It has been interesting to get all the reactions to the House On The
Rock.  Years ago, before the Carousel was finished, Dave Junchen took
myself and a couple friends through their warehouses.  We saw a
collection unlike anything I have seen until being at the Sanfilippo
residence (where everything is meticulously restored).  The House On
the Rock equipment was being used to "simulate" the sounds.

Now a lot is done with synthesizer.  Back then, it was done with organ
pipes.  The saxophone sounds were done with saxophone (labial, not
reed) pipes, which aren't very common.  Most of it is fakery, but I
find myself going back every ten years or so to see the new stuff, and
I am more disappointed each time at how awful the older stuff has
gotten, through lack of care.

They seem to have cornered the market on shaker chimes.  If only they
worked, they would sound tremendous.  Also, in the organ room, there is
a small theater organ (about 15 ranks or so, maybe more) operated from
the middle five manuals of the fifteen-manual organ.  The rest of the
pipes are just arranged for visual effect, as most of the stuff at the
museum is.  So, I keep telling myself that the trip isn't totally
wasted, because the imagination of how all that might sound is enter-
taining to some extent.  But, it sure is disappointing to the ear!

Yes, all those orchestral players are fake, and there are speakers
right behind or under them.

Devon Hollingsworth