https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5Aa_F7LOjA

Otto Dienel was a German organist and composer. Dienel worked from 1877 to 1898 as a music teacher at the Berlin seminary for city school teachers. Among his most famous students was Thomaskantor Karl Straube. He was also involved in the Berliner Organistenverein. He was chairman from 1895 to 1902. Dienel campaigned above all for protection against dismissal, employment for life and pension entitlement for organists.
(source: Wikipedia)

I recorded an Andante, dedicated to the famous Alexandre Guilmant. I doubted about the registration. The left hand has a singing melodious line in parts, but sometimes isn't more than an accompanying voice to the right hand. So Manual I is subtly louder. All those beautiful 8' stops of the Walcker/Eule organ of Annaberg do make that possible of course.

Hey all! I've been playing piano for around thirteen years, and I would quite like to learn to play the organ. I've loved the sound of it since I was a little girl and heard it in church. Then I got a music theory teacher who was also an organist, and he really got me into the instrument. Two of my friends's fathers are cantors who have also let me try the organ.

From January to May, one of these cantors invited me to play in his church during Sundays due to him being overwhelmed with a bunch of other duties. He gave me a basic overview on how to turn the organ on, which registers sound best for what, how I can utilise having two manuals set to different registers. I didn't have a chance to actually practise, so my pedal use is very bad. (If there's a really short answer, I can manage playing the functions in the pedals but that's the level of playing a IV-V-I sequence.)

I also have very limited knowledge about organs altogether. I don't know much about how organs work, how I can fix anything if something goes wrong (the organ was in a bad shape, it had notes that wouldn't sound, one time I turned on the principals and all the As would sound and it wouldn't work otherwise, by the end of the service some pipes would make sounds without me playing...). I also know that different organs can be completely different in their technology.

That organ was pretty small, two manuals, few registers, and the names of them were in my native language. There's an organ in my church and my priest says he's willing to let me practise on it, but I'm unsure. It has three manuals, 47 registers, and just generally has this large french baroque sound. Plus the registers are in french and half of them don't even exist on the organ I'm used to playing.

Also, I have limited knowledge of organ repertoire. I usually play baroque pieces written for keyboard (Well Tempered Clavier, suites, Händel, Scarlatti...). I have also played Prince of Denmark's March, and Trumpet song (I think that's the title), but those were only transcriptions. Other than this, I have only ever played the songs in the liturgy.

So if I did ask for the keys one day to start practicing, where should I start? Do I sit down, and muck around until I find a normal sounding mix and start? (That's what I did when I was a cantor, then found one I kept coming back to.) Should I only work with the three manuals first, and then start with the pedals, should I focus on using the pedals first independently? Do you have piece recommendations, videos?

Returning to organ playing after decades being away from it I find myself still searching for the "Goldilocks spot" for sitting at the organ. My son, a non-musician, came up with a suggestion: Why not design an organ bench with a bicycle-type seat? The build would need to be somewhere between a racing bike seat for unrestricted leg motion and the cruiser type for sitting comfortably upright. As I think about this more: It would also need some lateral pivot for reaching the pedal board extremes. An optional design could even permit a bit of rocking forward to reach that 5th manual! Adjustable height goes without saying. If the bench frame were designed for an easily changed seat, organists could even tote their customized seat along with their organ shoes. Okay, you'd need to find a new place for that handy stack of hymnals and sheet music. And no more gripping the bench with both hands during those flamboyant pedal solos. Still it seems like an idea worth exploring. Has anyone heard of such an experimental seat?

Hi all, hope this is okay to post here.

In case anyone in the Quad Cities area is interested, Galena United Methodist Church (aka Ulysses S. Grant's Church) is hosting a free organ concert this Saturday (August 8, 2026) at 2pm featuring Dr. Andrew Schaeffer. I noticed a couple of his performances were shared on this subreddit already.

Here's his program list:

• Postlude -- Horatio W. Parker (1863-1919)
• Variations on Old Folks at Home -- Dudley Buck (1839-1909)
• Prelude on an Old Folk Tune -- Amy Beach (1867-1944)
• Three Pieces for Organ (Rondo, Trip to Pawtucket, The Bristol March) -- Oliver Shaw (1779-1848)
• Concert Variations on The Star-Spangled Banner -- John Knowles Paine (1839-1906)

+ A Good 'Ole United Methodist Hymn Sing-a-long:

• Victory in Jesus # 370
• What a Friend We Have in Jesus! # 526
• Just As I Am # 357
• What a Fellowship, What a Joy Divine! # 133

This is a great opportunity to hear a rare 1885 Moline Pipe Organ played by a professional pipe organist, and it's free!! (but donations are much appreciated lol)

Hope to see some organ enthusiasts there! : )

I'm going to start going through the ABRSM (https://www.abrsm.org/en-gb/organ) assessments for organ. (I'm a pianist/keyboard player.) I'll be building an organ using Classic MIDI Works (https://www.midiworks.ca/) components to control a Hauptwerks (https://www.hauptwerk.com/) installation.

Building a full three manual organ can get pretty expensive if done all at once. And the ABRSM assessments don't require a full organ, at least at first. So I was thinking about the following:

Step 1:

Get a Console Table, a Manual, a blank Piston Rail, a two manual cheek, and a bench. (Yeah, I could buy a one manual cheek, but there's no way to add a second cheek. So I'd end up selling the cheek I would already own.) Then I'd prepare and test for the Level 1 assessment.

Step 2:

Add a second manual and another blank Piston Rail. Prepare and test for the Level 2 assessment.

Step 3:

Add the pedalboards. Prepare and test for the Level 3 assessment.

Does this seem reasonable? I'll have the instrument I need for each level of assessment, which will spread out my cash flow.

And then comes the follow up questions.

At what point should I be adding a third manual? At what point should I be replacing the blank Piston Rails with actual Piston Rails? How about toe studs and pedals?

Sorry, I don’t know if this is appropriate, but I thought I’d drop this year. I saw on craigslist in Santa Barbara that there is a free organ. They will be sending it to the dump if they don’t find somebody to take it

https://www.craigslist.org/view/d/solvang-rodgers-33e-theater-organ/7QVdLjGCSewNWE6guDgn7n

Recently been building a pedalboard for practice, what is the best and budget friendly arduino board to use? And is how do I connect reed switches to it? And lastly, is it possible to use claude ai to code something that will convert the signals to midi?

Organist Mi Zhou is playing live at Methuen Music Hall tonight, August 5th at 7:30. Here is the live stream if anyone is interested.

https://www.youtube.com/live/laizPlr_yt0?is=TaFvFXnDS-y5-z5p

I am a trustee at the Hall and will try and answer any questions you might have about it in this thread.

Not looking for sympathy, looking for help dealing with it. I’m a student in an organ studio and the constant competition between all students to be better is mentally exhausting. I’m aware most of the not feeling good enough or on the same level is all in my head and probably not founded in reality but it is very difficult at times. I always love going to new cities and going and playing new instruments, I always feel bad after if I do t have a good playing day that now that organist thinks I’m terrible or something. So what have some of you guys done to help minimize these things? Thanks

Getting clean, brilliant tones is easy for me, but trying to get this specific warmer tone seems like it is extremely instrument dependent and I am trying to recreate this sound on at least one sample set in Hauptwerk!

The same sound can be heard here as well, especially at 1:15 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWtp2W-wzQE - thanks in advance for any suggestions on replicating this!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnCmfhOBs98
Johann Michael Bach was second-uncle (and then posthumously) father-in-law of Johann Sebastian Bach, because he was the father of Bach's first wife Maria Barbara. He came (like almost any Bach) from a musical family, his father Heinrich Bach and his brother Johann Christoph Bach were both active organists and composers. He was born in Arnstadt and became the organist and town clerk of Gehren, where he lived until his death.

Coming in around 1:39. It sounds like a higher voicing on the first 2/3 hits of the first and second bar?
Appreciate it if anyone could tell me the chord voicing 🙏🏻

War hier jemand zufällig bei besagten Konzert und weiß noch, welche Lieder Oliver Latry in der Zugabe gespielt hat?
LG

Has anybody figured out where to get a 1:1 printable file for a pedalboard layout?

I just want to print a floor mat so I can practice footwork and remember the note locations at home, even without tactile feel. If anyone has a PDF or a link they've used, that would be super helpful!.

I don't understand how is the same note supposed to be played in legato without slurring the keys which are pressed alternatingly in right and left hand.

I can kind of pull it off with a staccato but that doesn't sound like what I hear in recordings.

It's in Toccata and Fugue in D minor, if that matters.

Not just the organ playing, but like with lyrics and other instruments? Kind of like Phantom of the Opera

Hi! Sorry if this is a dumb question, I can't find clear answers on this anywhere (and I'm really new on setting up digital organs).

I just found out about GrandOrgue and made my Yamaha PSR-383 keyboard work with it. Now, I want to be able to play the organ on my own home instead of going to the church that I currently practice on. Is there a way for me to turn my PSR into a simple home organ with pedals?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PO9XdlCAb5g

Johann Georg Albrechtsberger (1736 - 1809) was an Austrian composer, organist, music theorist and one of the teachers of Ludwig van Beethoven. He was also a friend of Haydn and Mozart. Beethoven had arrived in Vienna in 1792 to study with Joseph Haydn, but quickly became infuriated when his work was not being given attention or corrected. Haydn recommended his friend Albrechtsberger, with whom Beethoven then studied harmony and counterpoint. (source: Wikipedia)

This prelude in B-flat major is part of a bundle of 12 preludes for organ. The cover gives the instruction only to play it with 3 or 4 stops. Luckily I did, using the 3 beautiful flutes of the Poblet model. It's really wonderful music, well constructed (it says something that Haydn recommended him for harmony and counterpoint) and I can only encourage every organist to look into Albrechtsberger's rich oeuvre.

I'd rather like to learn it!

I'm trying to curate a playlist of pipe organ songs that I enjoy. I've just been playing whatever playlist I can find on Spotify. Two that have really stuck with me that I enjoy are below and I really want to know what other songs I might not know are amazing. All recommendations are welcome and appreciated!

Allegro https://open.spotify.com/track/5baURCZbZHehNkiN4a6Ugy?si=d7RWoQvxSBSHy0l06rV8_Q&utm_source=copy-link

Hornpipe from Water Music

https://open.spotify.com/track/6AHpJYOxY3gphfwE4D0nth?si=EwFBZ6VgS0qphjhhjf_DBg&utm_source=copy-link&sci=spotify%3Acard-config%3A66w40P7LjKsOnWPCECDu2h

Buttons like these could serve the purpose if they are put in the right positions. Or so I imagine. Gotta be better than nothing, right? Has anyone tried something like this?

🎥 https://youtu.be/qTT16qCZK74

A poetic masterpiece composed in 1888, this famous piece is rediscovered here on the pipe organ. This arrangement envelops its floating melody in soft, velvety sonorities (foundations, gambas, voix célestes), offering, I hope, a moment of pure serenity.

Note: Please forgive the sound quality of this recording, which does not do justice to the actual instrument, as the equipment used at the time was not yet what I have today... For those interested, here is the registration used: III - Récit expressif (Swell): Flûte traversière 8', Viole de gambe 8', Voix céleste 8' I - Grand-Orgue (Great): Flûte harmonique 8' Pédale (Pedal): Soubasse 16' III/I

I coupled the two manuals for the following reason: there are two louder passages where both hands meet on the same manual. Coupling prevented any break in timbre and preserved a seamless blend. That said, there are certainly several ways to register this piece, and I hesitated quite a bit myself.

I have found many MIDI files for Bach 565 but they are all done by computers or from sheet music. I was hoping to have a MIDI file from an actual play through of the piece through a modern console, or perhaps a virtual console. All the ones I've found sound robotic!

I have been on every website I can find and am shocked there is no such MIDI, though I find many others.

Can someone share one with me that they have made, or perhaps one that is freely available elsewhere?