Estey Automatic Player Pipe Organ Rolls
By Tom DeLay
Recently, I have been working on an Estey residence organ that has been
in the same family since 1912! The 10-rank tubular pneumatic organ was
moved to the present residence in 1927. By reversing the tracker bar,
the player will play 58- or 65-note rolls.
A "Y" is inserted in the top and bottom octave tubing to couple tracker
bar notes beyond the 61-note compass of the pneumatic relay. This is
fine until the lowest notes of the 16 Bourdon are drawn in: tonal mud
can result.
There are many Estey player rolls. None of them are "automatic" -- the
rolls must be hand-registered and expressed. Many of the older 65-note
rolls are in poor condition with torn or missing leaders. Most of the
selections are of a religious or classical nature. There is one 65-note
roll that plays fairly well: "Burning of Rome" by E. T. Paull. There
is no indication as to whether it was hand played.
The roll player itself is very simple and works on a pressure system
not unlike Aeolian. Given its age, and generally unrestored condition,
I can only say the Estey product is amazing to still be operating
fairly well after 96 years!
Tom DeLay
Salinas, California
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(Message sent Sat 28 Jun 2008, 06:16:55 GMT, from time zone GMT-0700.) |
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