Boardwalk Hall organ- the Echo division

This is not a new video, I'm just making sure everything ends up on this channel. A tour of the Echo division of the Midmer-Losh organ at Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey.

[@andrewbarrett1537]

Yes, Welte loved to use free reeds in their reed pipes in their orchestrions and residence organs, such as for the trompet and clarinette ranks. Only in the very loud Brass Band orchestrion series (designed to be competitive with fairground organs) did they sometimes add a second rank of trumpets of more conventional design with pipe metal resonators and beating reeds, to the first rank of free-reed trumpets with brass resonators. These instruments are very rare today... there are only about 70-80 or so Welte automatic pipe organs (orchestrions, philharmonic organs etc) known to exist today.

[@andrewbarrett1537]

I've never heard of a Welte orchestrion with this kind of cardboard material for a pipe resonator. All those I've heard of or seen have brass, or sometimes wood, for the reed pipes. I don't know what all they installed in their Philharmonic and other residence organs though. Perhaps they made a few more of this type of rank for those.

[@andrewbarrett1537]

Some Welte organ sounds can be heard in the recording of this orchestrion here. You will also hear tower clocks ticking in the background of the video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rnq8p4FnrrZnrLc

[@bowlerrollercoaster]

The inside of a massive pipe organ is just fascinating!

[@Maxxarcade]

For any of these divisions that are currently offline, do any of the relay components still move if the stops were turned on by mistake? Or do they have separate power supplies that are turned off? I know the pneumatics won't move if the blower is not on, but it seems like the magnets might still get power at times? Also, the pressurized keyer relay rooms are still a bit of a mystery to me. Does a small magnet release the air in each leather pouch, which then allows the air pressure in the room itself to push them closed?

[@cnagorka]

That's a good question about the remote chambers and their keying rooms, I honestly don't know. Just because the windlines were cut doesn't mean that the wiring was cut. Of course when they come back on line someday it would all be solid-stated. I have a feeling the grounds are probably disconnected to keep magnets from trying to operate, but I don't know. And with regard to the other question, you have it right, each magnet opens a primary valve, which then exhausts the air in the note pneumatics which close from the air pressure in the room, and "make" the connections to make things play.

[@Maxxarcade]

@@cnagorka I wonder why they chose to use a pressurized room instead of just operating the pneumatics on vacuum? I know they wanted the relays to be as fast as possible though, so maybe that had something to do with it? It's still hard to believe the amount of work that went into building this organ.

[@cnagorka]

@@Maxxarcade Employing vacuum would have been even more horrifically complicated as it would require a separate vacuum supply, where they already had pressurized air to use anyway. I've never seen a vacuum operated organ relay, and just one vacuum operated pneumatic console (West Point)

[@bencerne2551]

When was the last time the Echo Chamber functioned or played?

[@cnagorka]

We don't know exactly but probably late 1950s- early 1960s

[@bencerne2551]

@@cnagorka Apparently the Echo chamber went dead not long after the Fanfare stopped functioning (That division was the first to go dead.)

[@cnagorka]

@@bencerne2551 when was that?

[@bencerne2551]

@@cnagorka Eric Dolch on the Boardwalk Hall organ fan page said that the Fanfare Division stopped working sometime in the 1950s and not long after that, the Echo division went dead, so probably the late 50s.

[@anb7408]

Holy cow, I thought the Fanfare division was in bad shape. The poor Echo is even worse. Beyond sad.

[@LeeBlaske]

Can those large, water-damaged pipes with cracks be eventually repaired, or does all of that wood need to be replaced?

[@chrisnagorka5199]

Most of those could be repaired.

[@EElgar1857]

Very interesting; thank you!

[@Rezyon]

Thank you so much for these videos!

[@chrisnagorka5199]

Glad people like them. I plan to go back to AC in October or November and make some more.

[@frantisekignacdolihal6910]

Thank you! Is there also some tuning keyboard as it is on the other side of hall in Fanfare chamber?

[@chrisnagorka5199]

Yes there is. Most of the remote chambers have their own little tuning keyboards.

[@frantisekignacdolihal6910]

@@chrisnagorka5199 thank you, if only I could stay at US as working holiday helping at Midmer-Losh...

[@Empire526]

And I thought the organ in my church was in bad shape.

[@juliangerardcascio1111]

Wow We 🎹, hope it's at full Power soon as possible !!😮!!

[@accousticdecay]

Thanks for the interesting video; it was a splendid, vicarious experience.

[@vinzramirez7011]

That glove creeped me out a bit lmao

[@andyt1424]

Were there any recordings of the organ done when the echo and fanfare chambers were working?

[@cnagorka]

Not that we're aware of.

[@mitchellscheffler9100]

Perhaps this video showed them and my eyes missed it, but where are the chimes of the echo division?

[@cnagorka]

Freeze the video at 5:15 and you can see them in the shot, they're against the wall with the Bourdons with the fallen stoppers. I didn't think to climb up there and show them by themselves.

[@mitchellscheffler9100]

@@cnagorkaAh, back in the corner. Thanks!

[@spencerhauck690]

Is there any plans to restore any of this in the future?

[@cnagorka]

Yes but not any time soon.

[@sigglass2183]

Any update on this chamber yet?