Recording the largest organ in the world

[rmx16]

I need some tips on recording the organ at the hall I work at. I was thinking about some DPA 4006's somewhere in the middle of the hall in a spaced pair. I've never done this type of recording before. Here's a link to the hall.

Atlantic City Convention Hall Organ Society

Some pics

[rmx16]

Another pic


http://www.acchos.org/qtvr/full_scre...n-hall_fs.html

[Drlove]

I have nothing positive to say about this subject, because I'm an idiot most of the time.

[NorseHorse]

I thought the Wanamaker Organ in Philadelphia was the largest in the world.

Friends of the Wanamaker Organ

[NorseHorse]

In other news, two DPA would be the EASY, BORING route.

There might be a nice 5.1 surround set-up you could do instead. Depends on where the organ pipes are situated...

[joelpatterson]

Even though it's the largest and everything, and it takes three days to get from the door to the altar on a motorcycle, don't set your mics too far back lest you end up with a murky, blurry, background radiation-style recording.

Sure, you want the room, but you'll get the room no matter what, it's not like you could block it out if you wanted to. You want first and foremost the power coming out of the pipes. You need to be somehow near--not right ontop of, but not miles away-- to capture that.

[Roland]

Originally Posted by rmx16

I need some tips on recording the organ at the hall I work at. I was thinking about some DPA 4006's somewhere in the middle of the hall in a spaced pair. I've never done this type of recording before. Here's a link to the hall.

Atlantic City Convention Hall Organ Society

Some pics

A quote from Wikipedia:

Unfortunately, the organ has declined and is now in poor condition, and is no longer functional.
The upper chambers (Fanfare, Echo, and String III divisions) have long been inaccessible due to the presence of asbestos (which has recently been removed), which left the pipework decayed and out of tune. The Gallery chambers have suffered water damage due to roof leaks. Also, the remote combination action of the main console, housed in the Auditorium basement, was flooded and rendered unusable due to a hurricane in 1944, and it took several years before another mechanism could be integrated into the main console.[2]
Because of this, and the overall decline of the rest of the organ due to lack of repairs, the organ hasn't been playable for a long time. There isn't enough money to employ three required technicians to provide the constant maintenance required, let alone to restore the organ to its original state.[3]
In September 1998, a part of the organ (the Right Stage chamber) was restored to playable condition. Afterwards, a recording session took place, which captured the organ's recordholders (the 64′ Diaphone-Dulzian, and the 100″ Tuba Imperial and Grand Ophicleide). This was made possible by a $1.17 million grant from the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, which was used to return the Right Stage Chamber of the Main Auditorium organ and the entire Ballroom (Kimball) Organ to playable condition.[4]
Unfortunately, due to lack of planning and oversight and the carelessness of workmen during the renovation of the Boardwalk Hall, much damage has been done to the organ. Pipes were removed, bent, and stepped on. Windlines to various pipe chambers were cut, with no effort to identify the lines nor any plans to re-route or repair them. The relay for the left stage chamber was cut out without regard to its restoration, and various switching and control cables were cut. Also, cement dust has entered the switching contacts, magnets and the organ pipes themselves. All this has left the entire organ damaged and the Right Stage chamber, which was 98% operational in 1998, is now disabled. The relay of the Ballroom Organ was also removed in a careless way, which means both organs are unplayable.[5]
The organization in charge of the organs, ACCHOS (Atlantic City Convention Hall Organ Society), is still looking for ways to raise the funds necessary to restore both organs to working order.
On June 11th 2007, ACCHOS announced that, under the supervision of a new curator, work is underway to restore the entire Ballroom Organ, and the Right Stage chamber of the Main Auditorium organ back to working order, as they were around 1998.[6]
Thanks to the efforts of ACCHOS, the 64' Diaphone Dulzian is now operational. In addition, new fire suppressant systems and chamber lighting have now been installed in all 8 chambers including the Echo and Fanfare chambers.


I think either a simple stereo pair, somewhere between the middle of the auditorium or closer, or (as was suggested it might be fun to do a surround recording here). By the tone of the article above the organ is likely to be extremely limited and could well be quite noisy so I wouldn't get your hopes up too far, it appears that it has been in poor condition for some time, organ restoration is extremely expensive these days even for modest church ones, something as custom and large as this one could run into millions and millions.

Regards



Roland

[hughesmr]

Originally Posted by rmx16

I need some tips on recording the organ at the hall I work at. I was thinking about some DPA 4006's somewhere in the middle of the hall in a spaced pair. I've never done this type of recording before.

Good mic choice, wrong position!!

For an organ this spread out and in a space THAT huge, you'll need to multiple mic the divisions in their spaces AND the room and mix well.

You need to contact Ed Kelly of MobileMasters (Burtonsville, MD), who records many organs in the US for JAV, Raven, OHS, Arsis and other labels. He recorded the ACCH organ back in the late 1990s (see release info here: Atlantic City Convention Hall) .. the recording is a set of tidbits as demonstrations since the instrument on the whole wasn't functioning. I'm sure he will attest to the challenge of catching something that large (with a 64' stop!)

And yes, ACCH is the largest organ in the world, albeit not generally functional. It has a highly checkered past in terms of care and feeding, and was largely the pet project of one US Senator in the 1920s/1930s. It is quite a magnificent achievement in terms of sheer engineering and execution, and deserves a complete and thorough restoration.

[Berolzheimer]

You've GOT to do it 5.1, or even 7.1 (separate sides & rears). A Decca tree perhaps?

[fifthcircle]

First Congregational Church in Los Angeles is the largest church organ in the world... (or so they claim). If I remember correctly, it is an organ comprised of 5 different organs placed around the chuch.

For a documentary on the organ a few years back, I did a 5.1 recording of that instrument. It was really fun and a good organist can take advantage of the spacing around the church when choosing registrations. One of the things I remember was a set of trumpet stops across the front 2 sides of the church. At one point in one piece, there was a trill that was across the split between sides. Hearing the image bounce from side to side was really strage.

Oh- and the recording was done with 3 DPA 4006 omnis across the front and an ORTF pair of schoeps in the rear with a low passed 4006 in the center of the room. We actually had to EQ some of the low end out on the main mics because of such a huge sound. We were worried if playback systems could handle it (there are multiple 32 foot stops on this instrment).

--Ben

[Loki]

First Congregational Church is now the second largest church organ in the world behind Cadet Chapel at West Point.

The OP's original organ is still the largest ever built.