The Rochford Compton

PREVIOUS WORK

Towards the end of 2007 many improvements were made to the organ.
Wind trunking to the Tibia was rearranged to improve the tremulation. The tremulants were repositioned and rewired. The Tuba 16ft off rank was re-regulated.

In order to improve the projection of sound the solo chamber swell shutters have been reversed and the swell engines refurbished to smooth out how they open.

CONSOLE
The most noticable improvement will be the console illuminated surround. This has been re-lamped, rewired and fitted with a modern dimmer unit. The colours can now cycle slowly as did the original system installed with the organ when new. The dimmer unit can be connected to the stage lighting system. Look out for additional effects that respond to the mood of the music.

MELOTONE
The Melotone has been serviced and some faults repaired. The original valve amplifiers have been overhauled and additional amplification is to be fitted using further reclaimed amplifiers of the same type. The huge horn loudspeaker, originally inside the Solo chamber has been moved out and mounted on top of the chambers in the roof space. The sound now projects more freely into the hall and has a more etherial quality.

When the loudspeaker was in the chamber the Melotone volume level was controlled by the swell shutters.
Now it is outside a seperate arrangement has to be adopted. An electronic volume control has been constructed and wired to the Solo swell pedal.

CHIMES
In May 2009 a set of Cathedral Chimes were obtained. They were dismantled, refurbished, cleaned and the bar mounts were rebuilt. A frame was constructed on the front of the organ to support the unit as it is very heavy with the bars mounted. The bars have been polished and coloured lighting mounted to improve the appearance of the organ "face."

IMPROVEMENT POLICY
We have an ongoing policy of improvement for the organ. This will involve changes in layout, improvements to the performance and obtaining extra ranks of pipes to increase the versitility of the instrument.