The organ
Here is a quick tour of the organ, starting at the top and moving towards the bottom.
This part of the gallery is really for organ buffs, as they'll understand the lingo! If you're not one of these strange breed of creatures however, I hope you find this gallery interesting.
This gallery was taken in several sessions.
Where the wind is raised
A view from the back of the Swell. The ladder you see leads up to the upper level - yes the Swell has two different floors! The Choir-Orchestral and Solo are also built on two levels.
Looking down between the Pedal 32' Ophicleide (left) and the Pedal Open I/Principal unit.
An aerial view of the Great flue section, showing the front two of three different soundboard pairs.
The Great flue division again, showing a good part of the C# side.
The back of the foot of bottom C on the Great Contra Violone. To put it in perspective, the foot alone is taller than most people.
Further up this pipe, and it's two neighbours!
The front of the Great flue division looking down to the unenclosed Choir division.
This is bottom C of the Pedal Double Open Wood...
...and its rather large mouth.
A rather frightening looking action that controls the C# side of the Pedal Double Open Wood.
The bellows which handle the wind for the Great flues.
The organ has to be controlled somehow. Featured here is the "capture system". This can remember an organists piston combinations.
You can see the power supplies for the console and its immediate area in the foreground here. In the background is a system to multiplex the information from the console, and feed it to the various parts of the organ.
The tower with bottom C of the Pedal Double Open Diapason in it (yes - the case has two 32' stops on it!) This was a hand-held shot without flash.
To supply enough wind to this instrument when it's being played "flat out" needs a lot of energy. The total power of all the blowers comes to a remarkable 62 horsepower! That's 6x10 HP motors, and 1x2 HP. This roughly equates to 46 ½ kW! That makes the "leccy" meter spin pretty fast!
The rather amusing looking machine in the foreground is the humidifier blower. This is as large as some parish Church organ blowers!
A general view of the blower room.
Looking along four of the main blowers (the one at the back has been temporarily dismantled.)
It's not a good idea to start all the motors together as their starting current is quite large even singly. The equipment here staggers the motor start times to be 10 seconds apart. It gradually runs each motor up to full speed too.
The Solo/Bombard division seen from the back of the Solo box. A vertical shot without flash...
...and a horizontal shot using flash.
A shot looking from the front of the Solo division, just inside the access door.
Looking between two shutters of the orchestral. The lower level can be seen here, with the 16' Clarinet in the background.
The C# side of the orchestral upper level.
Some of the C# side of the Great reeds, viewed from behind.
A large part of the Great reed division, viewed from just behind some of the front pipes.
The Solo Tubas. One of the loudest parts of the organ. These are situated in front of the Great reeds, and operate on 31" WP!
Looking though the Pedal Violone basses at the top of the case into the auditorium.
The unenclosed Choir division, peeping in through the access door.
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