Scott Breiner AC Boardwalk Hall Organ Recital Sept 21, 2017

[@michaelherring1944]

For information on volunteering or donating to the organ's restoration, click on the icon that appears on the screen or visit www.boardwalkorgans.org For information on how your donation will be handled by KZbin, click here: support.google.com/youtube/?p=donate_FAQ

[@mfp15rrh]

Awsome awsome

[@srfurley]

What happened to the five manual second console? Does it still exist, and if so are there plans to return it to use once the restoration of the organ is complete?

[@JIMD6370]

@Michael Herring, he us d the G.O. on the first song here too.

[@JIMD6370]

@@srfurley yes, they still have it, and plan to restore it, as they'll use it while the7 manual is being rebuilt.

[@ChristianWillis]

Hearing this magnificent instrument in person is on my bucket list!

[@bgem5856]

No words. The acoustics sound like none other. This organ by far has the best and most unique sounds of any. A treasure, I hope to make it there to see it one day. Was watching this with a friend and he could not believe how wonderful the sound was coming from a phone recording and wondered how magnificent this must sound in person!

[@michaelherring1944]

And it was only functioning at about 35% when I made these recordings. I've said it many times - hearing this organ in person is like a religious experience, almost as if the voice of God is washing over you!

[@bgem5856]

Michael Herring Thank you for uploading these. I have been following this organ for over 10 years now. I must make plans to make the journey this summer!

[@johnhuitt3135]

I am so thankful that this mighty organ is being restored and saved for future generations of pipe organ lovers!!!!!

[@crockette.t7977]

Not just pipe organ lovers but for people of all persuasions. likely to stir the soul of every man woman and child.

[@kiqw]

I am so happy that this is happening. I am 79 now and if I live long enough 2023 Atlantic City could be on my bucket list.

[@michaelherring1944]

Good to hear that! And you'll be glad to hear the organ. Currently, even at only 35-40%, the sound is magnificent!

[@Tchristman100]

Just to show you the power difference-In Los Angeles is the First Congregational Church with the second largest church pipe organ with over 23,000 pipes. I went on an organ crawl and asked the engineer how much blower horsepower they had-he said about 35 hp-which is a lot of air. In comparison, the Boardwalk with it's over 32,000 pipes has around 600 hp of blower power!

[@JIMD6370]

@tim, the second largest is the Wanamaker in Philly, with almost 25,000 pipes. Oh, and the horsepower at this time was 640hp, for five blowers.

[@ChrisPlaola]

The organ sounds amazing, especially the strings!

[@neimrxcharix574]

Well said. This organ has the best string sounding pipes that I’ve heard irl or on the internet

[@michaeltreadwell777]

It's on my 'bucket list' to go and hear this organ - and hopefully sit right where the camera is - I'd die a happy man :-)

[@Maxxarcade]

It still blows my mind that they were able to bring that left stage chamber back to life after the relay was removed. The modern electronic relay in the chamber eliminates miles of wire, but it's still a ton of magnets to hook up to the boards. Getting the combination action running with the new electronics will be a huge step forward in the playability of the organ. And hopefully it won't get damaged that badly ever again!

[@michaelherring1944]

As magnificent as the organ is now, just imagine how incredible it will be when completely restored. I bet many of the best organists in the world will be dreaming of playing it and making recordings of it.

[@JIMD6370]

​@@michaelherring1944 listening again, and amazing how flat it falls at the end of the first song as compared to now.

[@ethanpetersen845]

Beautiful

[@Blahbevava]

Ok that's it...I need to take a flight out there!

[@michaelherring1944]

Please do - you'll never regret it and you may end up returning many times. I myself have never much cared for any organ, per se. I was fascinated by the mechanics of the ML and the restoration. But now that I've heard it? It was like the voice of God hit my gut when I sat in the Hall and that wall of sound washed over me. You won't regret the trip and maybe you'll even stay and work on the organ as a volunteer - I did.

[@buzzbrayable]

It's worth it to hear this wonder of the world! You'll never feel the same way about pipe organs! This instrument lifts your soul as you hear the full spectrum of sound coming at you from every direction. I was deeply moved by a concert Glenn Rodgers played in early September, threw a bunch of money into the donation box, and immediately planned my next visit.

[@RipsNordic7]

I'm going to when it's 100% fully restored

[@matchupaul93]

I’ve gotta go hear this monster!

[@A_Bit_of_Thought]

It is worth the trip. The sound is mind boggling!

[@SaveKilgenOKC]

A nice place for sure and they are currently remodeling the foyer. I'm not aware of any official word for the abandoned Taj Mahal next door. And there is kind of a dead mall on a pier that is connected to Bally's. Kind of depressing walking through it until you reach the observation level where there are a lot of seats you can just sit and watch the surf come in and also catch a sunset.

[@crockette.t7977]

Such soul stirring sounds!! Emotions come to the surface just hearing through good quality headphones. Having experienced the sound of the Grand Organ ( 10, 000 pipes) in the Melbourne Town Hall in Australia I can only imaging the power this one could muster when fully restored and played with gusto. One doesn't just hear a pipe organ, one feels a pipe organs full range with there whole body and this may well be why they stir such emotions. Love it.

[@charleskesner1302]

Wonderful thanks for sharing.

[@dregenius]

If those speakers hanging from the scaffolding had feelings... how hopelessly inadequate would they feel? 😂😂😂

[@grunt98444]

One wonders how much movement the drivers have at those sound pressure levels.

[@JIMD6370]

@@grunt98444 what do you mean by drivers? This is all air, no speakers involved

[@grunt98444]

@@JIMD6370 The "drivers" in the "speakers hanging from the scaffolding"

[@fluteharmonique8]

Great effort. Android always records in stereo now. Lovely.

[@mattrehmhext]

It's sounding really really really noticeably better! Hope it all continues to progress. Must be such a difficult task. Really interesting. I bet the chambers out in the roof are going to be very hard, but best of luck to them all.

[@topper2142]

Love it,especially how you turn the camera to our flag during the National Anthem. Thanks for making all these videos for us!

[@michaelherring1944]

You're welcome! You should hear the organ LIVE - it's almost a religious experience! LOL

[@kenross3374]

I also noticed the crowd singing the National Anthem while the organ was playing it - love it.

[@topper2142]

I got my 25 year old nephew into Pipe Organs and he recently mentioned we should drive from California to New Jersey to witness this grand organ in person,I would LOVE to hear her in person!

[@michaeltreadwell777]

I'm English, but LOVE your National Anthem and Patriotism :-)

[@archdukeofsynth]

Those strings, holy crap.

[@richardwilliamjohnson8566]

synthbaron I would so love to hear a decent recording of them, they sound amazing

[@KingdaToro]

And this is with only one of three string divisions working. Once all three are up and running, it'll rival the Wanamaker's legendary and enormous string division.

[@JIMD6370]

​@@KingdaToro I believe the string I, Ii, III will be all playable very, Very soon, as in next month, April 2023.😊

[@KingdaToro]

@@JIMD6370 Not even close, actually. String I is in the left stage chamber and is currently playable. String II is in the right forward, and that won't be started until both center chambers are done. String III is in one of the ceiling chambers, those will be done last.

[@JIMD6370]

@@KingdaToro well color me silly, got my pipes all mixed up. Ok, left/forward choir is almost completely up.

[@shalopez420]

Thank you for sharing this.

[@theremin137]

"And the crowd went wild." What a pity the turn-out for this glorious musical feast was so meager. The hall should have been packed!

[@michaelherring1944]

Some day it will happen. Currently, the noon concerts are informal affairs aimed at the tourists who happen by the Hall off the Boardwalk and the people who've come that day to volunteer and/or specifically hear the organ. Yesterday, the Hall posted two clips on Instagram from a spectacular noon concert performed by an English organist. Give it time - as more and more of the organ comes online, more and more people want to play it and hear it. Estimated completion date is sometime in 2023.

[@PeteKowalsky]

Magnificent!!!

[@jaredthomas6759]

This is so amazing! I wanna go see it!

[@michaelherring1944]

Come on down! All are welcome, but you might want to wait till the weather warms up a bit . . .

[@musicurio]

This video shows the wonderful progress that has been made since I had a go at playing it in 1989. Few people listening to this can imagine, I suspect, the untold hours that have gone into the project so far, and whatever our opinions about organ design, builders and designers the sounds that are in evidence in this video (just a few of the myriad combinations possible even with the degree of completeness of the restoration to date) are truly remarkable. What must it have been like in its hey day?! Would love to make a donation, but have yet to find a straight forward way to do this - despite reading the links below.

[@marc49lewis]

For being a hand-held phone recording, it was remarkable in quality (save a few sniffles & assorted hand noises.) Well done, Michael. The sound of this instrument is breathtaking to say the least. Let's hope that nothing untoward comes up to deter the continued restoration!

[@michaelherring1944]

LOL. Thanks! Jose was just offshore and I guess my allergies were acting up. I was pretty embarrassed when I heard the clips but, oh well, it's all about the organ, right?

[@amesavis]

omg what a sound

[@mrmaniac3]

This instrument has an almost unmatched variety when it comes to sound and tonal color. I imagine it has swell shades on top of that. This view of the auditorium reminds me of a video taken in the Chicago Stadium, recording Jack Moelmann on the Barton theatre organ. I know that, being a theatre organ, the Chicago Stadium Barton was fully (or almost fully) unified. What parts of the Boardwalk Hall organ are unified? I’m curious. What wonderful things these instruments are, and how absolutely irreplaceable they are as well. I hate that so many of them are tossed aside as junk. I hope that even the smallest chamber organs, or theatre organs, will be preserved. Each and every one of these pipe organs deserve the dignity that preservation brings.

[@michaelherring1944]

I'm not enough of an organ guru to answer your questions, but please join the "Fans of the Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall Organ" Facebook group and ask away! A great group of M-L lovers and always willing to teach and pass on knowledge of the Boardwalk Hall instruments.

[@supergayization]

Great job restoring this majestic instrument, Hope to hear it full in 2023

[@BenjaminEsposti]

Once this organ is working, the Trans Siberian Orchestra needs to do some shows there ... god, I'd go for sure!!!!

[@44samul]

this organ sounds so thiiiiiiccccc

[@AndieZ4U2]

P O W E R

[@kenross3374]

When he resolved the chord at the end of the Star-Spangled Banner, he hit the 64' stop in the bottom octave I'm pretty sure. Not easy to pick out in the wall of sound but it sounded like there was an extra layer of bass harmonics deeper than I've ever heard before.

[@richardwilliamjohnson8566]

Doubt it, not sure you'd really be able to pick it up anyway. Anyone know if they've got the 64' stop back online yet?

[@kenross3374]

The 64' stop is online. And you are correct in that the fundamental of 8Hz is basically impossible to reproduce - most microphones can't pick it up, no speakers I know of outside of a few high-end headphones can play it back, and the human ear can't hear it anyway. But he's playing the SSB in Bb which is 1 step below C. The 64' octave at Bb is only going to be about 35-40' in length, producing a fundamental at around 14-15 Hz, which is just inside the human ear's range. It would also be slightly lower than 32' 16Hz C that every other large organ - even Wanamaker in Philly - has as its long pipe, which explains why the 64' Bb pipe could be picked up and would be the deepest bass I've ever heard. Had he played the SSB in C or D concert, the single-digit bass those pipes sound at would be subsonic and I would only hear the harmonics.

[@JBridges1092]

i love it

[@johnbriscoe5932]

Okay...gotta see and hear this in person. And the Wanamaker in Philly. One trip, by train.

[@kenross3374]

That's my plan for 2023, though by car. Stop off in Philly to hear the Wanamaker, then Atlantic City to hear what this amazing instrument can do.

[@WoodymC]

An amazing wealth of sound -- while just being only one third of the possible range. Guess I'd have shed some tears during Debussy's Claire de lune, too.... I wonder whether the ACCHOS responsibles would ever let some "average guy" like me improvise on that monster for an afternoon. I may not very much be interested in travelling to the U.S. -- with that event and location being the one and only exception... Regardless of that day to come or not, please take my donation in order reach every organ lover's dream and restore that awesome piece of technology to what it was always intended to be: The sum of 100% of its playing pipes.

[@michaelherring1944]

Thank you for all the compliments! Yes, the organ is well worth a trip to the U.S. and Atlantic City is relatively close to many of the big Northeastern cities, so you'd have a lot you could see and do. The experience of sitting in Boardwalk Hall, once the largest free open space in the world, and hearing the wall of sound that surrounds you from the organ is almost - I said ALMOST - like a profound religious experience. You may never want to leave! And yes, they usually allow the public to play the organ whenever it's turned on. The two-hour-long Wednesday tour is mind-boggling, as well. There are also daily noon concerts followed by a brief tour of the organ during the tourist season. And thank you so much for any donation you make! The guys in the organ shop work very hard, day in and day out, to perform miracles of restoration for the big organ, and it's not cheap. You'd also be warmly welcomed as a volunteer to help make or repair parts of the organ during your visit - that's an awe-inspiring experience in and of itself. Come visit! I make the trip once a year from Texas and it's always a highlight of my life. Oh! And don't forget the Ballroom organ - one of the largest Kimballs ever made.

[@WoodymC]

Dear Michael, Thanks for the invitation -- sounds like a longer visit to plan... :-) The bad news is that I can't afford a "just for fun trip" ATM, so I'd like to save that costly flight and instead put it into a donation. Unfortunately, it looks like the HORC did not yet set up a payment option for PayPal users on their page... Please let me know if there is an official PP account for donations, since I decided not to have any credit card for privacy reasons. -- Thanks a lot -- and, indeed, I hope to be all part of the tour participants, volunteers and players one day! :-) Greetings from Germany, Woody/mC

[@michaelherring1944]

Yes, there is a payment plan if you'd like. Mine goes through PayPal twice a month. Scott D. Banks is the man to talk to. I will have him reply to your comment so the two of you can arrange to talk privately.

[@michaelherring1944]

Scott says he's in his office all day tomorrow. 609-402-9584 ext. 700 Thank you so much!

[@WoodymC]

Thanks Michael, that's a good idea. To simplify things, I'm filling in the contact form on the HORC web site right now, so might want to watch out for a German email address to respond to. ;-)

[@barnarus]

And that's ONE THIRD of it??? Holy Moly!!! Awesome sound!!! What is that first piece BTW??

[@michaelherring1944]

Hot off the press from Scott: Festal Procession by Nevin, Clair de Lune by Debussy, And I Love Her by Lennon & McCartney, Autumn in NY by Duke and Elite Syncopations by Joplin

[@georgehaas7292]

Anyone know where I can get this arrangement of Autumn in Ny? It is my favorite!

[@richardstoc]

On one video someone presented a pipe that was of unusual construction that was found in a plastic bucket on the stage of an organ miles away from boardwalk hall there was a presentation and recital on the video anyone know which one it might have been? Thanks

[@michaelherring1944]

I think you're talking about the Egyptian Bassoon in the Echo organ, made of papier mache and wood. The vid of that ceremony inaugurating the left stage chamber is somewhere on KZbin but I can't find it.

[@kmemeakakylemartinez6285]

Twenty one pilots gunna play here yasssss

[@danielr4640]

It use to be the Trump plaza. Wrestlemania 4 and 5 was held there

[@michaelherring1944]

No, Trump Plaza is next door and is scheduled to be torn down early this year. Trump did TRY to take over the Hall - God only knows what he would have done to it or with it - but he did not succeed in doing so. He did lease some of it for awhile. Harry Bellangy would know a lot more about that than I do.

[@danielr4640]

Michael Herring sorry to hear that. Trump plaza next door was a really nice place

[@curtisantram6977]

Hi Mr Herring, I was wondering if 'Festal Procession' by Nevin is publicly available? I've looked online but couldn't find it.

[@michaelherring1944]

I honestly couldn't tell you. It was just a selection played by Scott one afternoon. I'll ask him but he's notorious for not answering messages. I found the sheet music on Amazon, but no copies are available. The composer's full name is Gordon Balch Nevin. It was written in 1920 and published by Oliver Ditson Company. I would suggest you try eBay. It's amazing the stuff that they have.

[@michaelherring1944]

I found it! The American Guild of Organists website has a copy for sale for $3.00!!

[@curtisantram6977]

Wow thanks! Can you send a link please dear sir

[@michaelherring1944]

www.organlibrary.org/music-sales/music-sales-composers/

[@curtisantram6977]

Thanks so much Mr Herring.

[@robminnaert]

is there any schematic of the building that shows where the organ is located and integrated into the building?

[@michaelherring1944]

Not that I know of. The original blueprints are in the organ shop and I'll ask when I'm there in a few days. The organ components are literally scattered all over the Hall - the walls, ceilings, basements, stairwells, etc. - wherever the original builders could find a place to put them. However, if you look on Jack Woodward's page on FB or the "Fans of..." page, he did once post a pic of the Hall showing the location of all 8 chambers and the kiosk superimposed on a photo from a concert there. If I can figure out how to upload it to KZbin I'll find it for you.

[@michaelherring1944]

facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2798109830222542&set=a.374749689225247&type=3&theater

[@robminnaert]

Michael Herring impressive. Does it all blend well independent of where you're listening from, when it's all dispersed like that?

[@michaelherring1944]

It does way up in the top of the middle of the arena. I don't like the sound when sitting close to one of the chambers because that chamber you're close to seems louder than the other. There are only 2 chambers playing at the moment - the right stage and left stage chambers.

[@Parker6432]

Great sound, but wind is still "starving" under load.

[@michaelherring1944]

I wish you people would read the descriptions before you dog the M-L. This video is from 4 years ago. Wind is no longer "starving" under load now in the year 2021. Geez!

[@vflrockytop]

So which organ is actually bigger? This one or the Macy's organ in Philadelphia?

[@michaelherring1944]

The Midmer-Losh has more pipes and the Wanamaker has more ranks. Literally, they're both the biggest - just depends on how you want to measure that. However, the Guinness Book of World Records states that the Midmer-Losh is the biggest pipe organ in the world, that it has one of only two 64' pipes in the world, and that it has the world's loudest stop: the Grand Ophicleide at 135 decibels. There really is no competition between the two organs. Many of the same people contribute their time and expertise to both organs. And each organ was built in an entirely different type of place and intended for different purposes. So personally, I think of them both as the "biggest."

[@vflrockytop]

Michael Herring thank you for explaining. With this instrument fully functioning would you be able to listen to it without hearing protection? Even at its current state it sounds incredibly loud.

[@michaelherring1944]

Well, that's a good question. The hall was built to seat 41,000 and the human body absorbs a lot of sound, so the organ had to be LOUD. In its current configuration, the hall seats around 15,000, so we really won't know the sound absorption rate of 15,000 bodies in that room until the organ is complete once again. I can tell you positively that in a group of 30-35 or so the organ is incredibly LOUD and almost painful to the ears - almost - with only about 35% of it working when I was there this past September. They expect it to be at 50% by the end of the year. But remember, most of the swell shades are not working yet so most of the volume cannot be controlled as of yet. Also consider that maybe the larger, louder pipes are functioning but maybe not so many of the softer, quieter ones. All questions will be answered when the organ is complete and the crowds are bigger. In the meantime, yes, it is very loud but it's more like being in a loud discotheque where your heart is vibrating in your chest than just ear-splittingly loud.

[@vflrockytop]

Michael Herring thank you for your detailed replies. I find this very fascinating.

[@kenross3374]

The right stage chamber - the first one brought online in 2013 - is the loudest 20% of the organ.

[@philmoseley2259]

Is the place supposed to be empty, or what?

[@michaelherring1944]

The noon organ recitals are a casual affair most every day of the year. Just a few tourists from the Boardwalk and a few people who've come to see and/or help with the organ restoration. There are no noon recitals when the Hall is in use - Miss America, a rodeo, hockey, The Who, etc. The organ itself isn't quite ready for full-fledged concerts of its own yet, but they have small ones every once in awhile. Someday when it is fully functional it may be able to pull in a full house. Who knows? It's the largest pipe organ in the world and is considered the king of the king of instruments. But not yet . . . BTW, there is another pipe organ in the Ballroom - I think it's the world's largest theater organ, but I'm probably wrong about that.

[@philmoseley2259]

I see - thank you.

[@JIMD6370]

@@michaelherring1944 organ pizza stop is bigger, by almost 3,000 pipes, not sure of the other theater organs out there.

[@cristinamonte4510]

I. Have. Stufy. Nose.

[@robshekelberg5315]

They should've saved money and replaced all the pipes with good quality tweeters, mid woofers and subwoofers. And before you purists start talking shit and saying it wouldn't sound the same, yes it would. I have experience with building speaker enclosures and audio, and a large amount of speakers can easily reproduce the same sound and do it better and louder while saving cost and space. 20 or 30 18" subwoofers in 6th order bandpasses on multiple thousand watts can easily play down to 8hz and up to 60-70hz and handle the the lower frequencies while multiple tweeters and midbass drivers can handle 80hz and above

[@michaelherring1944]

You do realize this is an historic instrument undergoing restoration, right? The objective is to return the organ to its original condition.

[@robshekelberg5315]

Michael Herring okay well I was simply suggesting they keep the beauty pipes and instead of having actual pipes make the noise in the sound chambers they should replace them with subwoofers and speakers to have more volume and save space

[@michaelherring1944]

I can tell you mean well, but the whole point is to restore the sound of the entire instrument to its original, pristine condition. Almost every type of pipe and sound from organs all over the world and throughout modern history was included in this instrument and no one alive has ever heard it complete. They are, however, replacing all the wiring and much of the pneumoelectric switching with a modern Opus-Two system which has infinite possibilities for switching, coupling, blah, blah, blah. You'll have to look up Opus-Two to see all the wonderful things it can do. You would probably be fascinated by the 1920s "tinker-toy technology" that ran this massive music machine. An unfortunate series of incidents during the renovations of the hall in the late 1990s left the organ in an unplayable state - sliced control cables, some a foot in diameter, severed wind lines, removal of entire control systems, water leaks, physical damage to the pipes themselves - all these different types of damage are being corrected by its restoration, and in some instances problems that plagued the instrument from the beginning are being engineered out. You should visit someday and take a tour. The original relay rooms are fascinating in their complexity yet simplicity and there are parts of the organ that no one even knows how it works!

[@michaelherring1944]

As for keeping the pipes for show, none of the over 33,200 pipes are visible. They are hidden in 8 different chambers situated in the walls and ceiling around the arena. This instrument was meant to be used to accompany a myriad of types of events held within the arena, as well as being used for the pure appreciation of its sound. The Hall was the largest enclosed space in the world when it was built and it needed an organ big enough to fill the volume of air enclosed within its walls. All entertainment venues of that time had pipe organs and this one is simply the king of the king of them all. Trust me, the organ - even at only about 35% playable when these videos were made - is almost ear-splitting loud, but not quite. It's more like an old disco where the speakers made your entire body vibrate along with the sound. A person can't really appreciate the sheer magnificence of the organ without hearing it in person. I'm told that modern recording equipment is not capable of fully recording the instrument, but that seems like something you might enjoy delving into. I'm sure your expertise could be invaluable when it comes time to record the completed instrument so the entire world may hear it.

[@richardwilliamjohnson8566]

No. Freaking. Way. Absolutely not