Tribute to America

[Tom]

The famous (Welsh) Treorchy Male Choir (4-part harmony) sings a medley of patriotic songs at the beginning of their American tour concerts:

https://fb.watch/rdGu_qhZly

 

[MN Blue Skies]

Thanks for sharing!

 

[Onyrlef]

That pipe organ reminds me of this true story: back years ago our quite huge church employed a professional organist who would come in during the afternoons to rehearse. Up on the third floor in the attic above the nave was a large room full of speakers ( most modern pipe organs don't really use the pipes, they're for show) and I mean full, which he'd carefully placed pointing in different directions and angles. Sometimes we'd go up there and turn one of the speakers to a different angle and then we'd watch as he showed up like clockwork and would start to play from his sheet music. Without fail, after a few minutes he'd jump up and stomp off to the third floor and return that one of 25 or so speakers to it's original position. Of course we mere mortals had no clue what he was hearing, but he was definitely tuned in to a different fequency than us.

 

[UTTransplant]

Tom, I loved the harmony of the choir. Thanks for posting. While many old “pipe organs” have now been converted to electronic organs with only show pipes due to the cost of maintenance, there are still true pipe organs out there. My church in Salt Lake City had one, and the organ always played after the service officially ended. We would sit in the choir loft with our backs to the wall feeling the organ. Very visceral. As for another amazing pipe organ story, look at the series of posts on the FB page of Dobson Pipe Organ Builders and follow the construction of a massive pipe organ in St. James Church, Sydney, Australia. It is a public page, and you don’t have to join FB to see it. The organ was built in Iowa then transported across the Pacific and installed in Sydney. They are still in the 3 month process of tuning and voicing the pipes.

 

[Tom]

While many old “pipe organs” have now been converted to electronic organs with only show pipes due to the cost of maintenance, there are still true pipe organs out there. My church in Salt Lake City had one, and the organ always played after the service officially ended. We would sit in the choir loft with our backs to the wall feeling the organ. Very visceral.

Here's a photo of me having my first close-up intro to a real pipe organ at our place of worship (I'm the little guy).

Some years later, in my youth at another place of worship, air for the pipes came from a manually-inflated bellows. Every Sunday and at weddings, I'd squeeze past the pipes to get 'around the back' and would "pump the organ" i.e. inflate the bellows. When I stopped 'pumping', the bellows would totally deflate. I couldn't pump during quiet periods such as prayers or sermons (too much noise). As we were about to play/sing the next hymn, the organist would rap on the side of the organ - my signal to jump up and pump hard and fast so there was sufficient air in the bellows when the organist hit the first note.

The sister church in the village had an electric pump to provide air for the organ. But the church wouldn't pay for 2 electric pumps in the village.

 

[Tom]

Most towns and villages in the olde country have similar choirs. Many of their songs/hymns are sung in the Welsh language.

 

[Tom]

The same choir sings the Star Spangled Banner quayside after a cruise around the bay:

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1395735121059198

 

[UTTransplant]

Tom, those gothic style churches have the best acoustics! The one in SLC was sometimes used for professional recordings. When the tall spaces fill with sounds you can feel it.

 

[Tom]

Tom, those gothic style churches have the best acoustics! The one in SLC was sometimes used for professional recordings. When the tall spaces fill with sounds you can feel it.

Regrettably, that church was demolished some years ago due to lack of maintenance (from lack of attendance and contributions). It's the one where I 'pumped the organ', not the one in the first pic where I sat at the organ.

I sometimes rang the bell in that belfry. Someone had modified the original so that, instead of swinging the bell against the hammer, you merely swung the hammer against the bell. A long walk up the stone steps, then 10 minutes of staying on the beat.