Playing "La Mer" which I always associated with the film "Mr Beans Holiday"!!! I used the organs upright piano attachment for most of this piece but the camera microphone was unfortunately not able to pick this up. Like all theatre organs the organ works on the "extension" principal with 20 ranks of pipes in 2 chambers laid out as follows: CHAMBER 1 Open Diapason Flute Clarinet Viol D Orchestre Voix Celeste Quintadena Dulciana Tuba Horn Tibia 1 Solo String 1 Marimba Harp Vibraphone CHAMBER 2 Tuba Mirabilis English Horn Saxophone Trumpet Solo String 2 Tibia 2 Orchestral Oboe Oboe Horn Kinura Vox Humana Xylophone Glockenspiel Chimes Drums, Cymbals, Novelty effects etc Unenclosed is the upright piano and the "master" xylophone. I couldnt help but include a couple of clips of my favourite comedian!!!
It\'s a dramatic moment. In an ultra-modern audio studio, a Pearl White Lexus LFA supercar faces its challenger: a lone crystal champagne flute on a pedestal alongside a sleek amplifier. The vehicle\'s keyless ignition is engaged, and its rear wheels start spinning on a dynamometer. The engine roars louder and louder, the speedometer clicks past 150, 160, 170 mph. That\'s when the glass quivers and shimmies until – kshhh! – the flute shatters in gorgeous slow motion.
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Me at my "local" - the Wurlitzer organ at the Theatre Organ Heritage Centre in Peel Green, Manchester playing the beautiful "Autumn leaves". The Wurlitzer organ here is one of the smallest in the country with 6 ranks of pipes (Diapason, Flute, Salicional, Tibia, Vox Humana and Trumpet) and originally built for the Trocadero in Liverpool. Unfortunately I placed the microphone a bit to near to the organ grilles so the sound is a bit harsh in this video. I recommend listening to this on a modererate to loud volume setting and your speakers about 180cm away from you if possible. Being a public place of course there were other visitors in the building so I expected some background noise. My thanks must go to Pete Taylor for allowing me use of this little gem of a theatre organ and for a tour of the museum afterwards! The Lancastrian theatre organ trust must be congratulated on their work in making this organ and all the other artefacts in the museum look like they were only built yesterday.
Me at the Burton-on-Trent Wurlitzer theatre organ playing "The first time I saw you" which makes use of the Glockenspiel and Xylophone used together.
The organ was originally installed at the Forum Cinema in Wythenshaw - a suburb of South Manchester - not far from the airport. There are 8 ranks of pipes and as standard on British theatre organ layouts, these are divided into 2 enclosed chambers as follows:
CHAMBER 1: Open Diapason, Flute, Violin, Violin Celeste
CHAMBER 2: Tibia, Tuba, Trumpet, Vox Humana.
And of course there are the usual percussions and novelty sound effects such as Fire Bell, Bird Whistle etc. This instrument does not feature a piano.
As I'm approaching the time of certain eviction, I've been proving to myself what a little pressure can do to get the creative juices flowing and I am somewhat amazed by how quickly I have been creating and organizing enough videos that would have normally stretched out the span of this year and probably throughout 2014, all inside the time frame of a month. Particularly in the case of this song which is one of several songs that I have been working on that are somewhat more complex and exhibit my full potential as a musician. This song would have normally taken me a full year to compose and like some of my other prouder creations, I figured that there just was no time left for me to complete this kind of composition. Although admittedly I did rough it as I wrapped up the song in a day and took about one hour on the video but I think that with this one, I have successfully achieved my goal. I can always redo this at a later time when I get resettled and back in the groove.
A wonderful musician and friend of mine has recently departed from our world and is now starting his new life under God's great care and guidance. Nikos will do very well in Heaven and will even delight the angels with his goodwill and music. "I am reaching out to you now from this world Nikos to present you with my gift of this song for you. The melody came to me immediate in my grief. Now with great joy, I embrace you as my eternal friend. There is no end for you now my friend Nikos. Only eternal bliss and fulfillment..... I suppose that I will have to behave myself a little bit more if we are to meet again and go fishing as I have promised.
PS my friend. I do not own a flute, nor did I have any simulated flute sounds that I could use for this song and so I came up with the idea of recording the sound of the timer from my microwave and by stretching it out, I believe that I now have a most beautiful flute sound. You always did call me your crazy artist friend. I suppose that this proves it. Take good care of yourself Nikos. Eternally your crazy artist friend.. Steve.
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aero-phone or reed-less wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening
