I was a volunteer member of the ATOS WurliTzer organ crew at The Mission Playhouse, San Gabriel, Ca. for about 12 years. Someone loaned a WurliTzer RJ player which was connected to the Playhouse organ. George Wright introduced Jesse Crawford to play a piece by paper roll during one of Mr. Wright's concerts. Wonderful!

The player George Wright used was a style R replica I built. Playing a roll that I recut from a original. I was thrilled to be allowed to hear George practice all week before that concert. We played two crawford rolls during that convention. A victor herbert meledy and the love parade. Fred Beeks Anacortes Washington

@johnnyjames7139

10 ай бұрын

Thank you for correcting me.

Many thanks for creating this fascinating video. It's a real privilege to see and hear such a rare piece of equipment in operation and to get the chance to look inside as well. The video will be an invaluable reference for any student of theatre organ and mechanical music history. The documentation shown in the video is also fascinating, especially the diagram showing the tracker bar hole allocation (interestingly the "Pilot" holes allow one of the main holes to have several functions according to David L Junchen's book "The Wurlitzer Pipe Organ"). In modern parlance we would describe the use of different combinations of on/off switches for control, as "computer logic" but Wurlitzer were doing it in the 1930s! I understand this particular unit was originally fitted to the 1937 Wurlitzer organ in the theatre of Stanford Hall near Loughborough (Opus 1394) which is a Style 150 Special, meaning it only has two manuals and five ranks of pipes (Trumpet, Tibia Clausa, Salicional, Flute and Vox Humana). Although the museum's Wurlitzer has twelve ranks of pipes, I imagine only the relevant five are connected to the roll player for authenticity. It's great to hear the roll of Jesse Crawford playing "Trees." This piece is an excellent demonstration of why Crawford came to be known as the "poet of the organ."

@Musical_Museum

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks Dave; we appreciate your feedback. You're correct - this RJ Player was originally attached to the organ at Stanford Hall, and it can't completely access the full range of pipes of our own Wurlitzer; nevertheless we believe that the rolls recorded in this style give a good "sketch" of what the organ can achieve, and a faithful reproduction of the original performance. The use of "pilot" holes and multiple combinations of control channels (for example, to set different levels of expression via the swell shades) are definitely very early implementations of registers and binary logic that became familiar to the world of digital computers. Of course, it's not quite the same as hearing it played by hand - so we hope you'll be able to join us for Mark Laflin's upcoming live stream, where he will definitely be using all 12 ranks!

Thank you for sharing this most interesting player device. I have a M. P. Moller player connected to the pipe organ in my home and enjoy it very much.

Extremely interesting

I now own a RJ player with 90 plus rolls. Is it possible to get a copy of the tracker bar print and the blue print seen in this video? I am in much need of such to restore my player. Thanks much. I live in Martin, Tennessee in the USA.

Fascinating video... is it policy to keep the 'weathered' look on your cabinets & cases, Both the RV & the piano have obviously seen a lot of use but obviously have been internally restored to functionality that is sensitive to the technology of the piece as much as is possible/practical... but that doesn't seem to extend to the cosmetic appearance of the cases. This is not a criticism...but rather an observer trying to understand the ethos & aims. Loving these video's.

@Musical_Museum

3 жыл бұрын

Hi Bob, thanks for your feedback - we appreciate it. Like many Museums, we walk a fine line between preservation and restoration. Our founder, Frank Holland, believed that the instruments should be heard - and so much of our volunteer work goes into ensuring that the internal mechanisms continue to operate, and are maintained (as much as possible / practical) using traditional methods and materials. The casework of our instruments tells the story of their history - particularly items like the Violano, which led a hard life entertaining the public in bars and clubs (and latterly, under a railway arch!). For some key pieces we would like to have them restored, but to have this work done to "museum standard" is both difficult and expensive. We hope over the course of the next year to set some fundraising objectives which could help to cosmetically restore specific "star" exhibits - so watch this space!

@BobMuk08

3 жыл бұрын

@@Musical_Museum Thanks for your thoughtful response which made a lot of sense!. You mentioned Frank Holland When I first visited the MM in the late '60s or early 70's He personally gave the tour in a scruffy old coat (it was cold in the old Church!) and wearing his Fez, while we wandered the labyrinth of narrow paths in there as he regaled us with demos, stories, & descriptions about the jumble of instruments, & parts. Truly one of Life's Characters... I have never forgotten it!.