Green Acres Baptist Church


GABC's Allen "Renaissance" Organ
by Richard Huggins, Organist

From "Bach" to "Bock." The Green Acres Baptist Church Allen organ is designed to go from "Bach to Bock," being able to sound classical, baroque, romantic, theatrical and, yes, like a Hammond or Wurlitzer if desired! This design reflects the diversity of music presented in GABC worship services and special musical presentations. The "nuts and bolts" of the organ are somewhat detailed in the specs printed below.

Five Manuals, One Slipped Disc. I've never had a five-manual organ of "my own" before, and at times I wondered about the practicality of it. Well, I've quickly been reminded that an organist hardly can have too much of a good thing, and five manual divisions are a good thing! The fifth manual comprises the "Celestial" divisions of the organ and speaks from speakers located not only in the main chambers but elsewhere, so as to create a sort of non-specific sound source for its softer strings and flutes. It is so wonderfully sweet behind prayers, devotional moments and such. It's true that when actually playing that manual and the pedals, one might should also schedule a meeting with a chiropractor, but in many cases it's practical to couple it down to a more, shall we say, "reachable" manual.

Christopher Reeds. (Sorry...I couldn't resist that.) There are numerous reeds all over this organ. Not only are the festive reeds duplicated in five of the six divisions (incl. pedal)--so as to enable lots of flexibility in drawing up registrations--but there are division-specific lesser reeds as well, including several trumpets and a Double Trumpet 16'

Tremulant Stimulant. The organ is outfitted not only with the tremulants you might expect but also with a Full Trem button for each manual, located on the thingy at the end of the keys (I know it has a name but I don't know what it is). If that button is pushed, the trems transform into theatrical tremulants worthy of the Wurlitzer name. This is useful when having some fun with hymns such as "Heaven Came Down and Glory Filled My Soul" (my favorite hymn for theatrical playing) or whenever a baseball game is held inside the worship center.

MIDI, and I don't mean fashion! (MIDI = Musical Instrument Digital Interface, a technology that allows electronic musical instruments, as well as MIDI software on computers, to "speak" to one another.) This organ is equipped with Allen's MIDI module, which is like a synthesizer without a keyboard. Approximately 160 sounds such as might be found on a typical electronic keyboard are accessible through this box, and can be added to any of the organ registrations as captured on the 20 general pistons. In other words, the organist can select a MIDI sound that he wants to be heard along with one of his usual organ stops and can call that sound up using a piston. In addition to the Allen module, any keyboard that has MIDI ports on it can be cabled to the organ and its sounds accessed and played using the organ's keyboards.

Switched at birth.The organ also has a footswitch which acts as a sustain "pedal" for the MIDI stuff that needs one (such as electric piano and a few others). It's a footswitch on the left of the leftmost expression show, activated by moving one's foot to the left. I must say that this is awkward and I don't expect to use it very often, but at least they thought of it.

Voice therapy. Another interesting thing: every stop on the organ can be voiced generally as to volume, treble and bass, using a built-in function available to the organist (if the salesman chooses to show him how, which mine did!). But also the sales team can bring a laptop to the organ---on which is stored software that also is stored on the organ-- and connect it to the organ, thereby to further contour each and every stop and on each and every individual note, if desired! Not only that, but entire stops can be replaced with better samples. For example, Dale did not particularly like the Principal 8' on the Great, so he will re-program it with a different sample, still a principal 8' but a different one. This means the organ is virtually limitless in its ability to be updated.

Down with the organist! The platform is prepared with a large pit which eventually will house a hydraulic lift system for the organ. This will enable lowering the organ off of the stage when the platform is needed for Christmas pageants and other special productions. The lift itself was not funded in the first phase of construction. more...