The first really special quality instrument that Regent Classic built was a self-indulgence. My own home practice instrument that replaced a very expensive Allen Organ that I had purchased about 5 years before I invested in the Viscount Organs business. The introduction of the physical modelling technology was just too good to continue with my Allen, which I sold to Dundee Catholic Cathedral.
Magnificent detailing on the Organ Console
The console has magnificent detail. Burr Oak veneer on the jambs and music desk. Rosewood stop heads, rosewood piston rails and rosewood stringing in the key cheeks. Perhaps the most expensive adornment was beautiful wooden tracery decoration on the glass doors that allowed the console to be locked up to keep prying and curious fingers at bay. Not that there was much need of that in my home music space, a tythe barn just outside my home that dates from 1765.
I was keen that the instrument should be seen and admired so shortly after construction it was shipped up to the Caird Hall in Dundee for a ‘Battle of the Organs Concert’ with the fine Harrison pipe organ in the hall. Kevin Bowyer and Carol Williams put on a great show. In 2015 the instrument traveled to Dundalk in Eire where it was demonstrated leading to the sale of a brand new instrument to St Joseph’s Monastery and Church.
A few years later my great friend and magnificent organist Joseph Nolan was back in the UK from Australia and kindly agreed to make a lovely video for us in Selby Abbey so once again the console was on the move. We were honoured to be chosen to provide the Canterbury Cathedral temporary instrument for the two years that the pipe organ was out of action for its rebuild and needless to say my home instrument seemed the natural one to offer.
After that project it found itself at the Maltings Snape for a concert given there in 2022 by Anna Lapwood and then a few months later moved to Winchester Cathedral for 15 months to cover their pipe organ rebuild. I was starting to be used to being without this lovely instrument which has now found a permanent new home with a private client close to Belfast.
Another step on the instruments journey was in October 2022 when we loaned it to the Purcell School of Music in Bushey Hertfordshire. Headmaster and very proficient organist Paul Bamborough played a 24 hour organathon to raise funds for the school. The instrument is seen here set up and ready to go for this endurance event!
This Organ requires a large speaker setup
With 88 speaking stops this instrument requires a really large speaker set up. At my home we had 20 cabinets and two sub basses. That was never a possibility in the Belfast home but we did devise a plan to play the instrument through 12 cabinets and a single sub. The instrument now resides in wonderful new home and is pride of place in the rear hallway.
With no place to hide speakers we had to give a lot of thought to the set up and the appearance of the cabinets. The eventual solution was to place 4 cabinets either side of the console and 4 behind it with a small sub bass in a corner on the floor. Meticulous care was taken to wall mount the cabinets in a perfectly balanced and symmetrical layout.
All the cables were chased into the walls emerging as you can see in one of the photographs at the speaker mounting brackets. All the chasing was plastered over, sanded down and redecorated by our installation team before final fixing. I can truly say there was no sign of any wiring at all. The neatest wiring installation that one could ever have hoped for.
The installation team finished this challenging work in two days leaving me to work afterward setting the instrument up. With such close proximity to the speakers and a small space for 88 speaking stops I will confess to having some initial concerns as to how credible this installation would be.
Voicing the Organ and a final goodbye
I need not have worried. Holding back on overall volume and placing just a small amount of reverb on top created a very pleasing result.
I confess that I am no voicing expert. In comparison to my colleagues, I wield the lump hammer knocking the instrument into a basic shape. This is then followed by a true experienced voicer making the fine adjustments and where necessary selecting different voice models from the library to meet the clients particular personal taste. A process we carry out a little later so that the various likes and dislikes that become apparent with use can be factored into the second voicing session.
I admit that saying goodbye to my own instrument and the one perhaps above all that established the reputation that Regent Classic has been built on over the years was a bitter sweet moment. There are though two consolations, it could not have gone to a more appreciative new customer and I now get to build a new home practice instrument which may well be my 2024 Christmas Present.
Customer Testimonial
Here’s what the customer said to us a few months after this installation:
“I’d been looking to buy a home instrument, considering different brands, and by chance landed on the Regent Classic page: I hadn’t previously known about this Viscount Organs “top end”. The reviews (including from those who weren’t familiar with the brand but became converts when they discovered it) convinced me to make an enquiry and, when it was warmly and professionally dealt with, to arrange to try my nearest Regent Classic instrument. Both the authenticity of the sound and the quality of the console surprised and impressed me.
I decided to buy a second user instrument, carefully maintained by Regent Classic Organs, which would allow me to access a wider range of stops than my budget allowed for new. But this meant fitting a big instrument (that had previously served two Cathedrals) into the much smaller space of my rear hall. David Mason brought his technical and acoustic experts on board; they tried different speakers (ironically, we landed back with the clean lines and customised acoustics of Viscount’s own) and came up with a scheme to map the organ onto the twelve speakers plus subwoofer that the space would accommodate.
A team of three installers brought the instrument over on the ferry. I couldn’t have wished for better craftsmen: hugely knowledgeable, respectful, and extremely careful. The cables were tracked into the wall of a modern house which was replastered and painted seamlessly.
Installation was followed by basic voicing and, a few weeks later, by a specialist voicing visit where my wish list – such as a little more brightness here and there, the Great Trumpet to be a chorus reed and the Choir flute a chiffy one – was all accommodated. I was impressed in particular by how the voicer brought the Great to a sound which filled the space impressively without over-filling it. Of course voicing is a personal thing, and the Physis system has allowed me to make some further tweaks myself from the huge range of voices and adjustments available with a few button presses.
The result is a cathedral-grade instrument in my home and I am delighted with it. The quality of the console would be remarkable even for a pipe organ and blends beautifully with its surroundings; when I play I get true pipe organ sound from all angles. It has inspired me to increase my repertoire and I am much looking forward to Christmas dinner with carols around the organ! The quality of service matched the premium marque.”
I have had a passion for church organs since the tender age of 12. I own and run Regent Classic Organs with a close attention to the detail that musicians appreciate; and a clear understanding of the benefits of digital technology and keeping to the traditional and emotional elements of organ playing.
