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The people involved in the Estey soundscape are a diverse group, and the way in which they are situated within the soundscape and within society varies.
What is the age of my estey organ professional#
These people, though they may not be considered professional musicians to many, are contributing an important service to their communities by playing for and taking part in rituals (weddings, funerals, church services, graduations, etc) and keeping the Estey name from completely being forgotten. Many of the people we have worked with are hardly what most would consider professional (though many of them were classically or formally trained)-the majority of the organists I’ve encountered have been substitutes for churches and are usually local students or people past the age of retirement who play the organ as more of a hobby. Without them, not only would the world of religious music be unimaginably different, but a countless number of professional, casual, musical, and economic relationships would simply cease to exist. All of this illustrates that, while there is not much of a pipe organ subculture, the instrument and its players nevertheless play a crucial role in their communities. One in particular-the Westhampton Congregationalist Church-uses a piano to accompany their chorus, while their fully functioning Estey Pipe Organ lies dormant almost all the time, being put to use only when an organist is brought in by the organizers of a special occasion, such as a wedding. Of course, many churches also utilize pianos. The churches that I’ve encountered in my own fieldwork are either fiercely proud of their organs or determinedly working towards repairing or replacing their existing ones. Most everyone I have spoken to about organ music said that they find some spiritual or religious value in the sound of a pipe organ, and would most likely agree that the organ in particular usually plays a central role in the soundscape of any given service, church, or choir. The music produced by a pipe organ also affects the rest of a given congregation. The organist either leads or accompanies the choir, which is one of the more commonplace ways for everyday parishioners to get involved in their church and their spirituality as a whole. (I say “almost never” here not because I have encountered any organ duets, but because I assume that such a composition must have been written and performed at least once, if only for the novelty of accomplishing something never before accomplished.) Still, though they are largely autonomous, most organists play similar roles within their communities-usually Christian churches. All this contributes to a group of people who do get together-to teach, to learn, to chat, and do all the other things social niches are want to do-but who almost never play their instrument of choice with each other. The instrument, in its unparalleled frequency range and variety of tone, is specifically designed to replicate the effect of many, many separate instruments, thus making the pairing of two different organs redundant and overwhelming.
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Even in classical organ pieces (as opposed to organ pieces with specific religious functions) there is never a need for more than one organ. Other instruments may be added in, but there is rarely a need for two organists to be in the same place at the same time. Organs as they are most often utilized-as the leading instrument in the music of a religious service-usually act as accompaniment for a choir or cantor. This is not to say that the organ is usually a solo instrument. Not only is a pipe organ fixed to a specific location, and not only is the console often isolated or hidden from view, but it is played, more often than not, without the accompaniment of any other instrument. I suspect this is due in part to the nature of the organ as an instrument.
What is the age of my estey organ drivers#
In fact, no one has even referenced the thousands and thousands of organists around the world as anything more than a vague cloud of people who exist mostly in solitude, connected only by their profession, acknowledging each other only when they cross paths, like bus drivers waving at each other as they drive in opposite directions down a busy street. I have yet to meet anyone who would describe the people surrounding pipe organs as part of a specific subculture.