Music For Our Church

h [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] yes the pastor was right music certainly is part of the soul of the church I can feel it now and you can see it on the faces here the time we spent searching and investigating was worthwhile I thought I had a big responsibility when the pastor asked me to head the committee to buy this organ after all I'm a businessman not a musician but I was certainly lucky with the committee I got our church organist Alice Barry was on the committee and the third member was Fred Thompson he's a real leader in our church Sunday school superintendent and choir director and head of all our youth activities we got right down to business the first night we met at my house so of course I'm delighted to have your help it's an important decision we have to make we all know the church needs a new organ but the question is what kind and what make should we recommend I'm sure we all have some specific requirements in mind so let's talk about them what are your ideas Miss Barry well my first consideration of course is how the organ will sound in our church that means we want an organ that will be acceptable in every way for use in church how do you mean that Mrs Barry Well church music should inspire a congregation to be rich full of meaning it well it should be capable of interpreting the meaning of our hymns should be a church organ mhm I see so do I Jim but I think Mrs Barry will agree that a church organ must be useful in other ways too what do you mean by that Fred well just this in addition to the music for the regular church services I'd like to see us get an organ that the young people will use too in their activities Sunday school yes Sunday school all the young people's programs which are very important you've got a very good point there Fred now let me tell you some of the things I'm thinking about first I look at this as an investment just as in business I want to be certain that we get the very best value and the very best quality and I want to be sure that we won't be burdened with heavy maintenance and service costs month after month for years years to come that's right Jim those are important points yes they are Fred and I want to be 100% certain that I'm dealing with the manufacturer with a fine reputation one whose experience is outstanding those are the points I'm going to check into you know more about those things than I do what I really want is an organ that's right for church our church mhm I'm looking for versatility an organ that many people old and young can enjoy and I'll play the hard-hearted businessman to be sure that the organ you both want will be the best possible investment for the church after that meeting all three of us worked independently each of us trying to find the one organ that would satisfy our particular requirements best when we had made up our minds independently we met again at my house to report and make our separate recommendations well uh Miss Barry let's hear your report first what organ do you recommend goodness me first mhm all right I'm convinced that I found an organ that will meet all my wishes for an instrument that will sound right be right for the music in our church I recommend that we buy a Hammond Organ well that's great Mrs Barry because Hammond is my choice too how about you Mr gr how about you well now that this is interesting because the Hammond Organ gets my recommendation too there's no disagreement but now now now let's not get carried away I think we owe it to the congregation to check the reasons behind our unanimous decision you first Mrs Barry well my recommendation is based on my experience as a musician I thought my first step would be to find what other churches are using and how satisfied they are and you found that over 35,000 churches of all sizes and denominations have installed Hammond organs 35,000 that is important what else well I called on the best organists in town and for quite a few miles around and well I got my most valuable information from Alan Temple you mean the organist at the Parkside Church yes I plucked up my nerve and went to see him well he's certainly the best organist in this part of the country what did he tell tell you he was most helpful of course I'll be glad to tell you why we chose a Hammond for this church thank you Mr Temple I hate to take up your time but our committee has a big responsibility to the congregation yes I know and as organists we have an important responsibility to the tradition of church music too our music must convey the same Universal message of Love and Hope and Redemption that the words of our hymns and prayers do that's why this organ is so rewarding of course I know your reputation as an organist Mr Temple thank you Mrs Barry but of course you know I'm only one musician many world famous organists composers and conductors play and praise the Hammond fine symphony orchestras use it and of course anyone with an ear for a beautiful Rich tone appreciates the Hammond too there just one question though oh what's that well do you think I'll be able to able to handle the Hammond step out here and I'll show you now as you know church music calls for traditional organ tones here I have 18 preset Keys each one of them gives me one of those traditional tones listen [Music] that's a familiar tone isn't it here's [Music] [Laughter] [Music] another here's another [Music] it seems quite simple it's Simplicity itself listen again a full organ [Music] tone now those are only four of the familiar traditional tones your congregation will want altogether you have 18 tones available simply by pressing one of these presets actually they'll give you all the basic organ tones you'll need for most of your lurgical music but to an organist the most valuable feature of a Hammond organ is its unique system of draw bar registration with just these few draw barss it's possible to create quickly and easily thousands of beautiful full Rich organ tones of your own choosing really how simply by applying the fundamental principles of all music as you know tones are made up of harmonics just as words are made up of letters on a typewriter we can make any word we want simply by combining the various letters of the alphabet on the Hammond Organ we have nine harmonic draw barss that constitute a musical alphabet by arranging the draw bars in different positions we actually spell tone with harmonics like you spell words with letters we could very easily call this system a tone typewriter is it hard to learn not at all look you know there are only four basic families of organ tones flutes reads strings and dipin or Foundation tones let's set the draw bars for a nice flute tone there and here's what it sounds like [Laughter] that's very much like the tone on these preet keys right that's a fundamental flute tone but the remarkable part of the draw bar system is that I can get hundreds of variations of those four basic tones just by arranging the draw bars let's make our flute tone a little brighter by adding this draw bar there [Music] oh I like that better how about this here's another fluk tone that's beautiful how many of those tones can you get different flute tones I mean I have no idea thousands you see even the smallest adjustment of the draw bars changes the tone slightly so I don't suppose I've ever used all the tones it's possible to get from this flexible system of draw bar registration it's amazing with that system I wouldn't be restricted to any one tone I could adjust it to the music that's right but what about the other three basic families strings for instance here's a lovely string [Music] and here's a re tone with our flute accompany [Music] and finally here's the most familiar of organ tones a [Music] diapason it's amazing such wonderful tones and so many but but how can I remember those settings very simply you see each of the four has its own characteristic shape on the draw barss well here maybe this will illustrate it for you you see there's the basic setting for a flute tone that's the way our draw barss were set here and there's the basic shape and here's the basic setting for the string tones all you have to remember is this slow curve and here's the read setting any variation of the re tone you want will be in that same vshape and here's the diapason like a big check mark from left to right and that's all there's to it it's as simple as can be I'm sure I can handle it of course you can and you'll find much satisfaction too in the fact that this is a complete organ in fact every model in the hand hon line is complete with two manual keyboards and a pedal keyboard [Music] listen now this organ has a 32 note pedal keyboard designed to meet ago specifications and an additional solo pedal unit that will give you tones from a 1T all the way down to a 32t pitch now listen to [Music] [Music] this that's beautiful of course your church is so much larger than ours would a Hammond sound so Grand in ours it certainly would you know I played a Hammond in our small Church before this one was built a Hammond organ is the only organ that can provide just exactly the right amount of reverberation regardless of the Acoustics or size of your church that's because it doesn't depend on the natural reverberation of the room the reverberation unit provided with the tone cabinet will give you Cathedral likee tones in even the smallest Church SE here's an exclusive feature of the Hammond Organ it's called touch response percussion control and produces percussive effects for instance here's a bell tone carrying the melody [Music] my how beautiful and here's a duet with a Chim likee tone [Music] [Music] I had no idea you could get those tones without special attachments well this unique feature isn't found on any other organ and that's another reason why I favor a Hammond you can produce hundreds of interesting percussion tones ranging all the way from Chimes to Harps here's another [Music] Mr Temple it's simply thrilling it's a beautiful instrument this concert model is the largest in the Hammond line now I don't know what your Church's budget is but whatever it is you'll find a Hammond organ that will give you the same registration flexibility and Rich tonal quality that you hear now come let me show you something now here in the choir practice room we have the spinet model of the Hammond Organ it has the same draw bar system as the larger organs uh the new model spin it also has the percussion control I showed you this model is perfect for this place why for years we used it as the main instrument in our original church and even now we move it over to the chapel for weddings and special services listen to it [Music] I was just entranced at the beautiful music coming out of the little spinach and now of course I can't wait to that is of course if you're satisfied what about you Fred Miss Barry seems to have run into a very convincing gentleman well I had about the same experience only there must have been a thousand people convincing me you know that big Community Church in North Hills MH you've heard about the very active weekday program they have well that church is really the center of community life what I saw made my head swim they have a big Hammond organ in the church but they also have a spin it that is the busiest organ you can possibly imagine two kids can lift it and they wheel it back and forth all week from room to room wherever they need music that's where the hammonded organ is in the Sunday School room it seemed to make those children sing with all their hearts and from Sunday morning on all through the week that Hammond spin it model followed the activities all through the church calendar the adult Sunday school the Boy Scouts the Glee Club Club the teenage Club prayer meeting and choir practice I was amazed why they carted that spin it from place to place like it was no more trouble than a piccolo well isn't that hard on an organ not on a Hammond it isn't the activities director there told me he had thrown away the key to the organ so many people young and old are able to play it and do well doesn't it Get Out Of Tune no I asked the same question it's the only instrument in the world that can't get out of tune well that's one of the features that made the Hammond Organ famous that's right Mr Temple told me the same thing by golly that's why the people I called told me there had never been a penny of tuning expense and almost no maintenance cost with their Hammond organs you know I practically dialed my finger off calling every Church in the city to get answers to my questions now may I interrupt you two enthusiasts long enough to tell you why I recommend the Hammond of course surely well they provided straight forward answers to many of my questions and you've confirmed everything I've read then it was a simple matter to check Hammond's standing and reputation it's the best I learned that there was an organ priced to meet our budget and of course I've already told you that I'm satisfied we'll have no tuning costs and little maintenance to worry us in the future I've checked everything from a business standpoint and I'm convinced that a Hammond Organ will be our best investment yes Mrs Barry and Fred I'm in complete Accord with you I feel confident that we've reached a Sound Decision oh Mr Graham our congregation has such a wonderful surprise in store why everybody will enjoy it yes music for our church good music inspiring music I am proud that I had something to do with bringing this organ into our church and I know Fred Thompson feels the same way and well as for Mrs Barry her music this morning is speaking for her [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] oh [Music]