Christ the King Catholic Church, Tampa FL
“At Christ the King in Tampa, we LOVE our new Viscount! The mighty organ made her debut this weekend – 6 separate Masses – and at every liturgy she drew applause… sometimes after the opening hymn, always after the closing hymn (God Bless America, in honor of Columbus Day).
I can’t tell you the number of people who told me or the pastor, Fr. Len, that they were moved to tears! Literally dozens of folks!
The instrument is remarkable. There’s a clarity to the sound and a strong “spatial” sense to the various divisions in different locations. The music seems to be dancing off of the surfaces of the room. 😊 There’s also a lot of gravitas to the sound. My big finale definitely rocked the church… you could feel those 32’ bass notes!
Thank you one and all. I speak for Fr. Len and our business manager John Weir when I say It’s been a great pleasure working with the entire Viscount team and we look forward to our continued relationship.”
Thanks again. Blessings,
Stephen Banyra
Hybrid pipe organ projects present unique challenges. The original pipe organ’s condition and how well it was thought out and built can make for a straightforward project or a challenging one. How the musical resources sound, blend, and balance will govern its potential use and success as part of a new “hybrid” instrument.
The pipe organ at Christ the King Church had several issues the church had been struggling with for some time.
Located in the Gallery in rear of the church, the Great, Pedal, and Swell Divisions were pushed all the way back and to the left and right of the choir singers. This trapped the singers between a loud unexpressed Great and a large expressed Swell. The church acoustics were fairly dry; so the pipe organ had been made intentionally louder in order to push sound into building, but this only drowned out the choir singers. Various microphone techniques were attempted to raise the choir voice level above the organ. However, that also raised the organ level and did not improve the situation.
Many talented instrumental groups also use this limited Gallery space. So as part of a recent church remodel, it was a natural choice that the Gallery be enlarged. However, the addition of about 15’ to the depth of the Gallery trapped the organ sound further and worsened the situation.
From the main floor, the overall impression of the organ was loud and obnoxious. It lacked definition and change in color or dynamics. There were no pianissimo sounds, only forte and greater, resulting in an uncomfortable listening experience.
Interestingly, there also existed an unexpressed “Positive” Division located further forward, some distance from the rest of the organ. It was divided left and right at the forward sides of the Gallery where an unexpressed Great Division would normally have been placed. Located as it was, the choir singers could not hear it at all. This Division added some degree of clarity to the organ’s overall sound in the main church, but in general, was musically useless as the organ was designed. Therefore, it was not used often.
Residing in this Positive was a magnificent surprise, a huge full-length horizontal Festival Trumpet. This “Herald Trumpet” Stop, usually the crowning jewel of a larger organ, was in poor condition and just added to the organ’s already perceived obnoxious nature. Listeners were weary of the organ’s harsh sound well before anything else could “crown” its full character.
Serious solutions were needed to solve these many critical issues and would require:
1. Removal and relocating the old unexpressed Great away from the choir singers and replacing it with a new expressed Choir Division in the old location.
2. Redesigning a new unexpressed Great where the old Positive existed and re-purposing suitable Positive pipe ranks into the new Great tonal design.
3. Re-purposing leftover ranks into a new Pedal Division and other Divisions as suitable to a new tonal design.
However, moving whole Divisions of pipe ranks requires huge amounts of physical space and money. This was necessary to completely solve the issues. Less just would not work. The Church needed a new vision and a new approach that was realistically possible.
A Viscount “Physis” organ provides three distinct advantages for this specific situation:
1. Sound quality that is an exact tonal match to any pipe organ
2. A huge library of over 1000 completely voice-able Stops for any tonal style
3. Flexibility to add Stops, partial and/or whole Divisions, and Control for any type of pipe organ
For these reasons the Church chose a Viscount “Physis” 4-Manual Organ. Combined with the pipe organ, it would be possible to solve all of the pipe organ’s musical and sound issues and realize their vision for the future of the organ. No changes to the building would be required and the cost would be reasonable and achievable.
The Viscount North America Team brings significant skills to organ projects including our Tonal Director, Pipe Organ Specialists, Expert Audio Engineers, Technicians, and Installation Teams. We are committed to provide the best musically sound solutions with expertise, care, and kindness.
Now that much time has passed on this project, the organ is nearing completion. We are able to hear and experience the results. The organ has had its introduction to playing for services, and the congregations’ comments say it all. It is truly a stunning change.
The original organ had roughly 40-ranks. Now the new instrument is twice that size. Enlarged from 3-manuals to 4-manuals, the new organ encompasses five Divisions of Pedal, Great, Swell, Choir, and an Antiphonal Solo Division at the front of the church. The new Choir Division is fully expressed and offers the softest colors for accompaniment. The Choir singers are no longer being overwhelmed. The new Solo Division that speaks antiphonally from the front of the church offers its own beautiful colors plus foundational accompaniment for congregational singing or Cantors at the front of the church.
The organ’s dynamic change now grows from the softest strings and flutes, developing and progressing naturally through the full musical range of the organ. All organ literature can be played, and any accompaniment or prayer response is possible. Now the Big Trumpet Crowns the full organ properly. It can even “dialogue” with the Pontifical Tuba in the Solo.
The most revolutionary change to the organ has been the relocation and new tonal design of the Great Division. This was accomplished without moving a single pipe rank or modifying the building. By re-purposing the ranks in the old Positive Division and adding new “Physis” digital ranks, a new full Great Division now resides out front and on the two sides of the Gallery. This change has been extremely successful. The “whole” organ is now a complete tonally cohesive design with diverse colors and dynamic range making this organ sound complete throughout the church.
The Church can now look forward to a bright future of magnificent organ music as this instrument proclaims the Glory of our Lord.
Thank you to everyone at Christ the King for your trust, help, kindness, and grace. It has been our privilege to be of service.
Dan Bashor
Church Organ Works, Inc.
Viscount North America Team Member
