[fqued]

Yes, I do voice pipes.

(By the way, I have worked in the pipe organ business off and on for twenty years, have a law degree from Cornell University, and sell antiquarian books. so if anyone says ahh, but you're that lawyer dude, or that guy that was talking about ooold books--well, we are all multi-talented)

Mostly our small company does maintenance, repair, and restoration. I have done some voicing, and there are about as many approaches to voicing pipes as there are voicers.

Older organs, those built before 1900, often needed to be pumped by hand to raise the wind. The organist did not do this, but had a helper whose job that was.

However, large mechanical action organs could require a rather heavy touch, becuase your fingers were physically opening the windways. Various builders had various methods for solving that problem.

Theatre organs are largely a thing of the past, as the name implies, they were used in theatres during the era of silent movies. But there are many theatre organ afficianados around who will hotly dispute that first sentence.

[sinkspur]

I am sincerely pleased to meet you. My friends look on me as some kind of antiquarian or oddity, since I tell them when my wife and I are attending an organ concert at the Morton Myerson Hall in Dallas (which has a magnificent concert organ whose creator escapes me).

Speaking of smaller organs, Our Lady Queen of Heaven Church in Lake Charles, La., has a small Wicks installed, and the organist had me enthralled with his postludes to the Christmas Mass last year. He played "Adeste Fideles" a la Virgil Fox-- which means lots of pedal and multi-keyboard dominance.

I don't mean to bug you, but which are your favorite organs? The best installations, large and small?