Jack Woodward (jack.woodward@gm.com) ------------- 2799 Cumberland Rd Berkley, Michigan 48072 U.S.A. (248) 877-5250 I am now approaching the age (not yet) when I no longer have to set the alarm clock every workday. For the moment, I still work for one of the major automotive companies. My expertise is in the arena of electronic engine control systems. Onboard computers, sensors, actuators, miles of wiring, and self-diagnostics. All government requirements nowadays, so I assist in making sure our company complies with those requirements. While working on computer records I can listen to music via a good audio system - a treasure that makes any day better and constantly reinforces my love for the organ - my choice of music. Having the ability of listening with a computer at hand was the open door to doing a deep dive into all things pipe organ. I did a search on 64' pipes, found the Sidney Town Hall organ and the Atlantic City Convention Hall Midmer-Losh. In my lifetime I hope to hear the ACCHO Midmer-Losh completely restored. I checked into becoming a volunteer on the restoration of it after retirement. One strength I have that would be helpful in that endeavor is understanding electromechanical anything, music, harmonics, a keen sense of pitch, physics, wind systems, and a damn good tinkerer who can fix most anything, The ACCHO is not everyone's cup of tea but I am looking forward to hearing ALL of it before I stop breathing. I freely admit to being neither a professional musician nor in a job that places me into the music world professionally. HOWEVER - that does not mean no knowledge or involvement with music! Like all of you, pipe organ for me began as a listener. My earliest memories of pipe organ music are of old recordings played on simple record players that offered only a glimpse of what the instrument sounded like in-the-real. The wonderful rumblings of pedal ranks was experienced by me on only a few occasions - until Virgil Fox dedicated the organ in the largest Methodist church in my home town. That was when the attraction to real pipe organs, experienced in the flesh, started for me. The era when Virgil Fox was doing dedication concerts, coupled to the same year I was asked to sing in the school's 4th grade choir, should give you an approximation of my age. I understand that V.F. was controversial, but he did bring many people to appreciate the pipe organ, and that's not a bad thing! Any pipe organ - any kind - captures my attention in a heartbeat. When a teen, my mother and I would visit the Rivoli Theater in Indianapolis - my first exposure to theater organ, and 32' power. In college, I persisted in bugging the music director until he opened the door to the pipe chambers on the newly-installed Schantz, and I was up close to the magical enticement of real pipes, real chambers, windchests, shutters, and so on. The music director kindly explained quite a bit, and my own interest and self-study to learn about the pipe organ was firmly engrained. Now - for my own personal musical background. In a word, choral. I've sung in choirs beginning in the 4th grade, and the highest level was as baritone and 2nd tenor in the Detroit Concert Choir directed by Gordon Nelson. This choir competes internationally, won Choir of the World in 1996, still competes, has several ensembles and the main choir of 80+ singers, and performs at concerts on a regular basis. I sang with the main choir in Italy, where we were asked to sing a portion of the mass at the Vatican. What an event and memory that was, and is. If you are interested, the choir's website: http://www.detroitconcertchoir.com/ For the pipe organ, I am in a learning and research mode to learn more of the intricacies of pipe organs. My posts will likely be of a learning nature, where I can benefit from so much of your knowledge. Sincerely and with Best Regards - Jack Woodward