Good day, folks.  In reading the series of comments on this original
article submitted by Andrew, I would like to throw my two cents into
the mix.

Both the comments by Art Thompson and Al Good bring up some important
thoughts on the notable attributes of the music normally heard on
Artizan band organs.

I feel it is both the organ voicing and the arranging styles that
bring the uniqueness to a properly regulated and tuned Artizan organ.
I know there are also the tonal 'qualities' that are pleasing in the
ear of the individual beholder, that a particular person will gravitate
to or back away from, but I think the commonality of arrangement style
and organ design should be given great weight in the assessment of the
'best' sounding organ.

One case in point on the considerations that I can make from my own
organ experience is how different my Wurlitzer 105 sounded when playing
early (pre- to mid-1920s) Wurlitzer rolls, versus later Wurlitzer rolls,
versus T.R.T. rolls, versus Tom Meijer's European arrangements -- same
organ, multiple sounds.

Nostalgia value aside, and regardless of how one appraises the quality
of the original tune style, the arrangement differences spoke for
themselves in changing the overall sound.  Most markedly was how the
excellent Meijer arrangements brought out the European design roots of
the organ voicing and therefore markedly transformed the organ sound
from carnival organ to European in nature.

Unlike Wurlitzer, Artizan instruments and arrangements focused on the
louder trumpets leading the melody.  The later Wurlitzer efforts (at
least) were more focused both the organ design and music arrangement
style, with trumpets taking a back seat to some of the other pipes in
presentation.

Conversely, when my W105 attempted to play some Artizan transcriptions,
the overall effect was most disappointing with the wooden trumpets
hidden in the middle of the organ ranks of the Wurlitzer.

So, which is the best sounding organ?  I guess it depends on if it is
well regulated, tuned, and playing arrangements designed for it.  That
said, I feel the Artizan "D" was most capable of taking Wurlitzer 150
music and presenting it beautifully, as some organs had since been
converted to it.

I would finally like to add (for those interested in Artizan music)
that the Artizan/North Tonawanda rollography, that I had built with the
contributions from those such as Fred Dahlinger and a host of others,
has moved to a new domain and I am in the process in of re-linking the
data files and then uploading data updates in the next two weeks.

I will greatly miss the efforts of Max Huff, who was as kind and
generous a person as one could meet here online.

Regards to all,

Dave Haibach