Dear Stuart:

Greetings from Organ Hall! Also for the enclosed brochure, many thanx. I think I heard that organ long ago, when I was a "callow" youth. My Uncle Eddie, who lived at Cereal, gave me the name of an Anglican (High) organist who resided at the York Hotel, a bachelor, naturally. He turned out to be a fat, rumpled guy, quite old, I thought, at least 50. His name was Price, or something like that. There was something repellent about him which at that time I was unable to pin down; but he did take me to the organ and I remember his deep bow to the altar, exposing a great trousered creased bottom. The organ was heavy, too. That would be about 1942 during Stampede Week.

Now to answer your questions regarding pipes - I have not discarded or altered the Choir Viola Diapason 8' or the Dulciana 8'. They are still 'as is' or 'as was' to put it better. Nor do I have a chimney Flute to spare.

Grant Smalley who is helping me at spare times, spent 11 years with Gabriel Kney so you can understand his tonal ideals are different than 1917 Casavant! The result is, that the organ has a much brighter sound than it did in Kindersley (as attested by my ex-organist brother who has just left), and away brighter than originally in Wpg where the Great just said Boooh!

The No. 1 Open (formerly leathered and large scale) has, other than soaking off the leather, not been touched and is never used except as a 'horn solo.' We spent a week or better on the mixture (remember, you and & I had modified it some), bringing it into line. (In Wpg it was so quiet it could only be heard when added to the Gemshorn!) I don't call that organ-building but I don't blame the Freres because I am sure they had a battle with the then-organist to put in a mixture at all! The Swell Cornet (1907) was much bigger --- a different organist!

As I told you, the 4 Flute on the Great was a useless, hooty thing and is now a chirping beauty, besides solo use, it can be used instead of the 4' Octave (Geigen 8', Flute 4;, Fifteenth 2; and Mixture) which is a combination I often use for polyphony since the little 'clunking' sounds of the Flute emphasize and point up the inner voices. It can, of course, easily be brought back to its old hooty self if the future owner so desires.

Remember the heavy Melodia on the choir which we transplanted on the Clarinet holes to make a Nazard of sorts? I put it back, but organists complained about it; so we took all of it out except the top and bottom octaves, and in its place put my old 1870 Stopped Diapason pipes from Elm St. Toronto (kept since 1948) in its place, so that it can be used as a solo, or as the 8' base of the Choir ensemble as distinct from using the 8' Viola diapason in that office.

The Dolcissimo 8' in the Swell -- so quiet it couldn't be heard with the shutters closed -- was the only stop to receive drastic attention: Tenor C was cut down to 2 2/3 Twelfth -- it was the right scale! -- and now it functions on the choir as such. With the choir super octave you get a hefty chorus: 8', 4', 4', 2', 2', 2 2/3, 1 3/5, 1' which has a baroque-y sound and is big enough to stand up to the Great! For much of Bach, we use it so, and couple the Swell to Pedal to give it independent upperwork and 16' reed, and it comes out very well. Dorian Toccata e.g.

Before I got the Fagotto and Trompette in the Swell, the Cornet 3R was useful, especially in the Pedal where the Tierce gave it a reedy sound. But once the reeds were in the poor Cornet retired altogether.

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