Welcome to the Walnut Hill Gazette. We began the month of March with the site reaching over 64,105 visitors, with the average being around 1,050 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 deviantART and Renderosity, to name a few. On March 21st, we reached 65,000 visitors.

I want to thank each and every person who visits this site during the Spring Season and beyond. 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. God bless one and all. Happy playing and have a wonderful rest of the Winter, for soon the Desert sun and heat return to sunny Southern California.

Richard Mogridge
Webmaster/Executive Producer
Walnut Hill Productions
Ridgecrest, California

The Poorman's Pipe Organ Convention is coming up on May 3rd and 4th. Any amateur organist that would like to try their hand at playing a short silent movie is welcome to do so. Call Jim Spohn at (661)330-6733 and let him put you on the schedule. He can provide you with a DVD of the short film you will play so you can practice and get familiar with the movie.

If you have ever dreamed of playing a silent movie on a four manual Mighty Theatre Pipe Organ in a real working theater, you need to take action now for this may well be the only and last chance you will ever get. This will be a dream come true for all who love the King of Instruments. The Walnut Hill Production team will be there with recorders and cameras to cover this historic event held in Californa.

Jim Spohn, owner of the theatre says, "I play movies all the time and you can't be any worse than I am."

Admission to the Convention is free. The doors open at 9AM on Friday and the Mighty Robert Morton Theatre Pipe Organ will be available until 5PM on Saturday. Bring a sleeping bag or stay at any of several hotels near the theatre. Lucy's famous Juicy Cheeseburgers and lots of other delectable goodies and beverages will be sold in the consession stand. Be prepared to have the time of your life listening to and playing the Mighty Theatre Pipe Organ at the Granada Theatre in Old Town Kern, Bakersfield. See you there!

Tom Hoehn, professional organist from Clearwater, Florida, is seen in the photograph above rehearsing on the Frank Sheffield Memorial 3/11 Mighty Möller Theatre Pipe Organ installed at the Rylander Theatre in Americus, Georgia for the Sumter Players/GSW Dramatic Arts production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's The King and I.

The fabulous musical will be performed at the Rylander Theatre in downtown Americus at 8:00 pm on March 6, 7 and 8 with a Sunday matinee on March 9 at 2:30 pm. Tickets to all performances are available at the Rylander box office, 310 West Lamar Street, Americus, Georgia. Call the theatre at 1-229-931-0001 and toll free at 1-800-903-7753. Internet ticketing is active 24/7 on the Rylander and Sumter Players websites. Major credit cards are accepted.

In a musical innovation, The King and I will be accompanied entirely by music from the 3/11 Mighty Möller Theatre Pipe Organ. Tom Hoehn will not only play Richard Rodgers' magnificent score, but will reproduce many of the sound effects required by the play.

Suggested by members of the Atlanta Theatre Organ Society, such accompaniment has been done only rarely in the Southeast and never before for a live performance at the Rylander, though accompaniment for silent movies is a regular feature at the restored vaudeville house.

Mr. Hoehn is a native of St. Joseph, Missouri, where he began playing the organ at an early age. He was playing in church at age twelve. Having studied classical and popular organ through high school and college, he moved to Florida in 1974 and has been active in church and theatre organ ever since. He has appeared as the organist for the Florida State Fair, Tampa Bay Rowdies Soccer Club and Boston Red Sox spring training in Winter Haven, Florida. He was one the original four organists at J. Burns Pizza & Pipes in Tampa and played at the Winter Haven location for several years. He has studied with the former New York Paramount Theatre organist and has played for pre-shows at the Tampa Theatre in Tampa. He is the regular organist at First United Methodist Church in Clearwater, playing for three services each Sunday.

Currently a member of four chapters of the American Theatre Organ Society, he was the charter-signing secretary for the Central Florida Chapter. Outside Florida, he has performed at the York Theatre in Elmhurst, Illinois and the Tivoli Theatre in Downers Grove, Illinois. In Mundelein, Illinois, he has played at University of St. Mary-On-The-Lake on an organ originally installed in the Chicago Theatre in Chicago, Illinois. He travels throughout the Southeast, Ohio and Michigan, playing silent movie accompaniment and can be found many evenings at Roaring Twenties Pizza and Pipes in Ellenton, Florida, playing an organ originally installed in the Oakland, California, Paramount Theatre.

Rylander's Frank Sheffield Memorial Organ was built in Hagerstown, Maryland, in 1928 by the M. P. Möller Company and originally installed in a theatre in Scranton, Pennsylvania. It features three keyboards and eleven ranks of pipes, installed in two chambers, one on each side of the theatre auditorium. Owned previously by James Thrower of Marietta, Georgia, a member of the Atlanta Chapter of the American Theatre Organ Society, the organ was given to the Rylander as part of the restoration of the theatre in 1999. Mr. and Mrs. Bradley Hale, son-in- law and daughter of Frank Sheffield, provided the funds for organ restoration and installation, resulting in an instrument valued in excess of a million dollars.

The King and I will be performed at the Rylander at 8:00 pm on March 6th at 7 and 8PM, with a Sunday matinee on March 9th at 2:30 pm.

When the show is over and the collected multimedia materials are shipped to Walnut Hill Productions, this fine instrument will be featured in the Organ of the Month section at the site. You can see and hear Tom playing this fine organ by visiting him at You Tube. There are three videos currently available on the Rylander's Mighty Möller, including Dance of the Siamese Children, Shall We Dance and Rise and Shine.

Atlanta Chapter ATOS member Ron Carter of Marietta, Georgia has this to say about Tom's performance at the Rylander Theatre:

I just got back from the Rylander Theatre in Americus, Georgia to see and hear the production of The King and I by the Sumter Players. Florida theatre organist Tom Hoehn accompanied the 2 hour and 50 minute performance entirely on the Frank Sheffield Memorial 3/11 Mighty Möller Theatre Pipe Organ that was installed in 1998. Not only were the sets, the cast, the voices top notch but Tom did a masterful job in providing ALL of the musical accompaniment for this show on the Mighty Möller. He had obtained the orchestra/conductor's score and followed it meticulously never missing a beat or a cue. From flutes, to strings, to, reeds to percussions, to special sound effects he made the Moller sound as close to an orchestra as I have ever heard.

Ron Carter
Atlanta Chapter ATOS

Fellow Atlanta Chapter ATOS member Larry Davis had this to say after attending the history making show:

Ron is correct. My wife and I attended the Rylander event and it was just stunning. The subtlety of Tom's playing at certain moments was just astounding. The use of traps and percussions, the voicing of the organ against a single singer versus a chorus - it was obvious that Tom had done a lot of thinking and analyzing of the music, the hall and the voices involved. The organ was as orchestral as I've ever heard it, and that's saying something since it is a Moller and very orchestral to begin with.

Larry Davis
Atlanta, GA

From: Neil Jensen
Sent: Monday, 3 March 2008 11:06 PM
To: Theatreorgans-L@theatreorgans.com
Subject: Largest Virtual Theatre Pipe Organ

The final expansion package for the Neil Jenson Connoisseur Series Virtual Theatre Pipe Organ will be shipping on March 19th, 2008.

The largest Hauptwerk Virtual Theatre Pipe Organ currently available, the instrument boasts 35 ranks and 9 tonal percussions. These fine sample sets have been made with the finest state of the art equipment and techniques available today and were recorded in the most desirable of acoustic settings. They have been meticulously post produced and engineered into digital ranks. Optimum and musical Tremulant systems were sought and sampled for the note for note authentic Tremulant modelling.

The GUI (Virtual Stop Rails) and the ODF (Organ Definition File) have been created by Reiner Suikat of Pipeloops in Germany and the final regulation carried out by the celebrated International Concert Organist John Giacchi of Melbourne, Australia. Click here to learn more.

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 65,535 happy campers in the Land of the King!

03/01/2008 - 64,124 03/02/2008 - 64,177 03/03/2008 - 64,228 03/04/2008 - 64,389 03/05/2008 - 64,340 03/06/2008 - 64,589 03/07/2008 - 64,432 03/08/2008 - 64,488 03/09/2008 - 64,538 03/10/2008 - 64,572 -

03/11/2008 - 64,612 03/12/2008 - 64,653 03/13/2008 - 64,693 03/14/2008 - 64,730 03/15/2008 - 64,782 03/16/2008 - 64,834 03/17/2008 - 64,886 03/18/2008 - 64,919 03/19/2008 - 64,964 03/20/2008 - 64,976 03/31/2008 - 65,537

03/21/2008 - 65,045 03/22/2008 - 65,101 03/23/2008 - 65,143 03/24/2008 - 65,198 03/25/2008 - 65,242 03/26/2008 - 65,281 03/27/2008 - 65,329 03/28/2008 - 65,371 03/29/2008 - 65,414 03/30/2008 - 65,460 -

---

Slow Dog's Place on deviantART

---

Slow Dog's Place on YouTube

There are now 15 videos featuring the Mighty Conn 650 Analogue Electronic Theatre Organ now available for audition at The Slow Dog's Place on YouTube. Click here to view them all. Stay tuned for more in the days ahead.

Walnut Hill Productions is still in somewhat of a bind from a business perspective. Household and personal expenses are taking a hefty slice out of the money Doc gets, as he is disabled and on a limited income. Replacing his personal property and the musical equipment lost after the relocation from Tennessee early in 2007, along with aquiring and maintaining a new residence, is continuing to be quite expensive and is by no means completed. We cannot determine how long we will be at our current location. Permanent office and residentual space is needed for this tiny entity in the High Desert.

Most of the company's original equipment was left in Tennessee due to the high cost of shipping. These items must eventually be replaced. Many have been. Below is a partial listing of the items we need for the studio in order to get back to the recording sessions Doc would like to complete, including albums from the Sub Urban Cowboys and Doc at the Mighty MidiTzer.

Doc and Tom Hoehn have created a Pay Pal account for easily and securely receiving contributions from all who want to see this relocation take place, which will allow Walnut Hill to make major strides forward for the King of Instruments.

Below is a listing of those who have genorously contributed funds and items to date:

Name Tom Hoehn Gareth Howells Jim Reid Cyrus Roton William Spalding Larry Chamberlin Kent Allman Fred Willis Joseph Loewy Ronald Shreve Dan Rowland Eleanor Winnemore Earl Hurty Edward Burnett

Amount $ 50.00 $ 50.00 $300.00 $500.00 $100.00 $100.00 $100.00 $200.00 $ 50.00 $ 25.00 $ 50.00 $100.00 $ 35.00 $ 50.00

Method PayPal PayPal PayPal Check PayPal Check PayPal PayPal PayPal PayPal PayPal Check Check PayPal

Name Bob Upward Paul Kealy Fred Willis Mister Todd

Item Zoom H4 Conn 650 A/V Gear Office

Description Recorder Organ Studio Residence

These most kind and generous folks have earned memberships in the Walnut Hill Organ Club and will be notified of their membership status when the club goes official. We have decided to push forward with the organization while awaiting an ATOS charter. We will post our progress in the Gazette during the fledgeling phase of this project.

The first thing to do is find ten ATOS members who want the charter. When the chapter is official and viable as a public entity, Club members will receive printed certificates and membership cards, plus access to the WHOC online community via direct email notifications. This is just a small token of appreciation for all who are making the Walnut Hill website possible and freely available for the world to enjoy.

Funds received to date: $1,710.00

There are other pledges pending. Anyone can contribute as much or as little as they see fit by clicking the "Make a Donation" button above. 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.

All contributors will get recognized at the site should they choose, or they can remain anonymous, simply by letting the Bone Doctor know their preferences via email.

This is a major move forward for Walnut Hill Productions, one of the fastest growing TPO sites on the internet. Become a part of history by making your donation today. Please help us to continue the work we are doing as we continue to grow, adding new features and more services such as broadcasting audio and video for all to enjoy. You'll be glad you did.

We are thanking you in advance for your generosity and support in this grand endevour.

• 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

Download MidiTzer Version 0.88

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.

1. The Bone Doctor - Higher Ground
2. Tom Hoehn - Crazy
3. Gerhard Kletchowitz - Little Orphan Annie
4. Frank Vanaman - The One I Love