Concordance Amongst Cacophony

The word cacophony is one of those Scrabble words that just came to my head the other day and wanted to include it into the title of this post. It is defined as a harsh discordance of sound; a disharmony. Opus 1 has generated a cacophony of sounds in many ways. From the noise of the saw blade, to the descriptive language when something goes wrong. However, there is concordance amongst cacophony as the completion of this grand project is in sight. It is so close, that you can faintly hear the choir of angels singing praise as the organ, itself, resounds in triumphant splendor!

Until then, you can see the choir of angels, as they are officially attached to the Oberwerk! Attaching them was more simple than expected. I believe I mentioned in the last post that I took a short dowel and cut a 30º angel at one end and a 60º angle at the other. The former would attached to the Oberwerk and the latter would attach to the back of the angel.

I used "sticky tac" to create a sort of ledge for the angle to rest while these pegs were gluing.They proved to be very effective.

Simple and elegant. These hand-carved Italian cherubs add a beautiful aesthetic touch to Opus 1, just as the many angels and statues do to the Müller organ at St. Bavo Church. With this, the principal components of Opus 1 are now complete! This includes the pedal division, the keydesk, Oberwerk and Hauptwerk. The last section is the Ruckpositiv and the shelf which will bring everything together.

Left Angels

Right Angels

When I went back to my notes about the Ruckpositiv, and with what I have learned after coming this far with the models construction, I decided to re-draw the Ruckpositiv in SolidWorks to make sure I have the correct dimensions for when I start cutting the stock. The solid model, in many cases at this point, did no reflect how I actually built Opus 1. This is due to the heavy learning curve as I went about building the model. Though no pictures, I started cutting some of the stock today.

Ruckpositiv seen without any molding or pipe shades.

Once completed, the Ruckpositiv will be attached to the shelf. This means that the shelf will become part of Opus 1. This was not the original plan. However, I think it will work better this way. I'm viewing the shelf as the"choir loft" and will be painted that white-ish marble color similar to, yup...you guessed it, the organ loft in St. Bavo church.

I still need to do a bit more research. I might be either staining the wood to set such a color or finding a paint and painting it. Either way, after taking a trip to the local hardware stores, I found some very nice corbel's to hold the shelf. There are two options. The first is rather simple, but effective. The second is a little more elaborate and will probably be the one I end up purchasing.

There is one more item amidst this concordant cacophony, and that is OPUS 2. Yes, I said it...and I still cannot believe I'm about to discuss a very possible Opus 2. I spoke of this once before. The idea stemmed from a request from my dad for a rock organ similar to a Hammond B3. The idea of such a rock organ then evolved to just a two manual organ with stops and a small case of pipes on either side.

Well, after sitting down at SolidWorks and adding my twist to it, Opus 2 will be a studio organ. When I call it a studio instrument, I speak of an organ your would find at a university for students to practice on. Take, for instance, the organs I had the pleasure of playing during my time at the University of Florida. (CLICK HERE and select the four different links under "University of Florida")

Isometric View

Front View

The entire model measures approximately 10.00in x 5.00in x 7.50in. A few differences with this model should be noted. First, the mouths of the pipes are all at the same level. Therefore, the length of the pipes are different. This means that there will be NO pipe shades. There will be molding at the top of the two large chambers on either side of the keydesk. The keydesk is comprised of two manuals and 18 stops. The stops will not be turned down. Rather, for sake of time, I found some rather ornate toothpicks that will do the trick.

What's really interesting about this model is the section of small pipes above the keydesk. From the front view, you can see an artistic design with the different lengths of the pipes. What you will also notice is that this model contains square pipes. These pipes represent wooden flute pipes, my favorite being the Gedeckt. I should be able to turn down a conical toe with each of these pipes. All of these small pipes will rest in a pipe rack.

So, there you have it! A concordance amongst cacophony. It is rather exciting to be at this stage of the model to say the least. I end with a video of Bach's St. John's Passion (BWV 245). First, we are in the liturgical season of Lent. Second, the music of Johann Sebastian Bach is utter perfection and sheer genius. When you enter into his music, it leaves you in pure ecstasy! The composer Franz Liszt so appropriately referred to Bach, whom he greatly revered, as, "the St. Thomas Aquinas of music." Third, I have been listening to this beautiful piece while writing this post. It's a long work, but I highly recommend listening to the piece in its entirety.

Until next time...