s Howth at some suitable time.

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