Health and Safety

oopsorganist · Post by **oopsorganist** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 10:17 pm

Just wondering, as you do

does playing the church organ make you deaf? I sometimes wonder if I should have ear muffs on when playing. Is there any advice on this?

dunstan · Post by **dunstan** » Thu Jun 08, 2006 9:07 am

Are you particularly near to where it speaks, or should you be worrying about your congregation as well?

Reginald · Post by **Reginald** » Thu Jun 08, 2006 3:01 pm

I'm not sure about you wearing ear muffs, but I've recently noticed several members of the congregation at my church putting on ear defenders when they see that it's my turn at the console!

docmattc · Post by **docmattc** » Thu Jun 08, 2006 3:44 pm

Concert at Leeds Parish Church last night certainly made the ears ring. Really let rip on Langlais' Paraphrase Gregorienne Op50 No3. And the pipe organ plus 3 Makin digitals all playing Crown Imperial simultaneously produced just a bit of volume

oopsorganist · Post by **oopsorganist** » Thu Jun 08, 2006 8:32 pm

I am sitting right in the place where the sound is produced I think. Never use pedals, perhaps just as well.

contrabordun · Post by **contrabordun** » Fri Jun 09, 2006 8:18 am

Loadsanoise

isn't that what attracted us to the instrument in the first place?

Reginald · Post by **Reginald** » Fri Jun 09, 2006 9:00 am

Oops, sounds to me as though you might be playing one of those silly organs where the keys and pedals are attached to the pipes by sticks and bits of string. Best to chuck it out and replace it with a nice detached console. Mine is white with gold trim, mounted on a lift. I often press the down button and close the trapdoor so that I don't have to listen to myself - comes in handy for the homily too!!

dunstan · Post by **dunstan** » Fri Jun 09, 2006 9:30 am

Reginald, mine's a toaster rather than a box of whistles, so for practising I can just turn the wick down.

sidvicius · Post by **sidvicius** » Wed Jun 14, 2006 8:35 pm

Sound levels can be measured with an electronic meter - I would guess you could get it done professionally (and cheaply) if you checked with your local council health and safety officer. It's quite a serious issue if it's what you do for a living, or part thereof, so might be worth your while enquiring about - particularly if your organ seems to be making 'irritating' noises. There's also the question of church acoustics, especially in old buildings with sustained echo. Full congregations absorb a lot of organ sound, so the organist may consider opening the tubes a bit more than when practising, and this might not be safe for prolonged periods.

There is plenty about this on the web. google "noise induced hearing loss".

contrabordun · Post by **contrabordun** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 12:40 am

On the subject of toasters and organs, the following

humourous article [This link is now defunct - Musicus]

has long been one of my all time favourites.. enjoy, if you're into that sort of thing.

musicus · Post by **musicus** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 9:47 pm

Excellent! :lol:

Reginald · Post by **Reginald** » Fri Jun 16, 2006 7:24 am

Fantastic! Have e-mailed the link to several of my theatre organ minded friends.

organist · Post by **organist** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 1:43 am

Well I've been losing hearing in my right ear for some years and the thought of going deaf is just too awful! :cry:

I'm due to get NHS hearing aids in a month but the audiologist warned me they won;t help much with music. Someone did a survey on this problem a few years back and I've lost the information. It might be that sitting close to the pipes can cause problems (although I haven't done that for years). The organ should accompany most of the time and I try to be restrained. The open diapason on the organ I play every Sunday is loud and speaks right down the church. I never use it when accompanying the choir. The other week I went for more restrained accompaniments in some of the hymns and it was remarked upon so there's a lesson. 8 foot and 4 foot tone can be enough. Just add a 15th to lift the whole thing!
Of course we all love the big sound - the Royal Albert Hall organ in full cry - would love to play that one day! And Howells Saraband for the morning of Easter at the end of the Vigil or on Easter Day itself - wow!

organist · Post by **organist** » Wed Dec 31, 2008 12:07 am

I had an accident before Christmas and got a knee infection. I fell off the edge of the pedal board in a strange church with poor lighting and no wooden surround to the pedals. Fortunately the doctor sorted it quickly but beware of strange buildings!

Southern Comfort · Post by **Southern Comfort** » Wed Dec 31, 2008 10:17 am

Alas Stephen Bicknell died in August 2007 at the tragically early age of 50. His website is therefore defunct (just to explain why the link above no longer works in case anyone wonders).

Society of Saint Gregory