LEN RAWLE
ORGANIST SUPREME
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PAGE SEVEN:
WURLITZER LODGE
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BUILDING WURLITZER LODGE
&
INSTALLING THE THEATRE ORGAN
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Now that the Rawle family had purchased both a theatre organ and a plot of land, they now had to set about creating a purpose-built building for the organ.
Dennis, Len’s Brother (Left) & Father (Right) Digging the Foundations
Firstly, they began this task by preparing the groundwork themselves for the foundations. Once this was completed, professional builders moved in to build the house.
The family decided on naming the house Wurlitzer Lodge and it was ready for them to occupy in the latter part of 1959.
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Wurlitzer Lodge, 47 Doncaster Drive, Northolt
The arrow points to the blank wall between the main body of the house
and the garage and behind which the Organ Chambers were installed
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47 Doncaster Drive today
The erstwhile surgery of Dr. Foote is seen to the left on the house
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Although Len’s father loved both the sound and the technical side of the theatre organ, he was never fortunate enough to have any musical guidance or instruction in playing the instrument. Despite this, he developed the skill to tune an organ. He learned to do this by watching and identifying the work of professional tuners who were always happy to come to their home and explain what to do, and more importantly, what not to do.
Mr. Les Rawle, Len’s father, sorting out some of the cables of the Family Organ
Len says that his father’s skill as a tuner was recognised and he was invited by the management of the Regal Cinema Edmonton to take on the responsibility of tuning as well as the routine maintenance of the Cinema’s renown Christie Theatre Organ (4-Manuals; 15-Ranks) in order to allow organ societies to hold concerts there. Mr. Les Rawle happily offered his abilities at no cost to the Cinema management, and they in return, offered the organ to him as a gift when the Cinema finally closed.
The Regal Cinema Edmonton (Left) & Ms Doreen Chadwick (1919-2014; Right)
seated at the Console of the Cinema’s Christie Theatre Organ in 1976
Photograph taken from the CD Cover, Echoes of Edmonton
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The Rawle family in turn donated the organ to the UK Chapter of the American Theatre Organ Society, (which they had founded; see below) and the Chapter installed it in the Memorial Hall Barry, South Wales and ran regular Tea Dances and Concerts there for 15 years.
Memorial Hall Barry
When a new management decided they needed the space, the Tea Dances and Concerts ended. The organ was removed and placed in storage until Paul Kirner negotiated an offer to purchase it from the Chapter and install it in his Music Palace.
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Like a Phoenix, the Organ rose from the Ashes
Over a period of several months during 1959, most Sunday mornings were spent by Len, his father and other helpers in going up into the organ chambers at the Granada Theatre Wandsworth to strip down the various components and giving them a good cleaning. In 1960, installation of these components in the Lodge began and took five months to complete.
The Console now installed in the Lounge-Music Room of Wurlitzer Lodge
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Len says that he and his father were guided in the installation process by two experienced organ builders/tuners who spent occasional weekends with them. Len also spent some time discussing the installation process with several academics and professionals including Frank Fowler of Hill, Norman and Beard, Derek Batten of John Compton Organ Company and William Sellers of J.W. Walker & Sons.
Frank Fowler, the last Managing Director of Hill, Norman & Beard
Seen here seated at the Console of The Compton Organ of the Odeon Weston Super Mare
This photograph was kindly provided by Fred Smedley (1934-2020),
Chairman of the West of England Theatre Organ Society, WETOS
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HOW TO TAME AN ORGAN
OVERCOMING CERTAIN PROBLEMS
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During the building of Wurlitzer Lodge and the installation of the theatre organ, the family endured a number of trials and tribulations, but they were not daunted by them or by the scope of the overall task.
Two of the major problems that Len and his father faced when it came to installing the theatre organ were:
- limiting the volume of sound produced by the organ into the house to an acceptable level and avoiding any disturbance to neighbours when the organ was played; and
- controlling the temperature of the Organ Chamber (where the pipes were set up).
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CONTROL OF THE DECIBEL LEVEL
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Len says that during visits to the U.S.A. and having visited several homes where organs had been installed, he was struck by the loudness of the instrument in the house. It seemed that the organ owners wished to allow the entire volume of the pipe work into their music room. He found the loudness to be unacceptable and knew that his family would not find this high volume level generated from their organ tolerable and neither, he felt certain, would their neighbours!
Soon after the Rawle family decided to build their own house, Len’s parents were visiting him at Aldershot to hear him play at one of his Sunday practice sessions at the Wurlitzer Theatre Organ of the Ritz-ABC Aldershot. Prior to this visit, Mr. Rawle had evidently been giving much thought to the high volume generated by an organ and how this could be reduced to an acceptable level for the family and neighbours to tolerate. After careful thought, Mr. Rawle informed Len that in order to lessen the noise level produced by the organ, he should be prepared to use only a few STOPS at any one particular time.
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STOP, STOP KEYS: An organ Stop is a component of a Pipe Organ that admits pressurised air (Wind) to a set of organ pipes (Ranks). The Ranks of the traditional Pipe Organ are turned on and off by Draw Knobs placed on panels on both sides of the manuals. For the theatre organ, Robert Hope-Jones (1859-1914) substituted the Draw Knobs with electrically operated tongue-shaped STOPS (Tablets, Stop-Tabs, Tabs, Stop-Tablets) positioned on a curved panel set around and above the Manuals (Horseshoe Console) to control the pipes, percussion instruments, effects (e.g. Tremulants) and Couplers. Its name derives from the fact that STOPS may be used selectively by the organist – some may be in the on position (admitting the passage of air to certain pipes) while others may be off (stopping the passage of air to the other pipes).
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Mr. Les Rawle’s solution was of course not at all what Len wanted since he hoped to play their organ using the entire resources of the instrument without any limitation. But of course, he was mindful of his family and did not want to overwhelm them with a high level of noise or disturb his neighbours.
While playing the Wurlitzer Theatre Organ of the Regal-ABC Aldershot, Len had noticed that the instrument’s Swell Shutters were positioned under the stage in the Orchestra Pit and positioned behind the Console. Suddenly, an idea struck him that was to result in his finding a way to limit the level of sound produced by their organ from bothering either him, his family or the neighbours!
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SWELL SHUTTERS: the louvres which open or close on one side of the SWELL BOX and which control the volume of sound entering the theatre;
SWELL BOX: with reference to the classical or church organ, this is a soundproofed box containing only the pipes of the SWELL ORGAN (for details, see below). With the Theatre Organ, all pipes are contained within SWELL BOXES so that control of the entire instrument’s volume is possible;
SWELL PEDAL: This is any of a group of foot-controlled levers situated directly above the Pedal Keyboard, each one of which governs the expression (softness and loudness) of the organ by opening or closing the various Shutters in front of the organ chambers. On some organs, they were linked together and operated from a general Swell Pedal.
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Gerald Moore (1899-1987) – esteemed pianist and accompanist
Len remembers asking his father to stand directly in front of the Swell Shutters in the Orchestra Pit while he played on a full combination of sounds (i.e. no limitation on the number of Stops.
At first, Len played with all of the Shutters closed and asked his father if he could accept that level of sound. Mr. Rawle said it was fine. Next, Len opened the first Shutter Blade and resumed playing. Len then asked his father to assume that the Orchestra Pit was their Lounge–Music Room at Wurlitzer Lodge, and asked once more if the new level of sound would be acceptable to him and his mother. Again Mr. Rawle said that it sounded fine. After this, Len next opened the second Shutter Blade whereupon his father immediately said that the sound produced was too loud.
Following this – and here is the ingenious AND elegant solution to their problem – Len measured the surface area of the first Shutter Blade and suggested to his father that if they constructed a totally sound proof room (i.e. a Pipe Chamber or Swell Box) and limited the Tonal Egress (Outlet or Opening) into their Lounge-Music Room to be no larger than the total area of the single Shutter Blade (Louvre) that he measured at Aldershot, he believed that they could live happily with the sound level produced by the instrument and, in addition, he would be able to play their organ using the entire resources of the instrument without any limitation (and of course not prove bothersome to the neighbours).
Len and his father now set about building the sound proof chamber and to arrange all the Shutters behind two limited-size tone outlets into their Lounge-Music Room.
A Tonal Egress into the Lounge-Music Room at Wurlitzer Lodge
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Len says that at Wurlitzer Lodge, he learned to keep the sound within the Swell Box or Pipe Chamber by constructing the walls and ceiling of brick and concrete. Other heavy materials such as sheet lead, sand could have been used for the same purpose. This was in line with the original installations of Robert Hope Jones (1859-1914) who employed concrete boxes, as described below.
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Len told me that he learned something of future value during his Insurance Surveying Days from a lecturer from Esso (ExxonMobil Corportation). Seemingly this gentleman had very real problems when he came to address methods of reducing the sound heard throughout ships that was generated by the engines of Tanker Ships. Apparently, everything that had previously been tried to reduce the sound had proven fruitless until they hit upon the idea of encasing the Engine Room in concrete.
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Later, Len employed the same materials to construct the Pipe Chamber when he was building his own home, Tonawanda in Chorleywood, to house the majestic 4-Manual, 20-Ranks Wurlitzer Theatre Organ previously installed at the Empire Theatre Leicester Square.
In both homes, Len and his father constructed the Pipe Chambers with fourteen inch thick brick walls and twelve inch thick concrete ceilings. In the case of Tonawanda, the Chamber ceiling was also part within the roof space of the house that was given a covering of concrete tiles.
An example of a Swell Box or Pipe Chamber made of wood
and with a Swell Shutter (Louvre doors) consisting of a series of Shutter Blades
which when opened allow sound out
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Essentially a Church Organ consists of several organs:
- the lowest keyboard would normally be called the Choir Organ and had its own set of pipes within a Pipe Chamber (Swell Box) and as the name implies were mostly suited to accompanying the Choir;
- the next keyboard is normally known as the Great Organ and plays pipes that are unenclosed and thus rather strident and certainly ideally suited to leading congregations in singing hymns; and
- the third keyboard is normally called the Swell Organ and, as the name suggests, all the pipes are within an expressive Swell Box.
Robert Hope-Jones changed the way in which organs were designed. His concept was to have the entire instrument under one Expression rather than what was the situation with the Church Pipe Organ. Mr. Jones built a concrete box fitted with a set of Swell Shutters (see photograph above): the more Shutter Blades (i.e. slats) that were open, the louder the pipes would sound. This was the principle adopted for the manufacture of Theatre Organs.
The majority of pipes of an average size theatre organ are contained within TWO such Pipe Chambers (Swell Boxes). Normally, one Swell Box (known as the Main Chamber) contain pipes best suited for Classical Music and as a basis for the accompaniment combinations used underneath the myriad of sounds mostly based on the pipes in the other chamber known as the Solo Pipe Chamber.
This arrangement has proven to be an excellent approach to satisfy the musical needs of both orchestral and dance music.
In cinemas and theatres where there was a theatre organ installed, the ideal situation was to have two Pipe Chambers, one to the left of the stage, and the other to the right. Some cinemas and theatres were not able to provide this facility and, as a result, some theatre organs were installed with either one or two Pipe Chambers over the Proscenium Arch or beneath the stage.
Len says that with for the installation of the Wurlitzer Theatre Organ at Wurlitzer Lodge, and later at his home in Chorleywood, he and his father built one large Pipe Chamber that they divided in half with two small Tonal Egresses. He also said that this proved to be the best answer in providing something akin to the sound heard in a cinema or theatre. In addition, Len says that having one large Pipe Chamber helped create the fullest and warmest tone especially from the Bass Pipes. Having two separate Egresses into the listening area provided a particularly realistic (Stereo) effect much appreciated by those with keen musical ears.
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Len says that this solution was not so much a dampening of the sound, as a reduction in the overall of volume to fit in the size of the listening room. Len adds that one could still hear every single pipe crystal clear and, more importantly, the family never received a complaint that the organ was either too loud or too soft.
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The principles of taming the original full sound of the organ installed in a house involved the construction of a domestic soundproofed Organ Chamber with two limited size Tonal Outlets to keep the decibel level down to a comfortable level in the Lounge-Music Room where the Console was placed. This also gave a good stereophonic image from a single Pipe Chamber installation.
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Len playing the Wurlitzer Theatre Organ at the Opening Concert at Wurlitzer Lodge
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CONTROL OF THE TEMPERATURE IN THE SWELL BOX
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Unfortunately, Len discovered that whenever the sun shone directly on the roof at Wurlitzer Lodge, the temperature of the Pipe Chamber rose, which presented a problem that required their immediate attention.
Temperature has a profound effect on the sound produced when an organ is played. Len informed me that the ideal temperature to maintain a Wurlitzer Theatre Organ in good playing order in the UK is 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Centigrade).
Any variation in the temperature of the Pipe Chamber causes the Reed Pipes to appear to distance themselves from the Flue Pipes, which starts to introduce a sourness to the sound produced thereby making the organ sound more like a Harmonium!
In order to overcome this problem, Len and his father had shielded the concrete chamber roof from the sun’s rays with roofing tiles. To counter the lower winter temperatures, thermostatically controlled Electric Tubular Heaters were within the Pipe Chamber.
Temperature fluctuates with the seasons of the year causing the musical pipes, both metal and wooden, to expand and contract. Wooden Pipes are particular prone to go out of tune with metal pipes. In addition, Reed Pipes, as a result of their construction, can also easily go out of tune with Flue Pipes. In the UK, 68 degrees Fahrenheit has been accepted as the most suitable temperature for an Pipe Chamber to be maintained.
It has been found that this temperature allows for not too much Tuning of the pipes to be necessary. Tuning is the process of adjusting each pipe in the organ to the correct Pitch so that they all sound in tune with each other. How the Pitch of each pipe is adjusted depends on the type and construction of that pipe. The Pitch is affected by temperature of the air in and around the pipes and tuning fluctuates with temperature changes so it must be re-done periodically so the organ sounds its best. Len says that they tuned the Theatre Organ of Wurlitzer Lodge on a monthly basis, but that at Tonawanda, only ever once or twice a year. Len says that the less that pipes are knocked about during their lifetime, the better!
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When the work was completed, the Rawle family found that they had produced an effective control over the dynamics of Len’s playing.
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Later, when Len was building his own home, Tonawanda in Chorleywood, where the majestic 4-Manual, 20-Ranks Wurlitzer Theatre Organ previously installed at the Empire Theatre Leicester Square was housed for fifty-four years, he and his father decided not to place the Organ Chamber on the side of the house on which the sun mostly shone. Thus the Pipe Chamber was more in the shade at this location. Len adds that they also decided on a conventional tiled roof for the attic area above the concrete roof of the Pipe Chamber. One additional benefit of this type of construction was that during the hottest of weathers, the Lounge-Music Room proved to be one of the coolest to relax in at such times. This proved to be a point of discussion when visitors called.
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Six months after moving into Wurlitzer Lodge, the Wurlitzer Organ of the former Granada Theatre Wandsworth was fully playable using even the fullest combinations of sound, and on the 30th October, 1960, an opening concert was held before an invited group of people.
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Word of the method chosen to tame the sound had spread around the world and became a talking point and went on to be of help to many others to overcome the same problem.
Later on, the family added further Ranks to the Organ and a Music Room extension that ran the whole width of the back of the property, which allowed up to forty-five visitors to attend and enjoy their musical evenings.
Len and his parents welcomed all visitors from both the UK and abroad. As a result Their musical evenings snowballed into regular monthly meetings at the Wurlitzer Lodge. Quite often, committee members of the TOC, COS and even visiting American officials of The American Theatre Organ Society (ATOS) were in attendance (see Page 8: Wurlitzer Lodge: Site of the Founding of the UK Chapter of The American Theatre Organ Society (ATOS)).
One such visitor was Robin Richmond (1912-1998), seen here seated at
the Wurlitzer Theatre Organ of Wurlitzer Lodge and heard here playing it:
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Listen to Mr. Rawle’s interview with the Brockley News
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The Mighty Organ – a video directed by Amanda Brown,
daughter of the Theatre Organist, Jackie Brown.
I would like to thank Ms Brown for allowing this video to appear here.
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With the passing of his parents, the Organ was sold to the Organ Broker, Mr Ian McNaught in Scotland who sold the majority of the original Organ to Mr. Anthony Storey of Peterborough who is currently working on his project to return it to a playing condition. Mr. McNaught sold the added Ranks of pipes separately and they have since found their way into a number of other deserving transplanted Wurlitzer Theatre Organs.
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