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Home of the Magnolia Theater Organ Society /

Magnolia Chapter of the American Theater Organ Society
A Non-Profit Educational and Caretaking Corporation
Dedicated to the preservation, performance and enjoyment of the "King of Instruments"
 

Temple Theater Robert Morton Project

As of: Wednesday May 22, 2013

Organized and recognized as a Public Charity
under IRS Code section 501 (c) (3)

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Click here to Join or Donate -
Help Preserve these wonderful Instruments!!!


The MTOS work group will meet Monday 6:15PM at the Workshop until further notice.
Project: Continued work on the console
This is the "new" Robert Morton Console. It suffered moderate water and pest damage while in storage in Atlanta. That damage has been repaired, pedal board rebuilt; all three keyboards cleaned and re-bushed; and new stop-tab bolsters custom manufactured making room for nearly twice as many SAMs as original. The number of thumb and toe pistons has also been greatly increased.

Once funds are collected to allow the purchase of the needed interface boards - they will be installed, the console painted it's final color - and details gold leafed. At that point - it will be ready to replaced the original console at the Temple Theater.  The original console is in only fair condition - itself in need of an overhaul; and does not have the needed number of stop-tabs to accomodate desired expansion and enchancement of Pipe-work (i.e. additonal ranks of pipe).

The Temple Theater in Meridian, MS houses one of only two remaining Theater Organs installed in it's original location in the State of Mississippi. Both this organ - and it's sibling at the Saenger Theater in Hattiesburg are under the care of the Magnolia Chapter of the American Theater Organ Society, as well as several other organ - smaller and larger - installed in private residences around the state. Magnolia Chapter membership is open to anyone with an interest in preserving, playing and enjoying these magnificent King of Instruments. You can click here - or on the picture above for more pictures of the Temple Theater.
Here - Chapter member Frank Evans is testing the organ after some repairs.
This is the console of the Temple's Robert Morton 3/8 Theater Organ.
Noted as a "3/8" as it has three full keyboards - controlling 8 "ranks" or voices of pipes.
You can click here - or on the picture - for more pictures of this organ.

Where the music comes from

Here is just one small section of the left pipe chamber. Part of the organ's "percussion instruments" are seen in the background - in this case bass and snare drums, and a cymbal. These non-tuned percussive instruments - along with many others such as duck calls, car horns, whistles, etc. form part of the unique section known as the Toy Counter which allow the organist to produce many of the familiar sound effects needed to accompany silent movies. The pipes to the right are part of the Vox-Humana rank - the pipes are designed to mimic the human voice in the "choir" of the organ. At the very top of the picture - behind the drums, are the swell shades - and the "motors" that operate them. The individual pipes speak at one volume - there is no individual control over their loudness. However - each chamber has a set of "shades" - that cover the opening into the theater. These shades are controlled by the swell shoes on the console - which the organists operates with his feet. By opening and closing the swell shades - the organist can control the volume of each chamber into the theater.
If these mighty instruments interest you - come on and join us in keeping these wonderful gifts from the past making beautiful music!
Copyright © 2011 The Magnolia Chapter ATOS. All rights reserved.
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