The Making of The Walt Disney Concert Hall Organ - City of Los Angeles DTLA Music Center

The design of the hall included a large concert organ, completed in 2004, which was used in a special concert for the July 2004 National Convention of the American Guild of Organists. The organ had its public debut in a non-subscription recital performed by Frederick Swann on September 30, 2004, and its first public performance with the Philharmonic two days later in a concert featuring Todd Wilson.
The organ's façade was designed by architect Frank Gehry in consultation with organ consultant and tonal designer Manuel Rosales. Gehry wanted a distinctive, unique design for the organ. He would submit design concepts to Rosales, who would then provide feedback. Many of Gehry's early designs were fanciful but impractical: Rosales said in an interview with Timothy Mangan of The Orange County Register, "His [Gehry's] earliest input would have created very bizarre musical results in the organ. Just as a taste, some of them would have had the console at the top and pipes upside down. There was another in which the pipes were in layers of arrays like fans. The pipes would have had to be made out of materials that wouldn't work for pipes. We had our moments where we realized we were not going anywhere. As the design became more practical for me, it also became more boring for him." Then, Gehry came up with the curved wooden pipe concept, "like a logjam kind of thing," says Rosales, "turned sideways." This design turned out to be musically viable.
The organ was built by the German organ builder Caspar Glatter-Götz under the tonal direction and voicing of Manuel Rosales. It has an attached console built into the base of the instrument from which the pipes of the Positive, Great, and Swell manuals are playable by direct mechanical, or "tracker" key action, with the rest playing by electric key action; this console somewhat resembles North-German Baroque organs, and has a closed-circuit television monitor set into the music desk. It is also equipped with a detached, movable console, which can be moved about as easily as a grand piano, and plugged in at any of four positions on the stage, this console has terraced, curved "amphitheatre"-style stop-jambs resembling those of French Romantic organs, and is built with a low profile, with the music desk entirely above the top of the console, for the sake of clear sight lines to the conductor. From the detached console, all ranks play by electric key and stop action.
In all, there are 72 stops, 109 ranks, and 6,125 pipes; pipes range in size from a few inches/centimeters to the longest being 32 feet (9.75m) (which has a frequency of 16 hertz).
The organ is a gift to the County of Los Angeles from Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. (the U.S. sales, marketing, service, and distribution arm of Toyota Motor Corporation).
Designed by architect Frank Gehry, Walt Disney Concert Hall (WDCH) is an internationally recognized architectural landmark and one of the most acoustically sophisticated concert halls in the world.
From the stainless steel curves of its striking exterior to the state-of-the-art acoustics of the hardwood-paneled main auditorium, the 3.6-acre complex embodies the unique energy and creative spirit of the city of Los Angeles and its orchestra.
Thanks to the vision and generosity of Lillian Disney, the Disney family, and many other individuals and corporate donors, Los Angeles enjoys the music of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Master Chorale and visiting artists and orchestras from around the world.
© 2013 Los Angeles Philharmonic
(www.laphil.com/philpedia/about...)
Posted for entertainment and educational purposes only.
No copyrights infringed. All works property of the company listed above. Please do not reproduce without their expressed written consent.
Location: 111 South Grand Avenue Los Angeles, California U.S.A.
Coordinates: 34°03′19″N 118°15′00″W
Owner: Los Angeles Music Center
Type: Concert Hall
Seating type: Reserved
Capacity : 2,265
Construction
Built: 1999-2003
Opened: October 24, 2003
Construction cost : $130 million (plus $110 million for parking garage)
Architecture designed by Frank Gehry (www.foga.com/)
Acoustics designed by Yasuhisa Toyota (www.nagata.co.jp/)
Organ designed by Manuel Rosales (rosales.com/)
Brian Lauritzen - Producer and Host, Classical KUSC - Los Angeles (brianlauritzen.com/)
Deborah Borda - President and CEO, LA Philharmonic
Cameron Carpenter - Organist (www.cameroncarpenter.com/)
Keywords:
Blower Room
Mouth
6,000 Pipes
Inside The Music
LA Phil (Los Angeles Philharmonic)
#WaltDisneyConcertHall
#WaltDisney
#DowntownLA
#LosAngeles
#MusicCenter
#FrankGehry
#ManuelRosales
#LosAngelesPhilharmonic
#LAPhilharmonic
#LillianDisney
#CityOfLosAngeles
#Organ
#CowMissing

[@LanceCampeau]

A fresh, contemporary take on the classic organ. Wonderful!

[@WillemvanTwillertOrganist]

A great design for an organ

[@juneysummers5342]

Pipe organ.. pipe dreams.. made into a reality.. Fascinating indeed 😃🎹🎼✨

[@FarhanFarhan-cc7bl]

Hermione Summers

[@joeportelli6585]

The video makes it seem like the instrument was designed for one particular piece of music in mind.

[@starlite528]

did he just say 'confetti' ?! That stuff will be hidden in lost crevices in that place FOREVER!

[@RobertOrgRobert]

Looks like a bag of fries but I guess that’s the idea

[@daniyarsharafutdinov820]

Disney should make a movie about an organist.

[@rr7firefly]

An exceptional documentation of an exceptional instrument in an exceptional building. There is so much creative intelligence in evidence: Manuel Rosales, Frank Gehry, Cameron Carpenter, Brian Lauritzen. One day I will attend an organ concert to have the total experience.

[@vickiboyer4355]

Hear it in person, it's like watching the " Rockets Kick "

[@paulussantosociwidjaja4781]

It's just WOW!!!

[@CHAMBHR]

I may be wrong, but I think I remember a Walt Disney “Goofy” cartoon where Goofy was sitting at an organ console, looking over his shoulder and grinning. The pipes were coming out at all angles. Was this cartoon the basis for the Disney organ? Hrc

[@MrsHgLamp]

So amanzing and extraordinary organ!

[@richardmaryman3494]

the infamous "French Fries" organ

[@magenta-rosepark4965]

Those pipes look like an organ version of a bonfire.

[@FelixLilly]

ive played that organ!

[@carlang4793]

GOOD FOR YOUUUUU

[@FelixLilly]

It was so good!!

[@late8641]

Man, I'm jealous...

[@rockdog9666]

The name of this organ should be "Constance" (from the cartoon Monster House)

[@BCSchmerker]

+cowmissing *Manuel Rosales built the organ at Walt Disney Hall with a hybrid-action keydesk.* Five planes of trackers from the manuals and pedalboard, with columns of drawknobs controlling an electric stop action. C. B. Fisk, Inc., uses the same technology on terraced keydesks divorced from the main case, using carbon-fiber trackers from the manuals, on current projects. Any concerts where the organist used the integrated keydesk this opus?

[@bryangl1]

An exciting visual design. But "..you can't bend organ pipes"? Rubbish. Many organs have pipes that make bends (they are mitered) to help them fit into the space. This applies to both flues and reeds. If the organ we hear here is the actual organ, it sounds good for what is an instrument of relatively modest size for a modern concert instrument. But the marginal size limitation makes me wonder at versatility for the different demands of the organ repertoire.

[@WinrichNaujoks]

There's a difference between bending (ie curving them, which is what I think they meant) and mitering them.

[@Offshoreorganbuilder]

An interesting video, though it's a pity that it has to be so repetitive. ("Tell them what you're going to tell them ... tell them ... tell them what you've told them." - The cliche outline for a sermon.) I wonder why Rosales' company did not build the organ, if he was considered to be suitable as the designer?

[@timothytikker1147]

Offshoreorganbuilder Rosales has been doing much of his work in collaboration in recent years, especially for his larger projects. This began with the Fisk organ for Rice University in Houston. His first collaboration with Glatter-Goetz was Claremont United Church of Christ. Rosales has also collaborated with Dobson.

[@PointyTailofSatan]

The Casavant organ in KC's Helzberg Hall has the same kind of box of fries look. lol

[@Tchristman100]

The big rumor is that the wood pipes were bent and haphazardly placed to look like Goofy built it.

[@shipsbells]

How many times has Cameron Carpenter broken this instrument? Like he did the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia.

[@Spaceshotx7]

The music that is in this video, what is the name of the organ piece?

[@flavioserci6046]

Carpenter is the right organist for this organ.

[@parkthoven]

Try mahler no.2, no.8, Saint Saens no.3~~:)

[@bobh5087]

I enjoyed this brief WDCH organ documentary. That being said -- I'm still unsure about how I feel about the organ's *visual design.* It is certainly a wonderful-sounding -- and beautifully crafted -- instrument, as well as an engineering marvel... but I'm still not "convinced" about the "tumbling-down forest" façade. *Avant garde experimentalism* is fine, to a point. But, in most cases, there is a fine line between *intriguing cleverness* and *wanton absurdity (Dadaism).* Where does *unbridled Ego* end and the *creation of Beauty* begin? A number of reknowned European organ-builders excel at creating very modern-looking organs -- but *none are so blatantly "visually inharmonious"* as the WDCH instrument. Yet I still find it, though intellectually exciting, to be *uncomfortably distracting* in some deep "psychic/aesthetic" place. Oh well, it's a done deal -- like it or not. Perhaps future years, and viewers, will pronounce the "final verdict." Ask me how I feel about it a year from now....

[@asrose7979]

Bob H: Well said. "Wanton absurdity" nails it perfectly. (ROFLMAO) That collection of pipes in the middle has given me a new disdain for Frank Gehry. The whole eyesore reminds me of cigarette butts sticking out of an ashtray. Msrs Totota and Rosales, fortunately, seem to have managed to craft something that sounds pretty good, but thank God, Gehry didn't have much to say about the design of the console. 🌹

[@chandananimalsepala7825]

🇺🇸🎼🎧🎼🇺🇸

[@jgesselberty]

Looks like someone was playing Pixie Sticks with trees. Sounds great. Looks ridiculous.

[@gerhardrohne2261]

why all this empty drivelling unti 1:29 ?

[@PointyTailofSatan]

The organ is amazing. But I'm not a big fan of french style consoles.

[@timothytikker1147]

PointyTailofSatan the idea was to provide a lower-profile console so as to provide better sight-lines for working with the conductor.

[@organbuilder272]

This thing was built in the late 20th Century using 15th centure technology. Diaphragm regulators. A tracker organ with an electric console and electric pulldown. SO much for tracker touch. What BS anyway. The real story behind this organ will likely never be heard. 2-1/2 years to do what any project would have taken 2 months. The organ has "Spunk" Why do the Violins, Piano and tubas have "Spunk" Yeah, Let's do it and it bankrupted Glatter-Gotz - along with a lot of financial crooked dealings. The fools who controlled the design had no skills in organ building. Let's see them gt Steinway give one of their pianos "Spunk" The builder IS the designer. What is it saying - It is a mockery of the dignity the majesty, the history of the pipe organ. Ahhh yes, Cameron has to bitch about the organ. How Did Edwin LaMere every play so well. You did a horribly expensive, needlessly complex, All thes epeople are busy patting themselves on the back. Opens to fanfare. All promotions by those who wish to promote themselves. Lookat Lincoln Center in New york. 20years later they tore out the organ and rebuilt the interior. All a big bust while the celebrities were congratualting themselves on designing a disaster. WHAT CRAP!!!

[@henryhunt5618]

Your comments are CRAP....do you really know what your talking about?

[@Altenarian]

Times have and are changing. This is the 21st century. a 15th century organ simply will not do. A modern organ must have 'spunk' they must have real breath and power, if its lazy, droning on, soft, bland...No one will listen. But If it can play anything from classical to modern music and beyond, it will certainly last. This is disney we're talking about.

[@warrenmcfadden3918]

@@Altenarian how about yaw make a improved design and sell your idea to disney

[@lesb_socal]

I see this phenomenon in a variety of forums, so when I see it I prepare myself for...in your words...CRAP. The phenomemon is a long rambling paragraph dripping with hostility...and falsehoods. Just so you know, hiding snippetts of falsehoods jammed in with multitudinous topics does not fool anyone.

[@timothytikker1147]

robert shaw if by "15th century technology" you mean mechanical key action: I have played the Glatter-Gœtz/Rosales organ at Claremont United Church of Christ -- made a CD there, in fact (Raven label). The mechanical key action of that organ is one of the finest I have ever played anywhere, capable of extraordinary precision and nuance. So there's nothing archaic about it: it represents an absolutely up-to-the-minute technical and engineering sophistication. This organ should've taken two months to build?! You obviously know nothing about organ building!! Manuel Rosales is one of the finest organ builders in the world, especially in (but not limited to) the areas of tonal design and voicing. For you to be so dismissive of his work simply tells us that you lack any understanding. As to the dual consoles: I can imagine that Rosales' preference would have been for having only the mechanical console, but conductors often insist on having the second, movable console for ease in communication with the organist. The same was done by Klais for their organ at the Audimax at the Ruhruniversität in Bochum, Germany, which organ I once played (and both consoles work very well, each in its own way).

[@neilsunnell8998]

To me it is visual cacophony that distracts from the orchestra as a whole.

[@Mark_Dyer1]

But the organ is not often played WITH an orchestra. It has to be able to function alone. This is a stupendous instrument.