I have just returned from a visit to the island of Fyn where I have tried out a so called “electro-acoustic” organ. An advanced and unique digital organ build by Flemming Fald of Scandinavian Organ Center using the state of the art electronics. I wrote a post about the organ a while ago. I created the disposition and partly also the exterior design characteristics. But it was too expensive for me to buy back then, so it was instead bought by a virtuoso organist and organ professor at the conservatory. He’s owned it for some years but is now ready to “upgrade” to an even bigger organ and thus looking to sell the “old” organ. How can I resist? It’s “my” organ 🙂

The disposition:

Grand Orgue

Bourdon 16′
Montre 8′
Flûte harmonique 8′
Salicional 8′
Bourdon 8′
prestant 4′
Flûte octaviante 4′
Doublette 2′
Cornet V 8′
Fourniture IV 1 1/3′
Trompette 8′
Clairon 4′

Récit expressif

Flûte traversière 8′
Viole de gambe 8′
Voix Céleste 8′
Cor de nuit 8′
Quintaton 8′
Flûte douce 4′
Plein Jeu III 2′
Bombarde 16′
Trompette harmonique 8′
Basson-Hautbois 8′
Voix Humaine 8′
Clairon harmonique 4′

Pedales

Contre-Bourdon 32′
Flûte 16′
Contrebasse 16′
Flûte 8′
Flûte 4′
Contre-Bombarde 32′
Bombarde 16′
Trompette 8′

The organ has been envisioned with a double function; part home/studio organ, part tour/concert organ capable of playing together with various ensembles, including symphony orchestra, with proper amplification of course. This is the reason for the rich and powerful reed batteries, and not least the two 32-feet voices! (well, that and I’m just a sucker for romantic-symphonic organs).

One thing is the disposition, but more importantly: how does it sound? Well, I only heard it through the build-in speakers (useful for “home-use”), but with that in mind I must say it sounds really well. Whenever possible I still prefer a “real” pipe organ, and I probably always will. But for home and tour-use outside churches and large concert halls with organs, where a pipe organ would be almost impossible (at least impossibly expensive) this is as good as it gets. And that’s actually not bad.

I will need to think about this for a couple of days before I decide whether I buy it or not. One of the important things to consider is economy. I have to take the organ out and play public concerts on it, or rent it out to others, at least a couple of times a year in order to be able to afford it. Even though I get to buy the instrument at a significantly reduced price compared to when it was new, it’s still very expensive to me. So, will it be possible for me to take the organ on tour (or maybe just a few individual concerts outside churches)? I’ll have to consider that as well.

I’ll let you know what I decide soon…