The decision was made to undertake the huge task of replacing both the combination action and relay. The system was both cumbersome and limited as each organist had to use the same set of saved settings if there was not time to change it before a show. The original system required an organist to set each piston and stop using wire springs about the size of a paperclip arranged on a large board in the orchestra pit. Along with the relay the combination action in the console, which allows an organist to save and activate groups of stops using buttons called pistons located between the keyboards was also having issues. Consisting of literally miles of wiring and thousands of individual contacts it was simply wearing out after many years of continuous use causing dead notes and other undesirable problems. The relay, which was located in 2 separate rooms in the basement consisting of electro pneumatic relays much like an old telephone system were becoming unreliable. By 1975 the organ had grown to 16 ranks of pipes.īy the late 1990’s, the organ, while playing, was starting to show it’s age. The stop tablets were rearranged, and many new one were added.
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The console itself received a facelift all of the artwork and paint was professionally done by an artist. Additional organ parts and pipes were donated to the Riviera project from Buffalo’s Century Theatre and installed by the work crew. As mentioned, a player piano was acquired and converted to play remotely, from the organ’s console. Meanwhile, the enlargement and restoration of the Wurlitzer by club members continued. now owned the organ and at least could assure its future. This offer was eventually accepted, the N.F.T.O.S. To help finance the Riviera’s secure future, the club made an offer to purchase the Wurlitzer for a substantial amount, along with a provision to have the instrument remain in the theatre. This would allow planned expansion of the organ’s original 11 ranks of pipes. New modern electrical relays and switches were purchased by the club to compliment the old existing equipment. The club purchased a brand new set of Post Horn pipes for the organ, which were playing by the autumn of 1971. The Wurlitzer organ from the Kensington Theatre in Buffalo was donated to the Riviera Theatre project in 1970, and although that organ had been badly damaged by flood and vandalism, many of the parts of this organ were eventually incorporated into the “Riv” organ. A sheet of board found blocking the sound from the pipe loft was removed why it was placed there, and by whom, remained a mystery.ĭuring the one-year closure of the theatre, however, the monthly organ concerts continued as usual, the theatre being opened for one night a month. Various instruments, and pipes within the organ began to sound forth. The dormant elevator was repaired and once again the console rose in splendor from its pit. By 1969 these public concerts were heard at the Riviera 12 to 14 times yearly, with frequent use of the organ for special events as well.ĭuring this time the organ itself saw improvements, as well as expansion. The club was barely able to meet expenses-plus, but this concert set the pattern for the many successful monthly concerts, as we know them today.
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For this concert, the theatre was rented on a weekday evening, a name artist from out-of-town was hired to play, and the Riviera’s doors were opened to the public for the event. Jsaw a drastic departure from the usual “Sunday Morning” club organ concerts at the “Riv”. On “D” day 1944 the organ was in good enough shape for organist Carlton to celebrate the event by giving the first public concert at the Riviera in at least 10 years. There followed months of hard labor, cleaning magnets, removing fallen plaster from organ pipes, replacing missing and damaged pipes, and cleaning of electrical contacts.
Wurlitzer organ sound manual#
Carlton Finch and his father Harry obtained an OK from the theatre’s management to restore the organ in 1944, only part of the great manual would play. Time and lack of maintenance took its toll on the instrument. In the early 1930’s use of the organ was discontinued as a regular program feature, and heard thereafter only on special occasions. The console was painted and decorated to harmonize with the Theatre’s interior, by Wurlitzer’s Band Organ Artist. Other differences included the omission of the standard remote Piano, and a 5 H.P. Listed as a Model 235 Special, the organ differed from a standard 3 manual 11 rank Model 235, by substituting an Oboe Horn rank of pipes from the standard Salicional pipes usually found on this model. The Wurlitzer Organ to be installed in the new Theatre, Opus 1524 was shipped from the Wurlitzer Factory on November 19, 1926.