FYI - The Wanamaker Organ in Philadelphia

[boojum]

Here is a blurb on this largest of all organs:

In Philly, Wanamaker organ is Christmas tradition - Yahoo! News

[rmx16]

Originally Posted by boojum

Here is a blurb on this largest of all organs:

In Philly, Wanamaker organ is Christmas tradition - Yahoo! News

I live in Philly and I remember hearing and seeing it when I was a kid (a long time agothumbsup) Thanks for the reminder...thumbsup
Peace and Merry Christmas

[Don S]

Yeah, Philly has some cool music performances like the Borse antiphonal brass at Christmastime. I thought the world's largest organ was convention hall in Atlantic City NJ.

[Peter Allison]

Originally Posted by Don S

Yeah, Philly has some cool music performances like the Borse antiphonal brass at Christmastime. I thought the world's largest organ was convention hall in Atlantic City NJ.

it is, well for the number of pipes, about 33 k, including a full lengh 64' Dulzian,,,, but its not 100% payable, whereas the wanamaker, has only about 28k pipes, but is mostly playable, if not all of it
Peter ( organ nut)

[Folkie]

Have a look and listen:

The Wannamaker Organ, 650+ singers including the Opera Company of Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Singers and others, a "Random Act of Culture" -very inspiring (6 million plus hits so far)

YouTube - Opera Company of Philadelphia "Hallelujah!" Random Act of Culture

Bill

[RickZ]

The above link is to one of the few YouTube's with good sound, including very low bass. It sounds great with subwoofer on . .

FWIW,
Rick Z

[Wanamaker]

I'm the recording enginner who recorded the Random Act of Culture along with all the commercial recordings done on that remarkable instrument. Nice to know you enjoyed the sound.

[boojum]

Originally Posted by Wanamaker

I'm the recording enginner who recorded the Random Act of Culture along with all the commercial recordings done on that remarkable instrument. Nice to know you enjoyed the sound.

Great job. You boss is getting his money's worth. thumbsup

[Indrestudios]

This post brought back some good memories of recording the Philadelphia Orchestra with this grand organ a few years back. I was hired by Charles Gagnon as an A2, I provided AES converters & fiber snakes up to the control room - flights and flights upstairs.

The house staff of organ techs & recording engineers are second to none. I believe that these may even be volunteer positions - for the love of the craft.

Here's a couple pics from the day.

-Michael

[boojum]

Originally Posted by Wanamaker

I'm the recording enginner who recorded the Random Act of Culture along with all the commercial recordings done on that remarkable instrument. Nice to know you enjoyed the sound.

Tell us how you did it, please.

[Wanamaker]

[QUOTE=boojum;6193667]Tell us how you did it, please.[/QUOTE

The recording was done using four DPA-4006TL Omni mic's suspended from our overhead high-wire trolly system. Two mic's facing the organ, and two facing straight down on the Grand Court. The rig is about 70' above the main floor suspended across the third floor on moveable sleds so the mic's can be easily positioned. The signals were then feed about 600 feet to our recording studio control room. The Video Company only wanted a MONO feed sent to their cameras, but I also gave them a high-resolution stereo disc which was used for the actual YouTube video everyone saw. Jim

[boojum]

[QUOTE=Wanamaker;6202873]

Originally Posted by boojum

Tell us how you did it, please.[/QUOTE

The recording was done using four DPA-4006TL Omni mic's suspended from our overhead high-wire trolly system. Two mic's facing the organ, and two facing straight down on the Grand Court. The rig is about 70' above the main floor suspended across the third floor on moveable sleds so the mic's can be easily positioned. The signals were then feed about 600 feet to our recording studio control room. The Video Company only wanted a MONO feed sent to their cameras, but I also gave them a high-resolution stereo disc which was used for the actual YouTube video everyone saw. Jim

Jim, that is a pretty simple mic setup. It worked marvelously. There were instances in the YouTube when a sole singer was featured in the video and it seemed the voice track was a bit matched to that in volume, i.e., it seemed to be a bit louder. Is that my imagination playing tricks on me??

[Wanamaker]

[QUOTE=boojum;6203404]

Originally Posted by Wanamaker

Jim, that is a pretty simple mic setup. It worked marvelously. There were instances in the YouTube when a sole singer was featured in the video and it seemed the voice track was a bit matched to that in volume, i.e., it seemed to be a bit louder. Is that my imagination playing tricks on me??

No, whatever db level each performer produced was exactly what you heard. Once the levels were established at the very beginning, no gain adjustments or mixing was performed. So, what they did in performance is what I captured.