Haunted pipe organ!

So my final recital (required to graduate, anyways), is in about two weeks. So, I've been spending as much time on the concert organ as I can. This morning, I get there, set it up, turn it on, and I hear really weird noises.

To control volume, some stops are in enclosed chambers with shades that are manually opened and closed. Except, these shades are opening and closing themselves. Rapidly. I walk over to the console, and it isn't working. Nothing I turn on will play. Then, as I'm walking backstage to turn the organ off so that I can try to figure out what's going on, the organ plays a HUGE chord on full organ, full volume. I ended up about 5 feet from where I had been previously.

Long story short, apparently the centrall processing unit has shorted. So we need a new one and fast, or I have to figure out what I'm going to do about my recital.

But I have never been freaked out so much in my life. I mean, there's another organ on campus that ciphers randomly, but never has any organ I've played done ANYTHING like this. Every time I turned it on again (I was trying different connecting ports, trying to isolate the problem), I got different results. Once, it played 16 foot reeds as low as possible. Sounded very much like what a giant's fart would sound like. Other times, it would turn the zimbelstern on and off. What was really interesting was that it would either do the quiet, cute stops or the loud, brash stops. A fellow organ student and I are thinking of getting the recording equipment out and recording it. It's the next compositional method trend! Ultimate indeterminacy!

But I'd really prefer it to behave so that I can play my recital. >.> Maybe I'll be kidnapped by aliens. Then I wouldn't have to worry about it.

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What if there is a spoon?

Well, I'm learning more of that from a fellow organ student who apprenticed for a while with an organ builder. When things don't work, I get him to show me how to fix them.

It's really useful. Right now, about the most I can do is diagnose problems and fix ciphers.

However, I've found that demon-possessed organs are, indeed, a bit much. I've threatened the other "haunted" organ before. It always misbehaves, though it knows better than to do anything too drastic. It's really weird. Organs are such involved, complex instruments, that they almost seem to have personalities. Either that, or I've been at this school waaaaaay too long.

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What if there is a spoon?

Zimblestern.com has some good pictures. Basically, several bells are held up in suspension. Some sort of metal piece is rotated around, striking the bells. Some are set up to have uneven rhythms, some are set to have the bells struck evenly. It's a very light, airy, tinkly sound. We actually have a spare one (I have NO idea where it came from) in the studio where we do group classes. It plugs into regular wall-sockets, so we try to turn it on in inappropriate moments, and our professor tries to hide it. It's a good thing for us that she has a good sense of humor. >.>

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What if there is a spoon?

It's such a happy little thing. It's generally used for light, happy pieces that incorporate stops that the zimbelstern can be heard with. If the piece is building to full organ, if it uses the zimbelstern, it will only use it for a portion of the piece and then be turned off. Some pieces don't call for it, but are played with it because the sound effect is nice. In fact, it's more for effects and mood than for pitch.

Most organists use it very sparingly, because it loses a bit of its effect if it's played throughout the entire song or on every piece. For example, if you're playing variations of a Christmas piece, you could use the zimbelstern on one or two verses with great results, whereas if you use it on every verse, the effect goes down with each use. Kind of like the idea that the more chocolate you eat, the less satisfied you are, and the less you want it.

But it's a lot of fun to use.

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What if there is a spoon?

Heh. Yep.

Update: Well, we've mailed the circuit boards and cpu over to the company, where, as soon as he gets back, the one person in the US who can fix it will hopefully do so. The seminary affiliated with our school has graciously allowed those of us performing senior recitals to use their organ with no time changes. They've also prettuy much told us that if the chapel is free, we can practice in there, which is very kind of them.

So everything seems to be working out. Huzzah!

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What if there is a spoon?

It's really good that your recital can still go ahead - will the other organ be different to the one you're used to?

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Mallanox : "My mother was Irish and my father was an alien. I was an only child and I dress funny."

You'll get extra marks for adaptability!

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Between stimulus and response there is a space.
In that space is our power to choose our response.
In our response lies our growth and our freedom.

- Viktor E. Frankl