Los Angeles herald., 1906-08-26

/
the interior of a great pipe organ. To
stand In a comfortably sized room
and breathe air which you realize may
some day come forth laden with mel
ody-llving, as It were, in a musical
atmosphere--is an experience rather
unusual, to say the least.
| The magnificent new pipe organ now
being installed by the Auditorium COM
pany In its new building furnishes such
an opportunity to one acquainted with
"the powers"
When completed the organ viii be
another one OF the sights of California.
The new instrument will equal in size
the greatest crglns cf the ry,
andt In tone qua ity viii rank as Il
leader. Even the hitherto in, ompar-
able organ In the great temple at Salt
! Lake City VIII in no way surpass the
= Los Angeles instrument, either in size
or beauty OF tone. 1t wi have l05
stops. counting couplers, seventy-elght
of which will be speaking stops.
Rivals Mormon TabernaeIe's
And apropos of Utah, the wonderful
acoustic properties Of the Mormon tab
ernacle may find rival i'm the aldto-
rum being constructed on Fif II and
Olive streets.
The acoustics In building are often
a matter of uncertainty. The architect
|
the acoustics frequently prove an utter
! disappointment. But in this building,
which G. r. Harris planned, such is
not the case.
The noise of the busy workmen
makes it difficult to Judge of the tull
powers of the new structure; but IN
spite of the fact that the great oval
hall Is in an unfinished state, and the
interior is a veritable forest oe scat
| folding, a faint whisper can be heard
a kLndred feet away.
But to return to the organ. One
Chambers up dimly lighted little back
stol1way, where only the elect are per-
lnItted to tread, and after ascending
three flights of stairs he finds himself
before a narrow doorway. He 'toops
slightly to enter and finds tl1at he is
in the interior of the great organ.
Solo Chamber
The first room is rather small-six
feet long and five feet wide. This is
the solo chamber, from which the reeds
and solo pipes proceed. Where the
boar d5 of the wall are Joined together
rul Ter strips are placed along the
| JCintC to make the place airIighr.
| large pipe leading from the bellows in
the basement up to the room keeps the
apartment full of air at a pressure Of
| fifteen inches.
| overhead OHe HOLlCeS COuuIleSS WHeS
and small apertures, the latter ranging
| in size from half an inch to almost
| three inches. Over each one a little
| piece of rubber fits snugly on a hinge
and to each of these little rubber doors
an electric magnet Is connected, while
wires run from this to the keyboard Of
the organ several hundred feet away,
| When the organist presses down one
Of the keys, the current is commune
| n rIIhhPl This
opens and permits the compressed air
| In the chamber to rush up into the
pipe above, producing the note to
which the pipe is attuned.
The orchestral chamber adjoins the
first, and is much larger, being the
size of an ordinary living room. The
air in this chamber Is under a pres
sure of five inches. In all, four such
chambers will be needed to furnish the
necessary amount of air and room for
the many stops.
Easily Repaired
One advantage in this style of organ
construction is that any break or flaw
in the mechanism can be repaired
even while the organist is playing
The builder enters one of the cham
bers and without interfering with the
performer attends to a defective stop
while the Others are being played.
The chimes will be another feature
of the organ. These will be among the
finest in the country. By placing them
in swell box. 1T will be possible for
the organist to make them seem miles
away, and gradually bring them nearer
| till they sound as If proceeding from a
bell tower in the building.
But for those who expect to see mag
nflcent pipes towering to the vaulted
dome, as in continental cathedrals, this
/ L.. A4 Il Ne4Ef aak
pointment. All the pipes will be con-
cealed, and only the openings from
which the sound issues will be visible.
Large swell boxes on each side of the
great stage will contain most Of the
pipes, and nothing but the screen
across the front of the boxes will be
apparent to the widely diverse audi
throughout the week and on Sundays.
Serves Double Capacity
The auditorium organ will serve in a
double capacity.
On Sunday 1t will be used in the
services of Rev. Robert J. Burdettes
Temple Baptist church, but during the
week it's services will be in demand
for lectures, entertainments and any
other aft airs given in the main audi
| torium.
, In addition to this, 1t is the inten-
tion of the Auditorium company to
give a series of orchestral organ re-
citals with Professor Bruce Gordon
Kingsley at the organ. Plans are being
made to have Mrs Robert L. Smith
assist at these concerts with vocal Sc
lections from high class opera.
Professor Bruce Gordon Kingsley,
whom both the Temple church and the
Auditorium company have secured to
play the new organ, is an English mu-
sician whose fame in London is being
rapidly eclipsed by his work in this
country.
Its Talented Player