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Recommended books on organ registration?

Playing or learning the organ, hints, tips and tricks, registrations, techniques, fingerings, ...
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JSO

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Recommended books on organ registration?

PostSat May 28, 2016 10:23 pm

Hey all,

Now that I have a proper console to play on, I'm really struggling on the subject of registration. Having never received any formal training in the organ business, I would really like to dive in and start learning about registration.

I'd appreciate if you could recommend any books for beginners. I'd like a book that not only explains what the different stops are and how they work, but what kind of repertoire calls for the use of each. Maybe one day I'll recognize stops purely by ear like some of you here do! That always makes my jaw drop.

Jose.
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organtechnology

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Re: Recommended books on organ registration?

PostSun May 29, 2016 12:36 am

Yeah, yeah, yeah and then you are going to want pistons and toe studs to program the combinations.
(I'm working on it.) :lol:

Glad to hear your console is playing again.

Thomas
Complete Hauptwerk™ systems using real wood consoles, PC Sound Engines, Dante Audio for Home or Church. info (at) organtechnology.com http://www.organtechnology.com
Authorized Hauptwerk; Milan Digital Audio and Lavender Audio reseller.
USA and Canada shipments only.
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ludu

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Re: Recommended books on organ registration?

PostSun May 29, 2016 2:27 am

Luc
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BarryG

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Re: Recommended books on organ registration?

PostSun May 29, 2016 7:41 am

This

http://www.amazon.com/Organ-Stops-Their-Artistic-Registration-Dover/dp/0486424235/ref=sr_1_1_twi_pap_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1464525139&sr=1-1&keywords=organ+stops+and+their+artistic+registration

would help with the first part of your quest. A kind of encyclopedia of stops, how they sound, how they are built, and such. Registration remains my weakest (among many other) part of my playing experience, so I would also like to find a sort of "cookbook" for it.

Suggest looking on contrebombarde.com for help, if you haven't already. The Barde section has a lot of useful help. Also, look for MIDI files attached to some of the pieces posted for organs that you own, and study their stop selection as you play them back; that has been most helpful to me (I only wish more of those posting would include their MIDI files!).

Barry
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ludu

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Re: Recommended books on organ registration?

PostSun May 29, 2016 9:40 am

Concerning an encyclopedia of stops, one of the most interesting is here:
http://www.organstops.org/
Luc
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NickNelson

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Re: Recommended books on organ registration?

PostSun May 29, 2016 10:58 am

The Audsley book is also available (free) as a pdf from the imslp site.

The bulk of it is a list of Organ Stop Names and their descriptions though, which while interesting
may not be what you require.

You might look at this one, rather of its time (1919) I suspect, but more focussed on registration principles.

http://imslp.org/wiki/Organ_Registratio ... _Ellsworth)

Nick
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JSO

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Re: Recommended books on organ registration?

PostSun May 29, 2016 4:13 pm

Thanks everyone! I think the books recommended by both Barry and Nick will complement each other nicely and help me greatly for now.

P.S. Thomas, no hurries my friend take your time. You've helped me enough as it is. :)
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mdyde

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Re: Recommended books on organ registration?

PostMon May 30, 2016 3:54 am

This website ('Encyclopedia of Organ Stops') is a useful reference on organ stops: http://www.organstops.org/
Best regards, Martin.
Hauptwerk software designer/developer, Milan Digital Audio.
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josq

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Re: Recommended books on organ registration?

PostMon May 30, 2016 4:23 am

If you are completely novice, then the Hauptwerk manual contains a very nice introduction on organ stops.

My impression is that many books and websites are influenced by the geographical location of the author. E.g. http://www.organstops.org is strongly oriented to the English organ world, and might not be the best introduction to the registration principles of the German or French Baroque.

I think organ registration is not a topic to be learned from a single book, but by reading and listening to many sources. E.g. many organ CD booklets contain registration details. And of course useful links have been given above. And -thanks to Hauptwerk!- you have accessto many different organ styles.
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JSO

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Re: Recommended books on organ registration?

PostMon May 30, 2016 9:38 am

josq wrote:If you are completely novice, then the Hauptwerk manual contains a very nice introduction on organ stops.


Fortunately I'm not a complete novice, I took organ lessons from a qualified organist for a few months before dismantling my console for further repairs. I know what the families of stops are, have a rough idea of how they work with each other, know what the couplers are and some other details like how pipes produce sound, but if you ask me what the intricacies of the Salicional, or to identify a stop by ear I won't know what to say. I also have a background in Piano.

Having said that I agree that I need several sources in order to learn more of this marvelous instrument. In fact I've already started reading the book Nick recommended and I'm already learning so much in just the first four chapters! Good tip on the CDs, I'll check if any of mine have the registrations on the booklet.
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mnailor

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Re: Recommended books on organ registration?

PostMon May 30, 2016 1:08 pm

If you want a good historical grounding, not colored by some of the opinionated nonsense (Audsley) that passed for scholarship around 1900, you might want a copy of Barbara Owen's book on baroque registration. It covers from early music up to Classical period by region.
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profeluisegarcia

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Re: Recommended books on organ registration?

PostWed Jun 01, 2016 12:27 am

Given that I haven´t had any formal training in organ, I have found for Bach organ music good hints in James Kibbie recordings of Bach´s complete works on historical organs, in which he includes the registration selected for each piece.
http://www.blockmrecords.org/bach/catalog.php?scope=all

Luis
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Re: Recommended books on organ registration?

PostWed Jun 01, 2016 6:02 pm

I was reading "Organ-Stops-Their-Artistic-Registration" but it was quite complex for me.
Now I have "A Graded Anthology For Organ: Book 1: A Practical Guide To Playing The Organ" from Anne Marsden and I find it more useful (it has registration examples also)

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