2018 Schoenstein Organ - St John's Episcopal Church, Tulsa, Oklahoma

[@Yaledmot]

Jack Bethards was a delight to work with. Now retired, he left a magnificent symphonic legacy. I had a church that wanted a recreation of a Murray Harris organ. Jack met their every demand with new and original MMH pipework. A wonderful instrument in Monterey, CA.

[@matthewhorton7374]

Wow the painting on the facade pipes is amazing

[@matthieubazile3350]

Very nice organ! Shoenstein has to be, perhaps, one of my favorite organ builders.

[@claysibert]

Their voicing is top notch. Absolutely beautiful instruments!

[@markaustin4370]

So nice to hear upperwork that relates to the foundations!

[@bobareebop]

Perfect acoustics and reverb in this room.

[@markcooke729]

With the pews filled, the acoustic will be far too dry to suit the organ sadly - organs need a good acoustic to allow it to 'bloom' - that's why they always sound better in a resonant building. A dry acoustic also shows up any flaws in the organist's performance, and even the best organists have "off days"!

[@stepheneggert7388]

What a nice pipe organ..sounds awesome..great craftsmanship..clean..alot of organ .. for a nice space...I enjoyed listening..as well..miss the church organ sounds that are real..ty for bringing this to the public..Brent..

[@louisglen1653]

A great organ for accompanying choirs, soloists and leading congregational singing!

[@markaustin4370]

The voicing is so on! Everything exactly on speech. Wow. If EMS was alive today I think he would be building organs like this.

[@praestant8]

Some might say over voiced. Its rather presumptuous to say that what Bethards (or rather his voicers) does is what Skinner would do.

[@DavidKrautscheid]

@@praestant8 then they never heard a really good voiced theatre organ. that beats everything in classical organs.no classical organ has ever voiced anbuilded pipes like midmer losh morton compron barton wurlitzer kimball especially kimball has made some of the best sounding pipes ever in the world but wurlitzer aswell but my top favourite is midmer losh cause the organ at atlantic city in the broadwalk hall is build like no other and its voiced like no other

[@Yaledmot]

I sent this post on to the friend who painted the facade pipes.

[@brandontuomikoski9282]

Very nice instrument. It would be amazing to see the Wanamaker or midmer losh organs featured some day!

[@jakedarmstadter6943]

Agreed

[@williamjeffrey40]

Beautiful pipe organ, with a stunning facade

[@jamespkuzman]

What a beautiful organ, and proof that providing an assortment of 8’ stops does not equate to a dull, boring sound. Clearly the organist not only deeply appreciates this instrument, but also understands the design and tonal philosophy and knows how to get the most out of it. Hearing and playing a Schoenstein is on my list.

[@claysibert]

Same for me. Playing a Schoenstein is on my bucket list, as well as a Ruffatti.

[@hautboisdamour2199]

Really nice instrument and presentation, thank you!

[@EElgar1857]

An interesting organ, and a fine demo!

[@05Forenza]

44:30 Jean Langlais has got to be my favorite composer of all time. The grandeur of the dissonance is spectacular.

[@alexandrusimo899]

Me seeing the pipes in the thumbnail: Woaaahh prettyyyy

[@stephenstich3565]

David Boysel of San Francisco, "the artist" mentioned, did a superb job!

[@jakedarmstadter6943]

Wow! I very very strongly recommend if you are ever in the Richmond Virginia area to go check out the Casavant at Richmonds First Baptist Church, folks there are very nice and they would surely let you record a video on their organ! Sadly the principal organist there just died but I’d be happy to show you around the organ!

[@mattheww2797]

Gorgeous sound, the 1960's organs are so brutal compared to this

[@StoreeDenson]

Wow. As a request can you do the Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help which is in Oklahoma.

[@kennypierson9760]

I've played it several times before. trust me, it's nothing special. screamey mixtures, buzzy, kazoo like reeds....

[@TheProsaicCult]

perfectly balanced. big is not always better. in this room 29 ranks is big enough.

[@cple1]

What about the Gallery organ?

[@georgejenista9487]

So what's the instrument up in the rear gallery??

[@bobh5087]

A great tour. But you forgot to demonstrate the Pedal Reed stops.... 🤔

[@OrganMediaFoundation]

We heard them all in the manuals. There were no independent pedal reeds.

[@bobh5087]

@@OrganMediaFoundation I knew that, as I'd had a look at the stoplist before watching the video. But we didn't get to *really hear them* in anything more than a very perfunctory, lightning-fast way. Thanks for your reply. It appears to be a beautifully-made, elegant-sounding instrument. 👍

[@praestant8]

No, Skinner did not place the independent pedal reed in a box. Borrowed pedal stops, which is entirely what this instrument consists of, doesn't count.

[@thebog11]

This instrument actually has two independent pedal ranks. I've looked at a few Schoenstein stoplists, and their pedal divisions do consist of a lot of borrows instead of a mostly independent division. It has two independent principal ranks that go down to 16', which is an interesting design choice on a 38 rank organ - I don't think I've ever seen that on an instrument of this size that wasn't early 20th century orchestral. Also two independent reed ranks that go down to 16' - this is not a large church, and I haven't watched the entire video, so I'm interested to see how much chamber space they have and how they fit the whole thing in there.

[@shiningarmor2838]

The "Color Wheel" is a really cool idea, I don't know why I haven't seen it before.

[@praestant8]

It is a gimmick.

[@shiningarmor2838]

Perhaps it is, but it is an enjoyable one.

[@thebog11]

@@praestant8 What do you mean?

[@pravoslavn]

Lovely church, altar and organ. Protect what you have been given from the next generation of "revisionists" who would come and desecrate and secularize the "worship space." Be Well, Cheers from Pennsylvania.

[@raynere4154]

Hi

[@gnomechild76]

Goodness me what a hideous facade

[@thebog11]

Many late 19th century American organs had facades like this. I actually think it blends with the colors of the sanctuary pretty well.

[@raynere4154]

Hi