New Johnson Organ in the Salem Riverfront Carousel.

I read with interest Glenn Morris's and Matt Caulfield's posts on the
new Johnson organ in Salem, Oregon.

The new Johnson Style 163 which can be seen at the following website,
http://www.johnsonorgan.com/styles.htm  is patterned after the style
164 and 168 skating rink organs built by Wurlitzer.

The Wurlitzer style 164 and 168 military band organs were built for
the skating rink market.  Unlike the Johnson Style 163, the Wurlitzer
164 and 168 organs did not have automatic registers except for the
orchestra bells.  The volume was controlled by draw knobs.  Both organs
have over 300 pipes.  There is one surviving style 164 which is indeed
a powerful organ.

Why were such powerful organs needed for roller rinks?  During the
early part of the twentieth century roller skates used hard wooden
wheels.  The sound of the hard wheels multiplied by many skaters
created a very loud roar or din.  To overcome this loud din, powerful
brass trumpet band organs were used to supply the music and rhythm to
skate to.  Most of the original skating rink postcards and pictures in
my archive show the brass organs elevated on a stage above the skaters.
This was done so that the sound would project over the heads of the
skaters further overcoming the cumulative sound of the noisy wooden
skate wheels.

Such large brass trumpet organs were typically not used on carousels.
Of course there were exceptions, such as some open air carnival
carousels which had 125 Wurlitzers.  One large North Tonawanda Style
316 87-key "Grand Military Band" brass band organ in my collection
was used for years on the Paul Moore Carousel in Irondequoit, New York.
Nelson Moore, the son of the original owner told me the organ was
very loud for the carousel and so the brass trumpets and trombones were
typically turned off while the organ played when his father was around.
But when his father left, Nelson would always turn on the brass and let
the organ blast away!

As a side note, let me say that not all brass horns have to be _loud_;
They can be voiced softer.  Certain large Gaudin organs had brass
trumpets that have a more medium voicing.  Also, on later large Gavioli
organs the brass horns are voiced to blend in with the rest of the
organ.  The bass brass trombones have thin leather adhered to their
reed shallots which rest against the tongues.  The use of this leather
makes the reeds sound smooth, almost like French horns.

For the most part, American carousels would have wood pipe band organs,
such as a Wurlitzer Style 105, 146, 153, 157, or 165.  The 105 and 146
were mainly popular on portable carnival carousels.  The 153 organs
were popular with three abreast amusement park carousels.  The 157 and
165 were popular on larger four and five abreast park carousels.  The
157 was higher pitched than the 165, had less pipes (208), fewer
registers, and was styled after a Gavioli organ.

The famous Wurlitzer Style 165 with 256 pipes was built after Gebrueder
Bruder's top-of-the-line Elite Orchester Apollo.  The 153, 157, and 165
all had swell shutters which gave the organ expression.  I have visited
many old amusement parks that have these organs on their carousels.
I do not remember even _one_ where the organ overwhelmed the carousel.
Indeed, the organ greatly enhanced the carousel experience.

But what went wrong in Salem, Oregon?  Was replicating a skating organ
for use on a carousel a prudent decision?

I would say not, especially given the interior design of the building.
The Salem Riverfront Carousel skating rink style organ with 162 pipes
was doomed be too powerful.  The elevation of the organ to balcony
level only enhanced its powerful and resulting detrimental sound in
the room.  A Wurlitzer 153 or 157 with swell shutters would have been
a more astute choice.  The swell shutters could have been kept closed
to solve the loudness problem.

But then swell shutters on a band organ should never be permanently
closed!  As I said, in all the old amusement parks I have visited,
the organs sounded perfect for the carousel.  I remember spending many
happy hours listening to the original Wurlitzer 165 in Seabreeze Park
in Rochester.  The organ played for a three-abreast carousel.  Around
the carousel were inviting rocking chairs.  One could literally sit
there for hours in pure enjoyment and not feel that the organ was too
loud.  In fact it sounded perfect, as does the Style 165 in the Glen
Echo Carousel!

So what else went wrong with the Salem Riverfront Carousel?

Unfortunately, nearly all new carousel buildings built in recent
years are closed structures with hard floors and hard interior
surfaces.  The modern looking Salem building is no exception.  The
commercial architect usually gets called in by the city planners.
He or she typically has a modern commercial construction mindset
which is influenced by a maze of building regulations.  The design
focus goes to a glass, steel, and concrete atrium type setting with
full environmental control.  Click on the following for a view of the
interior of the Salem carousel building and you will immediately see
what I mean:

  http://www.salemsriverfrontcarousel.org/Mechanism-050501.jpg

Even though such a building may look good on a computer screen, and
fit all the codes, it is failure when it comes to being a carousel
showcase or a prime acoustical environment for a band organ!  With such
hard interior surfaces you get an immediate acoustical "shower stall"
effect where the sound literally bounces around instead of being
absorbed.  Such a building is definitely not conducive to such an
organ or for that matter, most band organs.

If you look at old carousel buildings, such as those built by the
Philadelphia Toboggan Company, you can see that the perimeter of the
building is designed be opened to the outside air.  So much for full
environmental control!  This open style of building immediately allows
the sound to be absorbed quickly by the outside air.

The roof structures on the inside of old carousel pavilions were wood
and were substantially taller than the carousel itself.  The exposed
wood naturally absorbed sound.  The combination of the open sides and
the high wood roof resulted in the perfect acoustical environment.
Fred Fried's "Pictorial History of the Carousel" shows many of these
ornate buildings.

One of the most beautiful carousel pavilions was the one built in
1908 to house the massive five abreast Philadelphia Toboggan Company
carousel in Riverview Park, Chicago.  It was a stunning structure which
was illuminated at night with several thousand perimeter bulbs.  If you
click on the following, you will see this magnificent carousel
pavilion:

http://www.riverviewparkchicago.com/generic.html;$sessionid$45LDTIYAABKPRWGIHUVUTIWYZA4S1PX0?pid=4

I suspect that the Salem architects did not visit an old carousel
pavilion.  Nor did they probably study classic amusement park
architecture.  If they did, the result many have been acoustically
better.  In a way it reminds me of the "sick" building syndrome where
you have a modern "perfect" building that in the end is an ultimate
failure.

All is not lost, the hard acoustics can be modified with the
installation of sound absorbing materials such as acoustical tile,
indoor/ outdoor carpeting, tapestries, cloth, and quilts hung from the
ceiling.  But to me such an interior would not seem like a carousel
building.

In his post, Matt Caulfield mentioned the extra low 16-foot pitch of
the bass pipes on the Salem organ.  The Johnson Organ Company web site
states that this is a virtue of the Johnson band organs.  I agree with
Matt that this is not appropriate on an organ playing style 165 music
rolls, especially if it is applied to flue bass pipes which can quickly
add an unnatural tubby and thick sound to an organ.  One might have
better luck with 16-foot Cellos or 16-foot Trombones, but the end
result may still be awkward because such a sound was not envisioned
by the arranger who initially arranged the music.

When building new organs, so many people get the urge to change things
so as to make the organs "sound better".  What they fail to realize is
that the original designs were the result of many years of experience
and development, and the master-apprentice training in pipe voicing.
For example, an original Wurlitzer 165 band organ is a wonderful
instrument to listen too.  It is superbly well balanced and has a full
and rich sound.  In my opinion all attempts to make one "better" have
resulted in an inferior sounding organ to the original.  Band organ
enthusiasts who have spent hours listening to finely restored original
organs know exactly what I am talking about.

It is just a shame that so many prospective private and commercial
purchasers of band organs let their enthusiasm get the better of
them before they have spent enough time researching the "sound" and
construction of historic original fairground organs.  By studying
original organs, one builds a valuable foundation and knowledge base
which can used to determine whether a new or old band organ is good
or not.  There are so many things a person should be aware of before
purchasing a band organ.  At the very least they should talk to the
knowledgeable people before they purchase an organ for good money!

For more information on the Salem, Oregon, Riverfront Carousel, click
on the following two excellent web sites which fully document the Salem
Riverfront carousel and organ.

  http://news.statesmanjournal.com/carousel/state.cfm
  http://www.salemsriverfrontcarousel.org/

Tim Trager