Welcome to the Walnut Hill Gazette. The month of February sees the site reaching over 78,525 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.

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 instruments to feature, being way behind on past feature completions and without submissions from any who are active at this site. When one is submitted for review, 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.

I 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
Webmaster/Executive Producer
Walnut Hill Productions
Lenoir City, Tennessee

On April 1st of 2009, the rest of the parts needed to finish rebuilding the Walnut Hill Productions main data server were ordered from Tiger Direct. These parts included two DVD burners, a power supply, a floppy cable and a special 27way flash/floppy combo drive. As I was waiting for the shipment, my dA page reached 25,000 visitors. Blessings and good karma be to all who enter. I can never thank you enough.

Server with service side shroud open.

It took a week to get the parts. The first order went to my old address in SoCal. After several phone calls, I was able to steer the parts toward Tennessee. They arrived on the 8th. The following day, I got down to the business of the final build.

View of motherboard area looking toward the back plane.

After all the parts were installed, the machine became somewhat cluttered inside. In this shot, we are looking straight at the inner workings. You can see the power cables in front of the signal cables to the right of the picture. These will have to be tydied up later.

View of motherboard area looking toward the media stack.

This machine has a lot of media devices. There are six IDE hard drives and two DVD burners plus that special floppy/flash drive and the Creative Labs SoundBlaster Live! drive. All the bays are full. There is still room for the two 1TB SATA drives for the RAID array that are slated to be added later, which will be installed in the drive cage in front of the power supply near the top of the tower.

Full view of tower with service side shroud open.

Stepping back, we get a full view of the internal workings of this massive machine. The power supply wires will definately need to be rerouted to get them out of the airflow. For now, getting the thing running is paramount. We can make her all pretty later after the tests on the OS are ran.

I was very anxious to get this computer running. Four months without a server was way too long and caused a back log of work that will take well into the summer months to resolve and catch up. I was looking forward to seeing all those blue LEDs light up.

Ready for business.

Here, you can see the tower buttoned up and ready to plug in. Even without power, the thing looks awesome. It is also quite heavy at around 70 pounds. Moving the machine requires the attachment of a fabric cargo strap. Picking it up with one's back would result in a swift visit to the chiropractor. Best to use one's knees and squat, then lift.

The stash drawer.

One of the really cool features of this tower is a stash drawer. This little compartment at the top of the media stack comes in handy for storing those little audio and mouse adapters, flash cards, and that lovely chamios provided by Thermaltake to keep the window clean.

Server installed and running.

Looking down at my desk, you can see the trusty old server installed and running. It took over four months to plan and obtain parts for the rebuild. Five hundred dollars later, here she is in all her newfound glory; big, black, and dangerous. The six hard drives can store over 1.25 terabytes of data. A DVD can be burned or copied twice in about fifteen minutes. Audio CDs burn in just under two minutes each.

The face of the beast.

A final shot of the server shows the front bezal where the media stack meets the world. From top to bottom, we have the stash drawer, two LiteOn 22X DVD burners, the floppy/flash drive, the Creative SoundBlaster Live! drive and the six IDE hard drives in two Antec 900 series cages cooled by three-speed 120mm fans set to LOW.

All tests went well and the machine ran flawlessly. Stay tuned as we show you part three of this story where the rig gets to go back to work making money making music.

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 78,525 happy campers in the Land of the King!

04/01/2009 - 78,084 04/02/2009 - 78,117 04/03/2009 - 78,133 04/04/2009 - 78,151 04/05/2009 - 78,182 04/06/2009 - 78,203 04/07/2009 - 78,224 04/08/2009 - 78,247 04/09/2009 - 78,263 04/10/2009 - 78,292

04/11/2009 - 78,328 04/12/2009 - 78,343 04/13/2009 - 78,361 04/14/2009 - 78,382 04/15/2009 - 78,405 04/16/2009 - 78,423 04/17/2009 - 78,441 04/18/2009 - 78,467 04/19/2009 - 78,488 04/20/2009 - 78,504

04/21/2009 - 78,528 04/22/2009 - 78,541 04/23/2009 - 78,559 04/24/2009 - 78,573 04/25/2009 - 78,596 04/26/2009 - 78,612 04/27/2009 - 78,624 04/28/2009 - 78,638 04/29/2009 - 78,652 04/30/2009 - 78,673

The 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 Åkersberga, 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.

As 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:

Richard Mogridge Walnut Hill Productions 9815 Fairview Road Lenoir City, Tennessee 37772

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.

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 once the move to Sweden is complete. 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 which must still undergo much planning. You can also check our club's page for more information. Click here to learn more.

Name David Irwin Charles Walls David Knudtson Frank Towle Jim Reid Charles Ekstrand Erika Laur Rosenback Bryan Patterson Frederick Muller William Spalding Cyrus Roton

Amount $ 75.00 $100.00 $ 25.00 $ 20.00 $ 50.00 $100.00 $100.00 $100.00 $ 50.00 $ 25.00 $500.00

Method PayPal PayPal PayPal PayPal PayPal PayPal PayPal Check Check PayPal Debit

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!

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.

• 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 0.881

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.

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