Hi all,
I have to admit, although my first passion is classical organ, I have been somewhat bit by the theater organ bug as of late and find all the colors of the theater organ quite fascinating. Kind of reminds me of when I was a kid back in the 60's when we went on a trip somewhere, I think it was near Milwaukee, WI. Anyways, I don't remember where we were but it was at a place where we had lunch. The place had one of those mechanical theater organs, it was quite large (and loud!! ) and as a 5 year old (or so), I was immediately drawn to it watching the drums and cymbals bang and so on. That sound has stuck in my head to this day. Anyways, enough on the walk down memory lane, just thought I'd share it.
What I did recently is I downloaded the Paramount 310. Much to my surprise it's a very delightful free 3- manual theater organ, it sounds great! I don't mind at all the dryness of it which seems to be more the way it should be anyways, and again much to my surprise, it even comes with a few demo midi files which I played through my 10 channel setup this morning after I got it set up and the ranks routed where I wanted them. I had it cranked up and it was really cool and even this limited instrument offers quite a variety of sound! What I'm wondering is where to start? Where to find some more simple (I emphasize simple) music I can learn, info about registrations techniques (without getting an encyclopedia ), and so on. Basically, where's a good place to start and play some music?
One thing I noticed today in watching the midi demos is the swell pedal(s) get used A LOT, and even a short 3 minute song involved quite a number of registration changes. Up front it all looks a bit intimidating to me, but I'm sure with time things will get easier. It looks like a completely different animal in ways compared to the classical organ I guess. Anyways, some advice on what I can look at, some free music and other info I could get would be nice if it's out there. I'm sure the resident theater organ experts here will know.
Thanks in advance.
Marc
I have to admit, although my first passion is classical organ, I have been somewhat bit by the theater organ bug as of late and find all the colors of the theater organ quite fascinating. Kind of reminds me of when I was a kid back in the 60's when we went on a trip somewhere, I think it was near Milwaukee, WI. Anyways, I don't remember where we were but it was at a place where we had lunch. The place had one of those mechanical theater organs, it was quite large (and loud!! ) and as a 5 year old (or so), I was immediately drawn to it watching the drums and cymbals bang and so on. That sound has stuck in my head to this day. Anyways, enough on the walk down memory lane, just thought I'd share it.
What I did recently is I downloaded the Paramount 310. Much to my surprise it's a very delightful free 3- manual theater organ, it sounds great! I don't mind at all the dryness of it which seems to be more the way it should be anyways, and again much to my surprise, it even comes with a few demo midi files which I played through my 10 channel setup this morning after I got it set up and the ranks routed where I wanted them. I had it cranked up and it was really cool and even this limited instrument offers quite a variety of sound! What I'm wondering is where to start? Where to find some more simple (I emphasize simple) music I can learn, info about registrations techniques (without getting an encyclopedia ), and so on. Basically, where's a good place to start and play some music?
One thing I noticed today in watching the midi demos is the swell pedal(s) get used A LOT, and even a short 3 minute song involved quite a number of registration changes. Up front it all looks a bit intimidating to me, but I'm sure with time things will get easier. It looks like a completely different animal in ways compared to the classical organ I guess. Anyways, some advice on what I can look at, some free music and other info I could get would be nice if it's out there. I'm sure the resident theater organ experts here will know.
Thanks in advance.
Marc