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Transition from 32 note "Princess" pedal board to AGO

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ErnestM

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Transition from 32 note "Princess" pedal board to AGO

PostFri Jul 15, 2016 9:00 am

Fellow Organists: Have any of you with your resident practicing instrument equipped with the smaller Hauptwerk/Allen "Princess" 32 note concave radiating pedal board experience difficulty with pedal technique accuracy transitioning to the AGO pedal board at work, and then back home to your "Princess" pedal board in you studio/music room? I just purchased an Allen T-12 (that has the Princess pedal board) to install my Hauptwerk into the console in my music room. Thank You!
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josq

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Re: Transition from 32 note "Princess" pedal board to AGO

PostFri Jul 15, 2016 10:33 am

Well, living in Europe, I'm not sure if I ever encountered an organ that fulfilled any (AGO) specification. For historic organs, you have to adjust continuously: height of organ bench, height of the manuals, compass, size of keys, heaviness of touch, room for your knees, etc all might be very very different per organ. People used to be smaller a few hundred years ago so you may find yourself in a quite uncomfortable position. So in my case I have decided not to worry about specifications. Take a few minutes for adjustment and then accept the organ as is - you'll have to do the same if you ever get the opportunity to play a famous historical instrument.
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Eric Sagmuller

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Re: Transition from 32 note "Princess" pedal board to AGO

PostFri Jul 15, 2016 11:15 am

I never liked the princess with my large feet. My first pipe organ console had a similar one, and it didn't last long before I found another console with AGO.

Last year we purchased a small Allen for our church, and it came with the princess. I did not like the switch between my home AGO and the princess when trialing it, so the dealer was able to switch it out with a concave straight European pedalboard. This has spacing very similar to AGO and I can switch back and forth easily. Our other organist that insisted on the small console ( which ruled out the AGO) is fine with it too, she only uses her left foot anyway.

Eric
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1961TC4ME

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Re: Transition from 32 note "Princess" pedal board to AGO

PostFri Jul 15, 2016 12:38 pm

Unless for some reason you were to find the princess pedal board very uncomfortable to play, which I would not expect as I've had a chance to try them out for myself, as long as you're playing both on a regular basis I wouldn't think there would be an issue and you should be able to transition from one to the other easily.

After time, repetitive things like this do tend to get locked in our memory! :wink:

Marc
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ErnestM

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Re: Transition from 32 note "Princess" pedal board to AGO

PostFri Jul 15, 2016 1:32 pm

To All:

Thank you for all your insightful input. Interesting to learn from other organists as to how each of us handle the "what we are used to" scenarios based on our experiences. Thanks again.

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