Cathedral of St. John the Divine Organ Demonstration

[@chrisholley2954]

Those 32’ reed stops are so Majestic ! They PROCLAIM extremely well

[@joshuaschaeffer8327]

That 16' Ophicleide on 17" wind at the 5:07 mark is a beast.

[@shirley922]

It shakes your entire chest. You can actually feel it.

[@michaelbell8834]

I believe it's an extension of the Skinner tuba mirabilis.

[@topper2142]

Wow! That is really something! I’d love to hear and feel that in person.

[@aurahalo9]

Better sound than ive heard in most videos of this organ. Thanks.

[@t.p.ggaming3884]

The sound of that 32' Contrebombarde is second only to the one of St.Ouen in my honest opinion.

[@SamCherubin]

Aeolian Skinner voiced that particular reed on 10" of wind and is an extension of the 16' Bombarde in the floating Bombarde division. They're also metal resonators which give them a more powerful tone, much like the one at St. Ouen.

[@t.p.ggaming3884]

Ahh i figured, However i also noticed, As having played the Cavaillé-Coll at St. Ouen, It has a more powerful tone than the Aeolian Skinner, But has alot more overtone, Meaning that it sounds more powerful, But doesn't quite reach down as far as the Skinner, This being apparent with the low C's of both stops.

[@SamCherubin]

That's interesting that Cavaille Coll would've added overtones to the 32' Bombarde, I thought he just voiced it perfectly without compromising harmonics and tone quality.

[@t.p.ggaming3884]

I was quite surprised by that, But then the music director of the Abbey told me that the Organ needs maintenence, He said that the low C is not running on the full 20" of wind pressure, Which would explain why it sounds almost a sharp note.

[@SamCherubin]

I'm not surprised the organ needs maintenance....20" of wind is a lot for an organ like Cavaille-Coll, it must have been necessary because of the incredible acoustics of the Abbey and the shear size of the instrument.

[@SamCherubin]

The lowest octave of the 32' Contre Ophicleide is disconnected due to the instability of the pipes (The organ curator told me that they are leaning against the wall and are not stable enough to speak.)

[@SamCherubin]

I have no idea what's going to happen with it. It's a very powerful stop and would fit it very well there. I'll ask Doug Hunt, the organ curator, about it.

[@edwardpotasznyk1691]

a lot of large organs use digital stops as a replacement

[@multimapping8303]

Man would I adore to hear the lowest octave of the ophicleide. Does anyone know a recording on the internet of an actual lowest octave 32' ophicleide?

[@bastiendelagneau7401]

so yes ! Its an american pipe organ ! totally !!! very american skinner sound !

[@bombarde1701a]

This organ has terrible luck. After a restoration that took almost a decade, it was silenced by another fire and has been out since 2019. Again.

[@berkburk8598]

Too much reverb, too much background noise... microphones should have been placed much closer to the organ.

[@brucetominello325]

The reverb isn’t going away.

[@charlottegruen5315]

The organ has pipes in the front door, back and center of the massive cathedral. The reverb in this video sounds similar to the echo in the cathedral.