Lew Williams Takes Us Out To The Ball Game

[marcel911]

Why are there 5 swell pedals?

[musicalhotcha]

@marcel911 : They control the different sets of swell shutters. Left to right, they are:

Foundation Chamber

Main Chamber

Solo Chamber

Master (All Chambers)

Crescendo

[andyt1424]

@musicalhotcha What purpose does the crescendo serve when you have a master? Also, is there a stop tab you turn on so that all the petals are independent?

[md95065]

@andyt1424 I don't know this specific instrument but I assume that the crescendo pedal is actually set up to bring on progressively more and more stops as it is pressed - so it is fundamentally different from the other pedals which are just controlling various sets of swell shutters (although some crescendo pedals are wired to also open the swell shutters at a certain point in their travel) - think of the crescendo pedal as being like pressing a set of combination pistons in sequence.

[charlibredsox]

GO RED SOX !!!

[bandit0]

im 25 and i play a little bit of organ, its still a highly respected instrument, although playing it has moved underground since the 1970's...Organ players unite!! Come out from your shells and post some good videos! Get practicing, players!!!

[teddybearwildersr]

It looked like he was playing the melody on the pedals - wow

[RainerPoppe]

"You are sitting on a engine, who does you wanting to much, from you..."

[bowler2383]

I wish somebody could get Lew to come and play the organ at the Blackhawks games. Frank Pellico puts me to sleep! Anyways, this is much better than I could do :) I can't even manage one row of keys, let alone four LOL!

[sumichan0922]

Oh,great!!!!!



[steverabb]

Absolutely The best version of this song on YouTube.

[djdreamgirl]

ThePianoplayer9 no, it's the Organ Stop Pizzaria in Mesa, Az

[jcuski]

would love to see an organ of this magnitude in an actual Baseball Stadium!!!

[ThePianoplayer9]

Amazing!! Is this the Radio City Concert Hall organ?

[flobtheblob]

i wish i could play one of these. thats great

[theorganloft]

I have not been there in many years! I need to stop in. 

[ERROLCUSTERFLYNN4EVR]

bravisimo!

[ixcuincle]

Just listening to this makes me feel like I am at a baseball game

The Organ and baseball or hockey go together hand in hand, always

[ahioud]

damn! what an art form

[Mxsmanic]

Fabulous! I always liked Organ Stop Pizza. The pizza was good and the music was great.

[drumlar6]

U hav got a home run on this orgen playing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!­! Good foot work BTW wow I know I cant do that with just my feet LOL let alone U gota play the keybord as well DAM.

[Wurlitzer157]

Amazing!

[ShokaLion]

This would probably sound counter intuitive, but is it possible to get the standard lower pressure pipe organ sound out of a theatre organ?

[Kurzweil33]

Classical organs have a lot more pipes in them and their adherents dislike the unification of theater organs which tend to be smaller. Most theater organs will do a respectable job of interpreting classical music. Turn off the tremulants and the tibias and you're well on your way. Use the reeds sparingly (theater organs have bunches).

[ShokaLion]

Nice, thanks!

[bigblockelectra]

how do they control the percussion?

[steamboat75043]

usually the percussion is keyed off the pedals and the accompanyment keyboard (the lower one). typically the organist would have a bass drum on the pedals and in this case ride cymbal on the keyboard.

[bigblockelectra]

I hope they train some young people on how to service these instruments. I'm sure the people who restored this one are getting up there...Kids my age aren't interested in this sort of thing, so they better find some smart kids to learn how to repair these.

[mattrehmhext]

A very good point.

[wurly2008]

Yes, it is already difficult to get pipe repairs done. The electrics aren't too bad but there is an enormouse amount of work needed to keep the delicate pneumatic parts working. There are a few instruments being restored in the UK at the moment. (Beer Wurlitzer and Tamar organ club Compton, Both in Devon.)

The owner of the Compton actively encourages people to come and play it.

So, now is your chance if you are in SW UK.

[hkg02161954]

Ive been a lover of the pipe organ for years...my biggest fear is all the great pipe organ talent is dying off. With all the high tech these days are there any up and coming talent to keep these great instruments alive? Or are we headed in the way of the computer generated music.

Harvey

Tampa Florida

[KE5RHD]

That's a very good topic for concern. The University of Oklahoma has created a brand new theatre organ construction program. They also created the new American Organ Institute. The pipe and console shop is located North of Norman, Oklahoma on I-35 and Tecumseh Road. They acquire whole instruments to fix and then reinstall as class projects. They recently finished the Philadelphia Civic Center organ and have numerous projects in storage for future students to complete.

[acoustics101]

A good starting point would be for colleges to offer a course in the physics of sound production in pipes. I did a four years of independent research in Flue Pipe Acoustics which relates the parameters of scaling and cutup to operating pressure and output. All of the parameters are exponentially related and accurately predict designs ranging from the softest flute to the loudest whistle.

You will find references and videos on my homepage.

[edthefreak]

@bigblockelectra Wrong cause I am...

[sartyben]

@bigblockelectra OH, he's an expert on everyone in the world now...

[alex14rck]

@bigblockelectra Definately! I play the organ of that size very well and I am only 14, and i know what a scarce talent it is for my age, i would also like to see younger generations such as myself start playing it too! Why has our interests in younger generations strayed so far away from such beautiful music and instruments! :D

[furrypeanut1]

@alex14rck I too am 14 and play these types of instruments. It kills me to see the art of theatre organ dying off as it is, and I'm glad to see someone else my age with such an interest. In two days, I'm playing at the St. Louis Fox Theatre on their 4/36 "Crawford Special" Wurlitzer Omg Omg Omg.... Haah... I'm so used to 3-manual instruments that I have no idea what to use the Bombarde manual for.

[FlyingCaboose]

@bigblockelectra how about learning how to just play them?

[Myles0Harcourt]

@bigblockelectra

Are you nominating yourself?

[bigblockelectra]

@Myles0Harcourt no, i don't play

[Myles0Harcourt]

@bigblockelectra

Maybe you could be the smart kid who learns to repair these...

[wurly2008]

That is a brilliant piece of pedal work by Lew. Cant be sure if he is using the Xylophone or Glock . Pecussion such as Snare drums, bass drum and, crash cymbol can be triggered by toe pistons just above the pedals. On the Compton, there is a double acting toe piston which gives you a snare drum roll when you press it, then when you take your toe off of it you get a symbol crash.

[wurly2008]

Sorry, that was supposed to read Cymbol.

Another way to sound the percussion is by Second Touch.  Additional tabs allow you to assign voices or pecussion to the lower manual or pedals. You play normally then press the keys down harder to get the second touch to work. Some organs have second touch on all manuals. Comptons have second touch cancel on tabs. So if you had tabs selected on the solo and you just wanted 8' trumpet, then you press 8' trumpet right down hard and the rest go off.

[TheProudAmerican777]

@bigblockelectra its done via stops and buttons.

[tyuru2]

Dude.... epic....

[patsaxon]

What a great sound! I am so impressed as it makes me want to sing this song! The organ is so much fun to play as I have been playing since the age of ten. I have played many electronic organs and church pipe organs, but never had the opportunity to play a real theater organ!

[62antique]

Absolutely superb !!!!!!!! Thanks for posting !!!!!!! 62antique

[HarborGuy]

Great talent - and wonderful - thank you Lew!

[allendale1962]

Lew, you are my new hero! I wish I could play a pipe organ like a tear up a piano! check my youtube site out sometime.Sincerely, Allendale1962

[ch4os1337]

THATS CRAZY.

[latribe]

Thanks for posting this. WONDERFUL! Where is this place? How often are the games? What an entertainment!

[m4dan]

There's no games. It's a pizza parlor.

[kiwiplant]

Organ Stop Pizza in Mesa, AZ

[gcashiel]

ive heard of this guy because we went to a fieldtrip to organstop and he was amazing

[hughvane]

Whoever said men can't multi-task never watched a pipe organist at work!

[Gillyyorkie]

awesome  thanks for posting

[bh4bhwgm]

Great job...excellent foot work. That's what makes a ball game a ball game.

[Andrewcarey87]

that's really cool for the middle of 7th inning.

[elrustito]

He's amazing.

[tempetiger]

That's a really good sharp video! Excellent for Utube. The sound is also great. What type of camera were you using?

[greyantelope]

Nobody does it better.

[joylava88]

very good is the organ making those sounds

[m4dan]

Yes.