Me playing the organ at Berkswich Methodist Church, Walton-on-the-hill, Stafford.
The organ was built in the late 1960s by Compton Organs Ltd (which is what the original John Compton Organ Company Ltd were now known as at this time) and is the popular 357 model. As with all Compton electronic organs, the organ works using the electrostatic system of tone generation and also has the patent 'rotofon' speaker which is mounted on a shelf on a wall at the rear of the church. The specification reads:
PEDAL
Contra Bass 16'
Bourdon 16'
Echo Bass 16'
Octave 8'
Flute 8'
Harmonics IV
Trombone 16'
Trumpet 8'
GREAT
Double Diapason 16'
Diapason 8'
Harmonic Flute 8'
Gemshorn 8'
Octave 4'
Twelfth 2.2/3'
Fifteenth 2'
Tromba 8'
SWELL
Bourdon 16'
Geigen Diapason 8'
Stopped Diapason 8'
Salicional 8'
Principal 4'
Stopped Flute 4'
Flautina 2'
Sesquiltera II
Mixture III
Contra Oboe 16'
Cornopean 8'
Clarinet 8'
GENERAL
Vibrato
Rotofon Celeste
Reverberation
ACCESSORIES
1 balanced expression pedal - great and pedal
1 balanced expression pedal - swell
Rotofon on/off switch
For this first video im playing the baptismal hymn 'God, when I came into this life' to the tune 'Billing' from the new Methodist hymn book 'Singing the Faith'.
These organs are fast becoming extinct with many churches replacing them with digital instruments etc. Modern technology is indeed appealing with its realistic sampled sounds but history is being lost as a result. Opportunities should be taken to see that these unique instruments are preserved for future generations to experience how technology worked in the pre digital era.
Many thanks to the officials at Berkswich for allowing me access to this fine Compton organ.
NOTE: this is purely my interest in order to make sure that these fine organs are archived forever and I do not make any monetary profit by this video being on dailymotion.
For more information on the John Compton Organ Company Ltd and to see me play other Compton organs, please click on the following link for my site dedicated to the John Compton Organ Company Ltd:
http://comptonorgans.yolasite.com/
Click here to hear me play this same hymn on a pipe organ:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-Vv9EHgW3s
