THE ORGANS IN PORTORA, WALLACE & LARNE

These 3 Organs share a common thread.  They are all variations on the same theme.  The Portora and the Wallace organs were designed at the same time, and as such, as much as possible was made common to both.  Both organists wanted 3 manual instruments but could not afford new 3 manual consoles. Both School Choirs drew the bulk of their repertoire from the mainstream Anglican anthems and service music.  Thus both jobs were rebuilds of the existing 2 manual consoles.

This gave rise to limiting factors for each instrument however, and so Portora was ultimately limited by the console width - the maximum number of tabs possible are stretched right across the console with no gaps.  Wallace was limited by the fact that we had to use the existing 41 drawstop units in their original grouping and layout.  In order to make a reasonable size of scheme, the couplers were put on lighted tabs under the music desk, and then the decision was made to have a large Solo and a small Great rather than vice-versa.  Because of this, the Greats on both organs consist of principal chorus stops and the necessary 8 & 4 flutes.

The floating Solo division gives all the colour possibilities of a 3 manual with a little extra registrational planning, and it means that for instance the Tuba does not have to be compromised to act as a Great Reed, and indeed on all 3 instruments the tuba will stand accompaniment on Great to Full mixture with Full Swell coupled - real Cathedral stuff!!.  The 8' flute can thus be finished as a solo flute, which is much more musical than compromising the Great Stopped Diapason to try and be a solo stop as well!!  The only drawback was that we could not enclose the solo in either Portora or Wallace. 

The Larne job was different.  There were not as many constraints because it was a new instrument, although the space designated for the organ meant that we could not go for a large 3 manual console.  So once again the same arrangement was deployed in principle, although this time the Great reeds remained on the Great.  The Great Trombone is big and fat to give a fullness to the treble end.  Both Great reeds are English in outlook whereas the Swell reeds are French.  A new Harmonic flute was added to the Great in order to make a better attempt at the French "fonds" type of sound.  A small 16' Pedal reed was added so that the Contrapuntal Boroque repertoire could be better served.  The 6 rank Pedal mixture means that manual couplers are not necessary at all for this type of music.  

The original pipe organ was housed in divided cases each side of the chancel, and so the new digital organ was similarly arranged, with the speakers for Pedal and Great organs in the left hand case, and the Swell and Solo Speakers in the right hand case. In all three organs, one of the speakers goes right down to 16Hz for the lowest notes of the 32' flue.  Because the name of the game for these low notes is moving vast quantities of air, the speakers are pretty huge and can not be easily hidden.  We were fortunate in Larne because there was a 16' Open Metal which formed the case front pipes on both sides.  This made the bass speaker easier to hide.  In the two schools however, the speakers are in full view, but are finished to blend as best they can with their surroundings.  In Portora the bass speaker is finished in beech and forms an extension to a radiator housing.  In Wallace, the speaker is up among the steelwork which supports the roof of the hall.

These 3 Organs do justice to a large proportion of the repertoire, as well as lead worship in all three establishments.  This I believe to be important.  The primary reason for an organ - certainly in a church situation - is to lead singing, and it must do this well first.  Repertoire considerations are secondary,  but are nevertheless important if the players are to be inspired and kept active by learning new pieces that their organ is capable of.  In addition to this the school organs have the "excitment factor" which seems to draw teenagers to the organ in the first place.  This is perhaps most important of all, and must surely be seen as an investment for BOTH the pipe organ and its digital counterpart !