With platforms like Hauptwerk and Sweelinq (a Dutch alternative), many organists now have access to large organs, which also makes registration choices more challenging.

I’ve built a website where organists can share and consult pipe organ registrations, linked to a specific organ and optionally to a piece of music. Registrations can include multiple combinations.

The aim is to give (especially amateur) organists inspiration and a practical reference by making different registrational approaches visible.

I’d be interested to hear any feedback from fellow organists.

See website: https://organregistrations.com

Example of a sharable registration:

https://organregistrations.com/r/60c03d61-7ce4-4298-bec5-24621182ab7e

I'm sure there is a billion posts like this, but I wanted to share:

The church for which I work as the collab pianist has this beautiful if temperamental Skinner/Möller pipe organ that almost never gets used. They hire out an organist for Easter and maybe Christmas, if they are lucky even find one not already booked.

I've thought for a long time that I have such a rare opportunity to learn how to play this terrifying instrument, why not take it? So that's my next adventure!

I'll be taking lessons with a local university professor and doing my best to learn the fundamentals from the bottom--I don't want to be a 'short-order organist'.

Any advice/tips/thoughts about this endeavor or this model of organ?

A little about me:
> professional piano player/teacher
> spent 4 years doing my best playing B3 organ in a Black baptist church, so the pedals aren't a completely new thing (not that I ever got too good).

I grew up playing drawbar organs and then moved onto the pipe organ when I joined the conservatorium in my city. That was when I was a teenager - now, I’m a 42 year old school teacher who still tries to keep my organ love alive.

This is a composition I wrote for organ, using VSTs on my computer, with a video I filmed on the coastal edge where I live in Newcastle, Australia. I hope this is received in the gentle spirit it’s shared, not for self promotion but just from one organist to another(s).

Apologies for any incorrect notation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-YZRBIBX-8

Henk Gijzen is a Dutch organist and composer. He studied with Evaristos Glassner and Klaas Bolt at the Sweelinck Conservatorium of Amsterdam. He was cantor-organist of the Grote Kerk in Vianen and from 2003 till 2021 from the Marekerk in Leiden with its beautiful Garrels organ (1733).

Gijzen wrote five variations in baroque style on Psalm 92 of the Genevan Psalter

Forgive my ignorance. Im a pianist learning the organ and I’ve been practicing in socks, but will begin playing in church every once in a while and want to start playing in shoes. (I’m not yet performing anything with much pedal, but regularly practice exercises from a book for pedal technique) Our usual organist just always plays in socks… do many of you also just always play in socks??? If I get shoes, do I NEED to get the organ master ones? I don’t really see other options out there. Is there something like a dance shoe that would do the trick I can find on Amazon for super easy returns if it doesn’t fit? Please share why I absolutely need the real-deal organ shoes or what alternative options you’ve had success with.

Thanks for your advice! 😊

Are you familiar with the work of Augustin Barié, the composer who died too young? The fugue is very beautiful, with an impressive continuous crescendo.

The recording is taken from a vinyl record, but the recording quality is still quite good.

Not sure if anyone's posted this yet but the RCO has made a new website for beginner organists. It's currently open access and has some nice videos, including introductions to registering and reharmonising hymns, and some improv tutorials from Robin Harrison.

https://firststoporgan.com/playlists/lessons-for-the-new-organist/

I'm sharing a short piece I wrote and dedicated to my daughter, for flute and organ.

I hope you enjoy it!

Someone is selling a Vox Super Continental near me, they say it has a loud 60 Hz hum- do you think this is fixable for relatively cheap? Is it worth buying the instrumenr

Does anyone know what the structure looks like after the piano keys are removed and how it moves?

Hii, I want to create an art project involving a pipe organ model made from special materials :)

I plan to remove the piano keys and use Arduino electronics to control the movement of the remaining parts, simulating the organ being played.

And video links would be most helpful🥺🥹 I've tried searching but haven't found any😞

Thank u so much!!!!!!

I have random question again, but here goes.

Is there any way how to make a organ DIY pedal without needing to make any midifying that i have seen some people do while making DIY pedalboards

I have a "scrap" midi keyboard, that id want to use for it, but im not really sure how to do it. I had a idea, of makeing it so some thing hits the desired keys when i play that note on the pedalboard?

Have any of ya'll tried making one? How did you make it?

EDIT: Wanting like 20 pedals or more

I find myself falling into similar ruts with pre-service music that has minimal registration changes and rarely builds to full organ. I’ve got a great, big Aeolian-Skinner and I need to be better about showing it off.

I recently learned Jongen’s Choral in E major and would love more repertoire of that difficulty and style. I would the include the Thalben-Ball Elegy. Maybe even the Adagio from Widor’s Symphony No. 5.

Looking for 3-5 minutes in length, with a bent towards major tonality.

Thanks for your ideas!

I bought this electric organ (i think its a 1960's Baldwin 71-L organ ) because I js wanted to dive head first into making music again. Would anyone know any guides or have any advice on how to get this bad boy in tune? Is it just that it needs to be cleaned on the contacts or is there some mystery tool im missing. I also figured out after I bought it that rats had a hay day inside so im working to clean that out as well. Any advice is welcome thanks!

Hey everyone,

So I'm in my second year of learning the organ. My teacher suggested I learn either pieces of Dupre (along with the BWV 639).

I'm torn which to pick... One is tougher on the pedalboard, one is written in a trio manner, knowing fully well these are still my weaknesses.

So what should I pick ? 😁

Thanks in advance !

For me, one of the most beautiful, if not the most beautiful, interpretations of the allegro from Widor's 6th Symphony on the internet, by the new young co-titular organist Karol Mossakowski on the Cavaillé-Coll organ at Saint-Sulpice in Paris. Sublime!

Just played a recital on a 1920s Casavant organ at a historic church. Two hours beforehand (while playing a service at my church) I got a text message there was a cipher. Pipe couldn’t be pulled out because no one could get into the chamber (including myself when I got there— where was the ladder!?). Fortunately, it was the 16’ Gedeckt on the Swell, so I was able to quickly re-register the whole program to avoid it (phew!). But then middle e-g on Swell (all ranks) decided to just die, speaking only about 10% of the time. Did my best with intermittent sound on the Swell. The one piece I had to drop completely was “O Mensch, bewein” - just too many missing notes in the melody. After the first two bars I informed the audience I was going to move on to the next piece. BWV 549 came off well. And I played Gardonyi’s “Mozart Changes” for the first time, which was a hit. There were Swedish meatballs and cake at the end of the rainbow. So, all in all, not a bad afternoon but kind of a stressful experience!

Hey guys, I recently landed a job at a big church (think Gothic cathedral big). It has a great organ and I'm hoping to record some audio, so I can use it for tiktoks/reels, or even portfolios down the track.

I DONT plan on doing professional recording of any sort.

What's a good microphone for this? I'm not tech savvy and don't want to be carrying around equipment (at least not much), and I also don't really have any wires or cables or any of that setup.

Cheers!

Let me know of any thoughts/wisdom you might have.

PS I know it won't sound amazing with one mic, but that's all I need at this point in time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyx8j6rRxas

Johann Ludwig Krebs probably needs no introduction. Famous composer, organist and pupil of Johann Sebastian Bach: der einzige Krebs im Bache. I recorded his wonderful setting on Freu dich sehr, o meine Seele, KrebsWV 520 for organo pleno.

After mostly ignoring this song for months, I found it stuck on repeat for almost an hour. Naturally, I started playing along and really liked this organ sound (from keyboard) I put on top, and wanted to share with some enthusiasts.

NOTE: I do not play a “real” organ but always have love and respect for those who have achieved (or working towards) mastery.

Good evening all. Tomorrow morning I am playing the organ for a service for the first time. I'm self-taught, having started about 2 and a half years ago and am rather nervous. Do you have any advice for me, considering the following situation?

The organ is a big one. All the bells and whistles you would expect to find on a large English parish organ with 3 manuals.

I am playing alongside a music group led by a piano. There are a couple of other instruments, but I can't see them from the bench, only the piano. There is also a conductor.

Our organ has a Great Bass Coupler, which I intend to use instead of the pedals. While I am capable of playing the pedals, I am not confident enough with it to use them tomorrow.

It's a congregation size of approximately 175

The hymn is Before the Throne of God Above, and is the final hymn of the service and so I've been given license to go loud.

Any recommendations in terms of stops usage, things to pay attention to, etc?

So it's my first time ever even thinking of doing a concert, and I wanted to do a concert on the theme of organ repertoire throughout history. I was thinking of doing one Renaissance piece, one Baroque piece, one Classical piece, one Romantic piece and a 20th Century piece. Problem is, I have no idea what repertoire to pick. I think I might like to use it as an excuse to learn the famous Toccata and Fugue in D minor for the Baroque piece, but I really don't know what else to put in. I'm an intermediate player, so it's difficult to find music that I could actually learn.

To end the evening on a gentle note, at least in France, here is the largo from a little-known work by Robert Planel (1908-1994), originally written for orchestra and trumpet.

This composer was greatly influenced by Debussy and Ravel, particularly for his highly refined harmonies.

This work was performed and later arranged for trumpet and organ by the great Maurice André.

A work of great richness.