Listen To The 3/12 Grande Page
Theatre Pipe Organ

Tom Hoehn and the Bone Doctor were invited to visit Pipe Organ Paradise during a recent South Florida Organ Crawl.

Armed with a Dell laptop computer and plenty of recording gear, including a pair of Shure PG-48 microphones on boom stands hooked up to an Electrovoice/Dynacord 20 x 2 mixing desk, they sat about recording the 3/12 Grande Page Theatre Pipe Organ. The mics were on loan from Chaz Bender II at Glorybound Sound in Newport Ritchy, Florida.

The first thing to do was hook everything up. The Dell laptop PC was booted up and SoundForge was launched and placed in record mode. The mixer got the two mics on boom stands that were pointed at the chambers about six feet back from the Swell Shades.

The mics were panned hard left and right on the mixer with no EQ or added effects. The mixer fed its line-level stereo signal to an external Audigy USB soundcard going to the PC. It took about an hour to get things warmed up and ready to go.

1. Gershwin Medley
   Playing time = 10:55, file size = 10.00MB, bit rate = 128KB/sec.
2. Theme from Ice Castles
   Playing time = 6:54, file size = 6.37MB, bit rate = 128KB/sec.
3. Big City Medley
   Playing time = 12:42, file size = 11.70MB, bit rate = 128KB/sec.
4. Oklahoma Medley
   Playing time = 25:06, file size = 23.10MB, bit rate = 128KB/sec.

After everything was ready to go, Tom took the bench and proceded to take the 3/12 Grande Page Theatre Pipe Organ through her paces, using all the tonal flavors in this fine instrument.

The first recording attempt failed due to the virtual recorder not being engaged. Nonplussed, the boys from Walnut Hill forged ahead as Johnnie June Carter and Dennis Werkmeister listened in from the comfort of a really nice couch facing the stage.

The two men collectively recorded over ninety minutes of material, some of which we present below. Tom was the star of the show, with Doc doing the engineering.

The total playing time of all four of Tom's clips is 56:37, and the total file size is 51.17MB.

Track 1 - Gershwin Medley

1. I Got Rhythm
2. Embracable You
3. Crazy Rhythm
4. Fascinatin' Rhythm
5. Summertime
6. Lady Be Good

Track 2 - Theme from Ice Castles

Track 3 - Big City Medley

1. Chicago
2. My Kind Of Town
3. I Left My Heart In San Fransisco
4. New York, New York
5. Chicago (Reprise)

Track 4 - Oklahoma Medley

1. Oh, What A Beautiful Morning
2. Surrey With The Finge On Top
3. Kansas City
4. I Cain't Say No
5. Many A New Day
6. People Will Say We're In Love
7. Out Of My Dreams
8. Oklahoma

After Tom got done with his part of the session, there was still a bit of time left, so the Bone Doctor took the bench for some creative noodling. This is what he ended up with, a mini-show of stuff he has been working on.

The Grande Page has its quirks, like any Theatre Pipe Organ does, and Doc found 'em all. You'll notice some accidental Second Touches here and there, as First Touch is still a mystery to Doc when he plays this instrument, not having enough time to get used to it. Oh, but Doc had fun at this magnificent machine!

In this mini-show, you'll hear the following tunes:

1. Exerpt from Suite in G for Theatre Organ, First Movement
2. Exerpt from Suite in G for Theatre Organ, Second Movement
3. Exerpt from Every Knee Shall Bow
4. Exerpt from Saint Louis Blues
5. Exerpt from Wildwood Flower
6. Exerpts from The Flapper Medley
   • The Good Ole Summertime
   • Daisy (Bicycle Built For Two)
   • Let Me Call You Sweetheart

The Doc has thought about it after posting this little collection of songs:

These clips would go really well as soundtracks for some good old-fashoned black and white cartoons.