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VOLUME SIX - ISSUE TWO |
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Walnut Hill Gazette
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ORGAN OF THE MONTH
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Opening MessageWelcome to the Walnut Hill Gazette. The month of February sees the site reaching over 77,605 visitors, the average now being around 700 visits per month. During 2007, we broke an attendance record with 26,442 viewers. Many of these folks are young people from the large art communities in cyberspace, where we have built portal pages such as those at YouTube, Last.FM, deviantART and Renderosity, just to name a few. In 2008, visits dropped off to just over 5,000.
In This Issue Of The Gazette...News has been late along with updates to the site since the company relocated to Tennessee in December of 2008. The reasons for this are simple: the chaos of moving across the country, and in the process, damage to the main data server which resulted in a rebuild of the system including a new case, power supply, two DVD burners and a flash/floppy drive. We have not been at liberty to choose an instrument to feature this month, being way behind on past feature completions and without a submission from any who are active at this site. This could be the first month we have gone without a feature. When one is found, it will be included as a retrofit page. Thank you for your patience. More details of the rebuild can be found by scrolling down to the Headlines section.
Closing MessageI want to thank each and every person who visits this site as the Winter Season moves toward Spring in the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee. Without you, our loyal patrons, there would be no Walnut Hill. We are indeed making a difference in the Land of the King, preserving a wonderful and important slice of American and World History. Blessings be to one and all.
Richard Mogridge |
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HEADLINE NEWS |
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Fred Willis Memorial MidiTzerBefore he left California for the Green Hills of East Tennessee, the Bone Doctor was working on one of the three computers inherited from the late Fred Willis, the Founding Father of Walnut Hill Productions. This machine, known as Whimpy Game, was Fred's pride and joy. It was the biggest and most powerful of his machines, and it was the one he used the most.
Fred registered his copy of the Mighty MidiTzer 260 Special as Opus 31. He also had the Mighty MidiTzer 216 installed. I updated them to the latest versions and also installed the Mighty MidiTzer 150 and the Mighty MidiTzer 160C, two great little TPO's, indeed. So now, Cyrus has four fabulous instruments to play.
The next step was to install Gigastudio Orchestra 3 and load the TPO samples from Allman Music. The final step would have been getting all this software to work as advertized, possibly involving the illustrious Eugene "Don" Hayek, who has an incredible setup of his own.
Doc was unable to finish the task becase the sound card was not GISF complient, something needed to run GSO3. Fred's Mighty MidiTzer Workstation is now awaiting further work by Cyrus Roton. We will keep you posted of the progress on this project.
Second Relocation Fund DriveThe Second Relocation Fund Drive, is much more ambitious than the first since the distance is far greater. The move to Tennessee, where we will be locating the office during the winter and spring months of 2009, is complete. There remains the matter of shipping the production equipment and my belongings overseas to Ĺkersberga, Sweden. Three conputers along with a collection of mics, recorders, cameras and a reference speaker system are worth thousands if replacements are purchased overseas. The systems can be switched to 240VAC@50Hz via toggles on the power supplies, so proper AC cables will be all that are needed to get them plugged into the local power grid. Walnut Hill Productions must raise a lot of money in order to relocate to Sweden, there is no doubt. It has already cost the company over twenty-five hundred dollars to get to Tennessee, which represents only one third of the eventual 9,000-mile trek from California to Scandinavia. Airfare alone for a round-trip ticket from Knoxville to Stockholm bought in advance will sell for $1,500 to $2,000 if I travel light. I have my passport in hand, which cost $115. The Swedish Permanent Residency Permit will cost around $200. Shipping equipment could be incredibly expensive, perhaps over $3,000, bringing the total cost of the move to a conservatively estimated minumum of $5,000. Returning to the United States to await permanent residency and replacing gear that could not be feasably shipped could push the cost even higher, perhaps doubling the total budget for the move. I plan to get married during my first 90-day visit. At the current time, it is unkown when the actual date of my journey will be. It could be as late as August before I can go, and the main reasons for the delay are finances and local situations. For me, there is the matter of some much needed catching up in completing several recording projects sitting on the back burner far too long. The Sub Urban Cowboys are in the studio once again, along with a new group, the Power Guppies. For my Lady in the Land of the Vikings, there is the matter of getting her own place and dealing with her three sons as she prepairs them for my arrival. The folks who run Walnut Hill Productions wish for this website to grow and become the best TPO site on the internet. It has been that way since the site went up over five years ago. To that end, we need your help. Not only are funds needed, but material to add as well in order to keep the site fresh and interesting. Walnut Hill Productions will be relocating to Sweden next year. We intend to do for the organs of Europe what we did for those in the United States. However, we are expanding our scope to include TPO's wherever we find them, all over the world, along with various classical installations of note in the churches of Scandanavia.
How To Make A DonationAs before, the original Pay Pal account which Doc and Tom Hoehn created for the first fund drive is still active. Here, you can make a donation to help us relocate Walnut Hill Productions to Sweden. The Second Relocation Fund Drive will run all the way to the time Doc actually arrives at his new home in the Northland and operations return to normal once again.
You can also send checks via standard mail to the following address, should you choose to not use the Pay Pal account. Please make checks payable to Richard Mogridge, with the words "Relocation Fund" in the memo line. The address is:
If you have questions about the relocation fund, you can call the Bone Doctor at the Walnut Hill Office of Operations to learn more. That telephone number is 1-727-230-2610. Become a part of history by making your donation today. Please help us to continue the work we are doing as we steadily grow and evolve, adding new features and more services such as broadcasting audio and video for all to enjoy. You'll be glad you did, knowing you will be helping to keep the King of Instruments in the public eye so that it will not be lost to future generations as many today are predicting. Together, we can keep the King alive. You can also take an active role by volunteering your time and talents as a member of this growing team of hard working Theatre Pipe Organ enthusiasts. We need the help of all those who can send in pictures, documents and recordings as audio and video clips for use in future Featured Organ and Artists articles. Get your name in lights on our site. Call the Walnut Hill Office of Operations to learn more and get started.
Second Fund Drive
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This is yet another major move forward for Walnut Hill Productions, one of the fastest growing and most visited TPO sites on the internet. We are trying to keep the Walnut Hill Productions website a free place for all who love the Mighty King of Instruments. We are also trying to keep it vibrant and ever changing. We do this to preserve a very important slice of history, but we need your help to keep it going. This move will allow Walnut Hill Productions to continue making major strides forward for the King of Instruments, doing the same thing for the organs of Europe that was done for those in the United States. We are thanking you in advance. The best is yet to come!
Save The Mighty WurliTzer and Grande Barton
Theatre Pipe Organs At Ceder Rapids, Iowa
CEDAR RAPIDS - Cedar Rapids' two original theatre organs, rare treasures that were damaged by the flood, are being stored at The History Center, 615 First Ave. SE, while their caretakers determine whether they can be restored.
The two organs are among about 40 in the country that remain in the theatres they were built for. They were once used to accompany and provide sound effects for silent movies.
The Paramount Theatre's 3/12 Mighty WurliTzer Balaban 1A was installed when the Paramount opened in 1928. The Mighty WurliTzer organ was removed from the Paramount Theatre on June 18. The Grande Barton organ was removed from the Iowa Theatre on Tuesday. That removal was sponsored by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. What happens next for the Mighty WurliTzer depends on what happens with the Paramount. The city of Cedar Rapids owns the theatre and the organ.
The Iowa Theatre's 3/14 Grande Barton console was damaged by the floodwaters, but the impact to the organ was not as visible and dramatic as the Paramount's Mighty WurliTzer. The Barton console, hit with 4 feet of floodwater, remained standing on the 4-post Barton lift unlike it’s sister at the Paramount which was toppled over and tossed around, subjected to 8.5 feet of water and weakened significantly by the experience.
The 3/14 Grande Barton organ is owned by Cedar Rapids Barton Inc., a non-profit group formed exclusively for the maintenance and preservation of the organ. That organization and the Cedar Rapids Theatre Organ Society have set up an organ restoration fund. Gifts are tax deductible, and donations can be submitted by visiting www.cr-atos.com. You can also send a donation via Pay Pal by clicking the "Donate" button below:
To see a complete photodocumentary of the damage to these instruments and the movie palaces they once lived in, click here. Be warned. The images are very graphic, enough to make any TPO buff cry like a baby.
Website Hit Count
Since Founding Day 04/02/2004
The figures below represent the approximate daily hit count for the site since going online on April 2nd of 2004. Counter checks begin around ten in the morning and end around ten in the evening, Pacific Daylight Savings Time. Currently, that total stands at over 77,605 happy campers in the Land of the King!
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EDITORIAL ARTICLES
- Richard Mogridge - The Control Room
All about recording the King of Instruments - Tom Hoehn - Console Up!
How to play the Mighty Theatre Pipe Organ - Per Olof Schultz - Skandia WurliTzer
The last WurliTzer Theatre Pipe Organ in Sweden - Russ Ashworth - Mighty MidiTzer
Playing the Theatre Organ virtualy every day! - Jim Reid - Hauptwerk
Martyn Dyde's highly accurate virtual organ from Crumhorn Labs
ADVERTISEMENTS
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Mighty MidiTzer Style 216
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Download MidiTzer Version 0.881 Did you ever imagine you could put a Theatre Pipe Organ inside your computer? Well, now you can, with the Mighty MidiTzer by Jim Henry and Crew Glazjev. Best of all, it is absolutely free! Just click the picture to the left to get started on your way to playing the Style 216 2/10 Mighty WurliTzer Theatre Pipe Organ virtually every day! Listen to the Mighty MidiTzer! Below are some cuts from various Featured Artists here at Walnut Hill that will give you an idea of what the Mighty MidiTzer sounds like.
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Mighty MidiTzer Style 260 Special
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