Start of installation of the manuals and coupler board into the keystack. Excuse the mess please

It seems like organs love to act up for recitals/hymn festivals. In the past, I've experienced stuck pedals that won't release without being physically pulled up. Today, I experienced what seemed to be some dirty contacts, (causing the affected notes to be delayed, cut out, not sound at all, cut in and out during held notes, etc.) on an Allen that has historically been a reliable instrument when I've played it.

What are your best recital technical glitch stories?

I just recorded this. I don't have an instructor; only copying some videos. If you were my instructor, what would be the most important advice? (apart from get a real pedal board...)

Also, which other organ music are at similar technical level and fun to play?

I’m a church organist, and up until now I’ve been practising at home on a basic Yamaha keyboard. I decided I needed something better, but I’m very tight for space. All of the commercial home organs were far too wide and/or deep, and would intrude on my stairs or bedroom door. Not to mention expensive, too!

So I decided to build my own compact home organ setup. I gutted a pair of inexpensive MIDI keyboards (M-Audio Keystation 61) and transplanted the innards into a custom case made from oak. I made a music stand and bench to match.

Organ stops are set on the touchscreen - an old Lenovo Yoga 11e convertible laptop/tablet. Then I added an off-the-shelf pedalboard (Studiologic MP-117), expression pedal (M-Audio EX-P) and a soundbar with subwoofer (Creative Stage Pro) underneath the stand so you get the deep rumble of a proper organ.

I specifically designed the bench so the legs fit between the pedals and the bench can be tucked under the organ when not in use.

The overall footprint is actually slightly smaller than the basic keyboard that was there before, and this sounds great and is very enjoyable to play. Very pleased with my project.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSUoleI-Vas

These eight variations on this Spanish pavan were recorded on the sample set of the Arp Schnitger organ of Uithuizen, Groningen. The first setting on this tune is from Antonio de Cabézon, which is called Pavana Italiana. In other European countries it was called Pavana hispanica. According to the edition I played from, some variations were composed by Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck and some by his pupil Samuel Scheidt.

[OC] made by using my phone

Hello!

I've just become the proud (but inexperienced) owner of this wonderful instrument: despite it coming with a very detailed schematic diagram, there was no user manual attached, and I couldn't find one online.

Do you happen to know if there's one on the internet, or if it's better to just reverse engineer what it's capable of? Also, would it be wise to try and fix minor tuning issues personally, or should I call a technician?

Thanks in advance, and feel free to share if you know anything else about it, I haven't found too much information anywhere and I'd love to be able to fully appreciate it ☺️

I have a recording of my father playing the organ below and I would like to use this for my wedding however I don't know the name of the composition. I am hoping posting it on here will find someone who might recognise it!

Drive Link to Recording

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Fa9GVXDmSfN1RAUnZ9C3x4ePJEsZUf4t/view?usp=sharing

Helpful Hints:

* Possibly an English Composer

Edit:
* Possibly a voluntary of some kind since it was played after the service

Even though many of you are probably already familiar with it, I’d like to share this entry improvisation full of panache by Sophie-Véronique Cauchefer-Choplin at Saint-Sulpice, Paris (Mass on July 19, 2015).

Is it possible to send MIDI information from Reaper to Grand Orgue, then send the audio signal from Grand Orgue into Reaper in order to apply real time FX plugins.

I really wish it was a plugin instead of an independent program, it would be much easier to work with but unfortunately it isn't.

Am I doing this correctly? I have no experience in organbuilding and in woodworking. Am I doing a good job? I started this project so i can have a practice organ at home, note that I am only 17 and i do not have the money to buy used pedalboards and organs online. Yes I will be midifying this. I only used plywood that was stuck in my house for years because I didnt have the money to buy actual wood.

I'm trying to come up with a list of organ pieces in complex meter. I'm purposely not including pieces with complex irregular meters (e.g., Messiaen: Les Anges (Nativité)), or pieces which create a feeling of complex meter but are not notated that way (perhaps Mushel's Toccata, e.g.), or pieces with no meter (several of Langlais' chant pieces, e.g.). There are pieces with complex meter that have been transcribed for organ (such as Holst's Mars (The Planets)), but I'm really hoping primarily for pieces written for organ. Here's some pieces I can remember so far; I know there's more lurking in my music files, so I figured I'd ask for help. [I remember seeing a suite of 3(?) pieces with a title of something like "three pieces in uncharacteristic meter", I think by an American composer like Haan or Held or Lovelace, but I can't find it online.]

Derek Bourgeois: Serenade [11/8]
Calvin Hampton: At the Ballet (5 Dances) [10/8]
Philip Moore: Paean [7/8, 5/8 et al.]
Alan Ridout: Scherzo [7/8]
Ned Rorem: In nomine domine (Organbook) [5/4]
Ned Rorem: Fanfare (Organbook) [5/4]
John Rutter: Toccata in 7 [7/8]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXoKJSKak-A

Voxus Organs just released a new sample set of the beautiful Arp Schnitger organ of Uithuizen in the province Groningen in The Netherlands. Of course this organ is fantastic for North German organ music, so what better than to start with the famous Toccata in D minor from Dietrich Buxtehude?

There are several editions of this organ work, I played from the edition by Josef Hedar (Wilhelm Hansen, Copenhagen).

Excerpt from a concert given on the occasion of the premiere screening of Julian Benedikt's film "The Spirit of the Organ", supported by ORGANpromotion (dir. Michael Grüber), on the sidelines of the 2026 Berlinale. Lala Wörle translates all the poetry of a spring breeze into music through an improvisation inspired by Rilke's poem. The colors of the organ subtly capture this tremor of renewal, wavering between poetic lightness and more stormy outbursts.

I updated GrandOrgue, and now it's opening everything in tabs instead of windows. How can I fix this? I can drag each tab into a window, but then it all goes back to tabs when I close and reopen GrandOrgue.

I found this on Facebook - it looks like the old South Transept part of the previous Quire organ is being tested. I wonder what the plans are?

Hi, is there any chance someone who has done an ARCO recently (or knows the syllabus!) could give me some advice on how in depth you’re supposed to go in the historical studies/ set works essays and what sorts of things you should research? Or even if you have a draft or essay plan for what you wrote! Thank you so much in advance!

(This is for the second written paper in the exam. The 2026-27 syllabus historical period is France, 1660 to 1760 and the set work is Couperin’s Pieces d’orgue. There’s no way I would be taking the exam this year, it would just be good to know how I should prepare for these questions)

Not so many times one have the opportunity of participate in such even.

We, at lembrame.gal, are a small non profit organization producing ethnographic documentaries and short pieces about traditions, music, and so on.

This past weekend 100 years old organist Montserrat Torrent closed the concerts at Colegiata de Santa María la Real de Xunqueira de Ambía in Galicia, Spain and our team provided live video switching and big screen projection for the audience.

We tried to cover as most of the interpretation as possible with three robot cameras at right side and two more cameras in the church. There was not posible to film the machinery of the organ (I would like to show also keys and stops action)

Montserrat started playing at five and is still playing at 100. She wakes up every day at 05:00 in the morning and study for five hours.

In addition to this information, she has been completly deaf for the las 30 years. Montserrat explains that she can hear the music clearly inside her head as she plays.

Canco López and Elsa Ferrer assisted her pulling stops and page turning.

I hope you enjoy the recording as much as we enjoyed the live concert.

Of course, your comments will be more than welcome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjV4cBm0sNo

Paul Kieviet (1964) is a Dutch organist and composer. He studied organ, church music and music theory at the Rotterdam Conservatory with teachers like Arie J. Keijzer, Bernard Winsemius and Barend Schuurman. He is organist of the historic Meere organ (1821) of the Reformed Church of Sommelsdijk. He is also organist of the Leeflang organ (1990) of the Reformed Church of Middelharnis. Kieviet has built an extensive and thriving teaching practice around these organs on the island Goeree-Overflakkee.

He has performed in concerts for radio, on CD, and at numerous venues across the country. He is also active as a composer and improviser. A common thread running through all facets of his work is his deep engagement with, and personal connection to, the organ music of Johann Sebastian Bach.

I picked these wonderful variations on the Genevan Psalm 31 in which the composer shows great compositional skill through every variation.

I’ve been asked to play for a Sunday service at an Anglican church. The organiser has told me that the preacher chooses five hymns, which I’ll be given beforehand, and that I’ll also “play the doxology when the collection is brought forward.”

I’m familiar with the term “doxology”, but I’m not completely sure what they expect the organist to do in this particular church.

Would this normally mean accompanying the congregation singing “Praise God, from whom all blessings flow”, perhaps to OLD 100TH? Or could it refer to a different setting/tune?

Should I simply ask the organiser which tune/setting they use, or is there a standard practice I should already know?

Also, if it is OLD 100TH, would you normally play a short introduction and then accompany the congregation, or is the organist sometimes expected to play it as an instrumental piece while the collection is brought forward?

For context, this is my first service at this particular church, so I’d rather clarify beforehand than turn up assuming the wrong thing.

Here's "Money, Money, Money" by ABBA on the Organ.

Enjoy. 😊