June 2019 : Theatre / Cinema organ registrations and lessons

As many of these instruments are historical, much like vintage cars, there are no factories or organ companies currently building instruments. There are also not many places that you can go to in order to learn how to play them.

• If you're in the USA, you can join the American Theatre Organ Society (ATOS) and one of their affiliated clubs or societies in your area.
• If you're in the UK, you can join The Cinema Organ Society (COS).
• If you're in Australia, you can join one of the affiliates of the Theatre Organ Society of Australia (TOSA).
  • TOSA Gold Coast
  • TOSA New South Wales
  • TOSA South Australia
  • TOSA Victoria
  • TOSA Gippsland – Warragul Theatre Organ Society
  • TOSA Western Australia
  • TOSA ACT
• Then there are printed resources, such as R. Jelani Eddington's "The Art Of Theatre Organ Arranging" (you can purchase these online).
• And finally, there are online resources, such as YouTube videos and web pages.

YouTube

I recently came across a YouTube series that presents this information very well! They are created by the UK organist, Tom Horton. Go to Theatre / Cinema Organ Lessons & Performances to view his lesson play list. I've also listed all his current videos here for your convenience:

1. Wurlitzer Theatre Organ Performance
2. Beginners Guide to the Theatre Organ
3. What Is A Theatre Organ?
4. Theatre Organ Console, Stops, and Ranks
5. Basic Theatre Organ Registrations
6. Theatre Organ Percussion
7. Theatre Organ Accompaniment Patterns
8. Theatre Organ Introductions
9. Arranging Popular Music for Theatre Organ
10. Theatre Organ Endings
11. What is Theatre Organ Second /2nd Touch?
12. Theatre Organ Counter Melodies (Basic)
13. Theatre Organ Registration Pistons
14. Small Theatre Organ Registrations

Tom has a good sense of humor, and gives us an excellent learning resource for our VTPO playing :) Learning registration techniques seems to be something that we're all looking for, so this free resource is wonderful! You can find his content on Facebook at https://m.facebook.com/keyboardskillspro, and help support his work by becoming a patron: Keyboard Skills Pro.

I don't know if you're anything like me, but when I was first faced with a console of more than 100 theatre organ stops, it was a little overwhelming. As I learned more about the Unit Orchestra (another name for the theatre organ) and how registrations could be made, how ranks were unified over the manuals and available in 16, 8, 4, 2 and the mutations, I got bolder with my choice of registrations. I also listen to a lot of theatre organ recordings, and enjoy trying to match the tonality and color from what I've heard. It's a great challenge! MIDI playback on Hauptwerk VTPOs also give us the opportunity to see the registrations used.

Web resources

For other resources on theatre organ registrations see

• Les Knoll's discussion web pages on Virtual Theatre Organ Registration: The Families of Tone, and
• The Organ Forum's theatre organ registrations thread.

These two web resources have some example registrations and some great opinions on what sounds good.

Then I suggest having a quick read of a small online book - Theatre Organist's Secrets. "A Collection of Successful Imitations, Tricks and Effects for Motion Picture Accompaniment on the Pipe Organ. Compiled and Published by C. Roy Carter, Los Angeles, California." No copyright data in evidence; assumed to have been printed circa early 1920's. It's available in PDF and other formats.

There! That should give you a really great starting point for learning about theatre pipe organs and their virtual cousins, the VTPO. Enjoy and have fun! :)

#VTPO #TheatreOrgan