The Organ 'Blue Book' 1985/86

[Mike Bracchi]

The Organ Blue Book

Guide of features, photos and then-current suggested prices for used electronic organs from all major organ manufacturers. The complete Organ Blue Book is divided into three separate .pdf files.

These are large files so please allow a few moments for it to open fully - thank you!





This file opens with a blank page 1 ...




The files can be downloaded by viewing in a new page and using 'download' button.

[Rev Tony Newnham]

Hi

I'm getting an error message on thiese:-

"You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post."

Hope you can sort it out.

Every Blessing

Tony

[andyg]

BB is a good source of information, but don't take everything in it as gospel. Info was provided by the manufacturers and they didn't always tell the truth!

The other resource I use for dating an old model (not sure that reads quite right.... ) is the 'Mother List', compiled by Organ Forum's Jan Girardot. It's not complete either, I put in the Kawai section for the models that I knew about but een then the late 60's and early 70's are missing. And there are some makes not covered.

But between the two, we can ID most things. If I could only find my 1973/4 copy of BB, it had loads of details on older models.

Once the links are fixed, BB is well worth a download and a read through.

Andy

[Mike Bracchi]

Hi Tony,

Thanks for letting me know ... you shouldn't be getting that as it is a completely open forum - I will look into and get back to you in due course - I'm off out shortly but will be back about 2'ish

All the best.

[cambsman64]

Try here...

http://archive.org/details/OrganBlueBook-1985-1986

Worked for me

Now, I wonder what my GEM H7000 is worth now? About £0 I would think!

Steve

[andyg]

The values in the Blue Book were always silly anyway, and it was based on the US market. Here in the UK we did have the 'Yellow Book' which gave trade in allowances - very LOW allowances! These 'trade only' yellow books did sometimes get into non-trade hands and a few people were incensed by how little their organ was worth - there were plenty of zero values, even back then.

Nowadays, as we've so often discussed on Organ Forum, values are on the floor and going lower.....

I got my 'new' Kawai SR6 for free, and the one on eBay recently didn't sell. I have a friend who can't shift an EL90, she almost blew a fuse when I told her what they were actually selling for!

[Mike Bracchi]

Try here...

http://archive.org/details/OrganBlueBook-1985-1986

Worked for me

Now, I wonder what my GEM H7000 is worth now? About £0 I would think!

Steve

Thanks for link Steve

[Rev Tony Newnham]

Hi

That link works fine - all downloaded - now all I need is some spare time to browse it and get nostalgic.

I noticed a "Bradford" maker listed as no longer in production. Just wondering what company this was? The UK has a Bradford computer Organ (not sure what name they're using these days, or if the technology is only licensed to other manufacturers) - this was developed by good friends of mine back in the day, and development still continues.

Every Blessing

Tony

[andyg]

The Bradford system was adopted by Wyvern for many years, but they moved on to other forms of digital tone generation. I guess that may have been the end for Bradford?

[Rev Tony Newnham]

Hi

No, the Bradford system is still available and being developed (as I said, I know the people responsible for it). Last I heard they were negotiating with a couple of companies - one at least based overseas. It was always a small operation, mainly development at Bradford University, with the aim of licensing the technology. Copeman-Hart use what is at root the same technology, but with different hardware these days (Musicom) and their own voicing software.

Both systems use real-time computing to produce the sounds, rather than playing samples (as for example in the Phoenix system & Hauptwerk among many others). That's both it's strength and weakness. The sounds are built up harmonic by harmonic - including during the attack phase (each harmonic has it's own attack curve) - potentially producing very good sounds, but the software is complex, and everything depends on the skill & ear of the voicer. I guess these days, the (relative) simplicity of sample manipulation & playback makes commercial sense for most electronic organ manufacturers.

Every Blessing

Tony

[andyg]

Thanks for the extra info, Tony.

I can think of only one other company that produced organs using real-time digital additive synthesis.

Building up voices from sine waves in real time was something that Kawai were working on from the mid to late 1970s. It was kept secret even from the worldwide distribution network, and I only found out about it in 1979 from a guy who worked for Panasonic/Technics! Tongues obviously 'wagged' over in 'Mac's Bar' in Hamamatsu, Japan! But it wasn't until 1982 that the organs finally made it to the market, with the first generation of ADEPT (All Digital Electronic Polyphonic Tone) models. Sounds for drawbar flutes were, not surprisingly, first rate. The only problem areas were orchestral strings and a solo piano. ADEPT 2 addressed the first issue but not the second. The smaller organs in the SR series used VM (Variable Memory) with PCM attack samples wedded to ADEPT style sustain sections. The larger SR models used ADD (Additive Digital Dynamics) which did everything well except that piano again, but the XR series used ADD 2 and nailed it.

The last product I came across from Kawai that used Additive Synthesis was the amazing K5000 synthesizer. It was capable of some truly stunning sounds, but it was a pig to programme. I forget just how many harmonics you could play with - I think it was dozens - and you had full envelope shaping over all of them.

I hope that the Bradford technology finds a new commercial home and that we hear more of it.