why i built an organ in our spare bedroom (must read!)
I just noticed this post is scheduled for my mom's birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!
I've waited for this post since I started this blog. I was waiting for a critical mass of people actually reading it!
If you've perused my favorite page on my entire site (the one with all my organ performances, linked below) you may have noticed the last entry–the only one without an associated video.
Tate Shannon
If you're okay with listening to the piece I composed without any context, click the button below. Otherwise, I really recommend going to the "my music" page to read the description and context. It's based on the first section of one of my favorite books of all time and I composed it assuming that you've read the description.
click here to listen to my first performance on my homemade organ!Do you know the coolest part about that performance? I performed it on an organ that I built in our spare bedroom!
how this crazy story started
Those who know me from high school know that I was a pretty intense bassoonist. I played for one year in college, and it was incredibly fun! But I quickly became disenchanted with large ensembles of differing commitment levels and rehearsal schedules that didn't align with my study time.
Since I didn't really see a future as a freelance bassoon soloist, I tried to sign up for piano lessons at Rice (at least then I wouldn't be expected to carry my own instrument!), but every lesson was already booked. I happened to see that the organ had lots of open lessons and thought, "What the heck! It has a keyboard so it must basically be like a piano." Boy, was I wrong... but that's a post for another time.
finding the time
For those unfamiliar with the instrument, organs tend to be quite stationary. Much like mainframe computers of the past, they often take up entire rooms–sometimes even multiple rooms! Another similarity they have to mainframe computers is that you have to sign up for a time slot to actually use them because they're shared with all the other organists in the area.
Here are some really cool organs I've been able to play since I started (all these images are my own). I've also given a link to read a little more about each organ if you'd like:
edyth bates old grand organ
markham organ studio
poalmer memorial episcopal church organ
rice memorial chapel organ
south main baptist church sanctuary organ
And finally, probably the most familiar organ to me and those who know me:
moving down the pipeline
Now, all those organs are amazing, but I really wanted to have something I could play at home, any time of day, without having to schedule around other people (otherwise, I was in exactly the same situation as I was in the symphony)! In fact, while at Rice, I practiced organ from 5:00 to 7:00 AM every day simply so I could have two uninterrupted hours in a row.
There was a very awkward time in the life of church organs where pipes were not the only option, but they were the only good one. I am not an elitist at all; in fact, I would often rather play on a nice electronic organ than poorly maintained pipes. However, electronic organs have improved exponentially (according to Moore's law) and the results today are absolutely astounding! Since I have a whole engineering degree sitting on my shelf, I figured it was about time to put it to something useful!
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In my next organ-themed post, I'll tell you all about how I built my very own virtual pipe organ in our spare bedroom and how I'm still working on it to this day!
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