What’s A Theater Organ
Theatre organs are pipe organs orginally built from 1915 until about 1930 that were originally designed to accompany silent films in place of an orchestra.
One musician, the organist, was able to reproduce the many colors of an orchestra by playing this remarkable instrument. Their fundamental sound is based upon the Tibia Clausa, a large wooden pipe that is used with heavy tremulants. Church organs, on the other hand, have been built for centuries, and their fundamental sound is based upon the Diapason, a large metal pipe, without tremulants. Theatre organs usually contain percussion; church organs almost never do.
John Ledwon’s Wurlitzer Hybrid, 4 manuals, 52 ranks |
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This is a large theatre organ console. Different keyboards play different sounds selected by all those colorful stop tabs that surround the keyboards in a horsehoe arrangement. |
Carolina Civic Center, Lumberton, Robert Morton, 2 manuals, 8 ranks |
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This is a small theatre organ console. You see the same kinds of things as in the large model, but there are fewer of them. The tonal resources are not as great and the volume is not as loud. There were many more organs of this size built than the larger ones. |
Calvary Church, Charlotte, Moller, 5 Manuals, 205 Ranks |
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This is an enormous church pipe organ. It is not only enormous, it is the largest church organ ever built at once. It is the 13th largest organ in the world. It is not a theatre organ: It doesn’t look like one and it doesn’t sound like one. It does, however, contain 2 ranks of theatre organ pipes. |
If you’re unclear on what theatre organ music sounds like, click on some of the following links. Be sure to have your computer speakers turned up to get the full effect. Legend: wav files are the best sound but they’re large and only stream with certain players; mp3 files are much smaller, quicker loading, and may stream with certain players; Real Audio files are the smallest, they usually always stream and therefore play the quickest but they have the worst sound, but it’s not all that bad. Real Player can play these perfectly with a good connection on a 56K modem; a good connection on a 28.8K modem is OK, but you may hear dropouts. If you want to download the mp3 and wav files to play from your local computer, right-click the links and choose download; the better sound is probably worth the wait.
These are THEATRE organs
| Sound File | Title & Length | Artist & Year recorded | Artist Information | ||
| wav | real | Fine and Dandy :36 excerpt |
Jelani Eddington (1992) |
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| wav | real | Rollercoaster :26 excerpt |
Jelani Eddington (1992) |
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| mp3 | real | Swing Low, Sweet Chariot 2:58 |
Fats Waller (1938) |
Learn more | |
Isn’t it interesting that religious music can sound good on a theatre organ? |
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| mp3 | Lonesome Road 2:39 |
Fats Waller (1938) |
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| mp3 | real | Serenade 4:15 |
Scott Foppiano (1995) |
Learn more | |
| mp3 | real | On the SS Bernard Cohn 3:45 |
Scott Foppiano (1995) |
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| mp3 | real | Chattanooga Choo Choo 3:25 |
Scott Foppiano (1995) |
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| mp3 | When East Meets West 6:12 |
Sidney Torch (1935) |
Learn more Learn even more |
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| mp3 | Bugle Call Rag 2:47 |
Sidney Torch (1934) |
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| wav | real | Fanfare :31 |
Frank Pellico (1994) |
Learn more | |
| wav | March Medley :26 excerpt |
Frank Pellico (1994) |
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Summary
| Both the classical pipe organ and the theatre pipe organ have pipes, keys, stops, and wind. | |
| Here are some of the major differences: | |
| Theatre | Classical |
| Stops are grouped and played as solo or accompaniment on manuals | Each manual has its own set of like stops (called a chorus) |
| Stops are meant to be used primarily with tremulant | Stops are meant to be used primarily without tremulant |
| Homophonic (lots of chords) music sounds best | Contrapuntal (note against note, like Bach) music sounds best |
| Usually has high wind pressures | Usually has low wind pressures |
| Usually contains many percussion sounds | Usually contains no percussion other than chimes or zimbelstern |
| Horseshoe console is often used | Horseshoe console is never used |