TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 1941.
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN, LAWRENCE, KANSAS
PAGE FIVE
A Trillion Tones---- In Organs Made With Skill
---Reuter Factory
Assuming that you know how to play a pipe organ, if you were to play, at the rate of one a second, every possible tone combination at your finger tips, it would take you 34,800 years. Hence, not even the professional artist uses all the possible tones of his instrument. Besides, it would do little good if he could, since nine-tenths of these shadings and nuances of sound are not perceptible to the human ear.
If these facts are not already a part of your knowledge concerning pipe organs, the chances are that they will be when you go through the Reuter Organ factory here in Lawrence. For, in all probability, the man who $ ^{ \textcircled{1}} $
will conduct you through this interesting concern is John Selig, sales manager for A. C. Reuter, the man who "makes music along the Kaw."
Though not a player himself, Mr. Selig has a genuine love for the instrument which he has sold in nearly every state. His main complaint is that most players never begin to use their organ.
While pointing at a new set of pipes which are being tuned, he will tell you. "These pipes are capable of a trillion tone combinations, yet the average organist will use only a dozen. Our music conservatories go on teaching the same routine in the mechanics of playing a pipe organ when they should be teaching the future artists how to create new musical patterns of their own."
The Reuter Organ Factory is housed in a five-story construction and assembly building and a three-story office and engineering building on the banks of the river at the foot of New Hampshire street. They welcome visitors; a tour of the plant is a veritable "journey in the land of the music-makers."
Only a few operations in construction are not done at the factory. The ebony keys, for instance, are cut to size before they are shipped in from the East. The electric cables are not made here. But everything else, from winding the ting armatures for the electro-mag-
posts to the actual cabinet-work of the console itself, can be seen in operation in Lawrence. The metal for the pipes is alloyed, smelted, and rolled in Reuter's own smelting rooms. Soft white pine from southern forests goes into the construction of the wooden pipes; hard oak, maple, and spruce from northern forests is used in making fancy consoles, each stained to harmonize with the woodwork of the church where the organ is to be installed.
One of the most fascinating operations is that of the "voicer," whose musical ear is so highly trained that he can tell whether a pipe is playing out of tune when it may sound perfect to the ordinary ear. As each set of pipes, wooden or metal, is finished, they are set up in a full-sized organ for tuning. The "voicer" then works them over, making small adjustments here or calling for the construction of an entire new pipe there, until the set is in perfect tune. Once tuned, they will remain so for 15 to 20 years.
One of the Reuter organs used in the School of Fine Arts, for instance, is nearly 20 years old and has had practically no attention in that time. There are two of these local products installed as practice instruments in Frank Strong hall, rooms 225 and 226. The large organ in Hoch auditorium is not a Reuter. This four-manual console was constructed originally for the Newman theater in Kansas City,
was purchased 23 years ago by the School of Fine Arts, and was subsequently installed in the new auditorium.
The only factory of its kind west of St. Louis and the fourth largest in the world, Reuter is the only organ builder constructing both all-electric and electro-pneumatic actions for the control of air flow into the sounding pipes. In the former, the air valve is attached directly to a hinged teeter-totter sort of mechanism controlled by the magnet, which, in turn, is controlled by pushing on one of the keys. In the electro-pneumatic type, the magnet indirectly controls a balance of air pressures on each side of the valve.
At the factory you may see a miniature organ which is used solely to illustrate the two types of valve control.
With representatives and salesmen in nearly every state, with a small, well-planned advertising campaign, by mailed-in inquiry, but most of all by the fame and reputation of the Reuter Organ, this factory does a steady, humming business.
According to Mr. Selig, an organ is often sold, not by any facts or figures concerning it, nor by the glib tongue of a salesman, but by the composition the demonstrator plays. "The average church committee instructed to buy an organ, would hesitate if we played them a Bach concerto. They are more apt to buy when the demonstrator plays The Old Refrain or one of the familiar church hymns. But the committee of music professors from a University or conservatory will listen to nothing but Bach."
The largest instrument Reuter has ever installed, incidentally, is in the conservatory auditorium at the University of North Carolina.
Despite popular belief otherwise, for every tone there is a pipe; and no pipe may sound more than one tone. When the organist flips one of the small control buttons on the console of an organ he is not letting in more air, or changing the tone of the pipes in any way, but is changing from one set of pipes to another. The tinkling bell sounds, the deep-throated bass rumblings,
Every pipe organ is custom-built. Hence, ever organ that Reuter has sold or expects to sell present a different problem of planning and construction. After the sale is clinched, an engineer blueprints the entire building where the instrument is to be installed. From this planning chart, problems in acoustics, in size of pipes, location of console and other details are worked out. The organ is then built and set up at the factory for a "test run" so to speak. When Mr. Reuter himself gives final approval, the organ is "knocked down" and crated for shipment. Again set up in its final environment, the organ gets a thorough tuning.
Pachacamac Opens Spring Headquarters
Planning to run its spring election campaign in blitzkrieg fashion, and remembering the final success of Hitler's beer-hall putsch—hte Society of Pachacamac opened its spring headquarters Sunday night in Ed Penchard's Beer Barrel Inn under Brick's.
From this campaign headquarters the Pachacamacs will plot
From this campaign he and plan to, as Bob McClure, party campaign manager, said, "Put Pachacamac back in the saddle of student government."
Members of the platform committee include David Watermulder, chairman; Fred Lawson, Bob Thomas, Dick Oliver and Lane Davis.
At the meeting 10 men were initiated into the inner circle of the political party. The new Pachacamacs are Frank Tyler, C. E. Russell, Don Pomeroy, Glenn Perkins, Glenn Gilpin, Wiley Mitchell, Bob Green, Findley Law, Clarke Henry, and Sam Crawford.
Gene Whestone, Pachacamac president, announced the appointment of two new committees, platform and publicity.
Faculty Discusses Architects' Bill With Senate
Members of the publicity committee include John Weatherwax chairman; Harold Haney, Ed Palmer, Chuck Elliott, and Jay Voran
Faculty members of the department of architecture were in Topeka last night attending a meeting of the state affairs committee of the Senate, which was discussing a proposed Architects Registration bill. They were Joseph M. Kellogg, Verner F. Smith, and George M. Beal.
The bill, which has been passed by the House, provides for the registration and licensing of all architects in the state. Such a law is now in effect in 40 states.
the soft, flute-like tones—each type of sound in its range of pitches is made by a different set of pipes. The average organ has 73 keys on each manual, with at least three manuals, and a set of 32 foot pedals. The average organ, such as the one in the Methodist church in Lawrence, a Reuter organ, has about 40 such sets of pipes making a total of from 2,800 to 2,900 pipes in all
The organ which Reuter built for the University of North Carolina is a four-manual instrument, operating some 4,500 pipes. The smallest organ built is a two-manual, designed primarily for the home. Competition is keen in this field, and at least three large companies are building small electric organs along mass production lines. But the pipe organ, according to Mr. Selig, will always be able to hold its own with the electric type. Its tone is more beautiful, and it will last many years longer.
The Box Score . . .
In a normal production year, Reuter turns out from 50 to 60 instruments which range in price from $1,000 to $25,000 or more. The men who work in this factory are highly trainer experts in their own fields. The "voicer" must have perfect pitch, the smelters know the exact alloy which must go into metal for pipes, the cabinet makers turn out some of the most intricate and finest wood work to be seen. This is not a mass production factory. The work here goes slowly—with precision.
PHI GAM (46) FG FT F
McSpadden, f 9 1 3
Healy, f 4 3 1
Long, c 1 1 2
Hambric, g 2 0 2
Hinshaw, g 4 1 2
Totals 20 6 10
NEWMAN I (28) FG FT F
Fournier, f 3 2 2
S. Vandaveer, f 2 0 4
M. Vandaveer, f 0 0 4
Luebbe, c 2 1 2
Coffin, g 4 1 2
Nordstrom, g 6 0 3
Total 17 4 17
Totals ... 17 4 17
PHI DELT 'C' (17) FG FT F
Snowden, f 1 0 1
Pragar, f 2 0 1
Potter, f 0 0 1
Phelps, f 0 1 1
Woodbury, f 1 2 0
Elliott, f 0 0 0
Sweeney, c 1 0 0
Scott, c 0 0 0
Barkman, c 1 0 1
Jenson, g 0 0 1
Oviott, g 0 0 0
Kirby, g 0 0 0
Huebert, g 1 0 0
Totals... 7 3 6
BETA 'C' (11) FG FT F
Olander, f... 2 0 2
Schwinn, f... 0 0 0
Mitchell, f... 0 0 0
Kraemer, f... 0 0 1
Morton, c... 1 0 2
Steffens, g-c... 0 1 0
Arnold, c... 0 0 0
Chubb, g... 2 0 3
Phillips, g... 0 0 3
Welty, g... 0 0 0
Totals
NET CANDIDATES
All candidates for the tennis team are asked to meet with Coach Richard S. Howey tomorrow afternoon (Wednesday) at 4:30 in the "K" room on the second floor of Robinson Gymnasium.
I. STATE, JAYS---circuit. Seven wins were also chalked up in that league, with only Nebraska on the long end of two contests. Iowa State divided two games with Kansas to share first place with the Jayhawks.
(continued from page four)
ductive during the season, Creighton winning the Missouri Valley Conference Crown, while Iowa State shared first place in the Big Six Conference. Cyclone defense records were best in the latter circuit, with five opponents averaging 35.5 points against Iowa State. Seasoned players such as Capt. Don Fleming and Brownie Jaquay, with Gene Haldeman, junior guard, provide a balance wheel for the Bluejays. Coach Eddie Hickey has used sophomores in prominent roles as Creighton stormed to its first league title since 1932, however. Ed Beisser, sophomore center, ran a neck-and-neck battle with Jaquay for scoring honors, the latter holding a 197 to 195-point edge as the season ended.
Best Cycle Record in History Dick Nolan, sophomore guard was the leading Creighton defense man during the season and scored 141 points.
Creighton won 16 games, losing 6, during its entire season. Nine of the victories and three defeats came in conference play.
Iowa State turned in a record of 15 wins, best in its basketball history, during the past campaign, losing three games within the Big Six
Leading the Cyclone scoring was Gordon Nicholas, senior co-captain, who had 174 points. Nicholas counted 10 points a game in league play.
Also among conference scoring leaders was Al Budolfson, junior co-captain, who placed fifth. Nicholas was second to Howard Engleman of Kansas in conference rankings. Carol Schneider, junior guard, and Dale DeKoster, senior defenseman, were tied for ninth place. Gordon a Defensive Star
Nicholas will take center Tuesday night, with Fred Gordon assigned to one forward post and Budolson to the other. Gordon's careful defense play has been a season's highlight. He is also a senior. Schneider and DeKoster are also starters on Coach Louis Menge's list.
Schneider, who handles defense rebounds with all the advantages of 6 feet, 6 inches' height, will have a big assignment against the Blue-jays. Nicholas and Budolfson will take the bounces when scoring chances are near, on Iowa State attempts.
Winner of the playoffs game will remain in action at Kansas City this week, facing Washington State, Pacific Coast conference winner.
(continued from page four) katy, assistant coach, pitched to batters in hitting practice.
SPIRIT BUOYS---
This afternoon Coach Allen will split squads, and begin picking a tentative infield. Kansas' first appearance is a two game series here with Kansas State April 7 and 8.
Varsity basketballers who have been reporting for practice following the close of the cage season, are Bob Allen, T. P. Hunter, Virgil Wise, John Krum, Allen Nipper, and Ed Hall.
It's smart to
HAVE YOUR TROUSERS
AND SLACKS
THE RIGHT LENGTH
- Trousers of business suits should just touch shoes with no . . . or the very slightest . . . break. Slacks and sports suit trousers should just clear your shoes.
All Spring Merchandise Sold by University Men.