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University Daily Kansan
Thursday Features
Thursday, Sept 12, 1985
Pipe dream comes true at organ company
Frank Smith, above, tones the pipes before they are inserted into an organ. Right, Darrrell Marconette solders a piece onto one of the large tone pipes, while Bill Burgess, below, blows air through the passages in the wood to ensure proper air flow through the organ.
ny Theresa Scott Of the Kansan staff
It starts with a dream in a small building.
A few melodious notes from a small electric organ hint that the dream will eventually be attained. Finally, the harmonious strains of music, sounding like flute, string and reed instruments, blend and emanate from the building, proof that a pipe organ — the king of instruments — has taken up residence.
The Reuter Organ Co., 612 New Hampshire St., one of the few places in the country where these dreams are made from scratch, has built over 2,000 Reuter pipe organs since the business began in 1917, Dick Walker, marketing director and consultant, said Tuesday.
To deliver the instruments, they must be completely dismantled after being put together in the assembly room, Robert Vaughan, chief engineer, said.
"It's like putting together a 3-D jigsaw puzzle." Vaughan said. "Only it's different because you have a plan."
"We put it together in the assembly room so that we have every flaw and every bug out before it leaves the factory. We actually set it up and play it."
Vaughan said that because of the detailed work involved in building a pipe organ, it took about six months of planning and construction to produce one.
Dan Abrahamson, associate tonal director and production director, provides one example of the delicate
Second City to play Sunday
Troupe to laugh it up at KU
By Theresa Scott Of the Kansan staff
The Second City Comedy Troupe, which served as the springboard to fame for comedians such as Gilda Radner, Ed Asner, Joan Rivers, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, John Candy and John Belushi, will alight in Lawrence this weekend.
Although the KU performance was arranged only three weeks ago, a arrall is expected, Rick Lindley. Student Union Activities Fine Arts Board member, said Monday.
The group of up-and-coming comedians will perform at 7:30 p.m. Sunday at Woodruff Auditorium in the Kansas Union. Tickets are $5 for students with a KUID and $6 for the general public.
"The Second City was in Lawrence
last year and has come several years before," Lindley said. "Last year the show was close to a sellout and we have an optimistic view about selling out this year's performance."
Lindley, who saw the group perform last year, said that the troupe's improvisational comedy show lasted from two to two-and-a-half hours with about six actors hamming it up on stage.
Seven performers will appear in Sunday's performance. They are Chris Barnes, Mark Beltzman, Mike Franco, Evan Gore, J.J. Jones, Barb Wallace and Cindy Paponera, Laura Wasserman will be the pianist.
"These are up-and-coming, rising stars," Lindley said. "They perform original comedy and are very entertaining. They do routines and skits and have many costume changes."
The Second City, a creation of two University of Chicago alumni, made its debut on December 16, 1959 in a converted Chinese laundry in Chicago.
The group has since been renown, resulting in shows across the United States and in Canada and England. Several groups of Second City players have been formed to meet the increasing demand for shows.
Besides successful stints in the theater, past members of the group have delved into tickling the funnybones of television viewers through NBC's "Saturday Night Live" and "SCTV."
knowledge that must be applied in construction.
The group has since gained world
Abrahamson adjusts the tone quality of the reed pipes on the organs by ear and usually spends about three days perfecting the tone of one rank of pipes. A rank consists of 61 pipes of a single tone quality.
"We're glad to have them back," Lindley said. "They're great."
Workers in the basement of the factory also produce high quality craftsmanship as they pour molten metals into sheets to be individually measured, cut, rolled and sawed to form the sonorous pipes.
About 40 employees, working on all floors of the factory, coordinate their efforts to turn wood, metal, leather and paper into a polished, finely-tuned musical masterpiece that Walker described as "pure art."
"People buy organs as they would buy fine murals," he said. "Our organs are custom made and are different from any other, with the exception of a very few small organs that you can count on one hand."
are to be played in are different. Vaughan said.
Part of the reason each organ is different is that the buildings they
"We don't see the church buildings as the same or the people ordering the organs as having the same interests in them," he said. "People are not cast the same; neither are buildings or organs."
Because of the work and materials that go into producing one pipe organ, it is an expensive instrument to purchase, Walker said, costing from $7,000 to $8,000 for each stop. A stop regulates one rank of pipes and the smallest practical organ has three stops.
"Churches finally get to a point where they can't grow unless they mortgage their property," he said. "They need to buy something big, so they buy an organ."
"The larger the organ is, the quieter it plays. Once there are enough ranks to hear it, the rest is for finesse. More ranks are like a delicate frosting producing ethereal-type sounds once we have the bread and butter for the chorus."
On Tap
Nancy Haney
Peggy Helsel
RENAISSANCE FESTIVAL — The merriment continues this weekend at the Renaissance Festival at the Agricultural Hall of Fame in Bonner Springs. The gates open to the medieval carnival at 10 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. Student tickets can be bought for $6.75 at the SUA office in the Kansas Union or at the festival gate. The festival runs through Oct. 6.
PEPSIWALK THRU ROCK — A traveling rock history show will continue in Kansas City, Mo., at Bartle Hall. Promoters of the show say it has the most comprehensive collection of rock film, music and memorabilia ever assembled and will combine the visual effects of large screen projection, live entertainment and a museum to trace the 30-year evolution of rock music. The show, which will run through Sunday, is the beginning of a 24-city North American tour. Tickets are available at all Capital Ticket outlets, including Omni Electronics, 540 Fireside Court, for $8 or $6.50 with a coupon available at Pepsi displays. Tickets for children 12 and under are $3.
the progressive rock band, X₁ will perform at 9 p.m. Sept. 21 at the Kansas Union Ballroom. Student tickets are $9 with a KUID. Ticket for non-students are $10 in advance and $11 at the door. They can be purchased at the SUA box office of the Union and at Capital Ticket outlets. It is the first in a series of concerts sponsored by SUA.
CONCERTS:
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Matt "Guitar" Murphy will play at The Jazzhaus, 926 Massachusetts St. at 9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. There is a $5 cover charge for the show.
The Missing Letterter will perform at Johnny's Tavern, 401 N Second St., at 9 p.m. Saturday. There is a $1 cover charge.
Howard Lucas, an actor from New York City, will be performing this weekend at the Lawrence Community Theatre, Ninth and Vermont streets. Lucas will be performing in "When My Cue Comes, Call Me" at 8 p.m. Saturday and "Lunatics, Lovers and Poets" at 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased before the plays at the theatre or at the door.
SUA concert series to bring local. national bands to KU
By Abbie Jones Of the Kansan staff
Pop, rock and reggae enthusiasts can see a range of homepun, up-and-coming and big-name bands in concert on campus this year.
Steve Traxler, Overland Park sophomore and Student Union Activities special events director, said last week that two new concert programs were added to the usual Hoch Auditorium shows to provide more variety in live entertainment in Lawrence.
The Burge Bandstand Dance Concert series will feature popular local
Lawrence has a difficult time competing with the Kansas City market. We are striving this year to persuade bands to play the Lawrence area," Traxler said.
He also said the concerts would provide entertainment for students who can't get into the bars because of the new drinking laws.
bands which will play, free of charge, in the Party Room of the Burge Union.
The Clique kicked off the Burge series last week with a crowd of about 500 people. Traxler said that the band was scheduled to quit playing at 11:30 p.m. but performed for an extra hour.
"It was packed. It was a great oneer." he said.
Bands scheduled for the Burge series are Valentine and the Very Wealthy on Oct. 4, BCR (Black Crack Revue) on Oct. 25, and The Fanatix on Nov. 15. All shows begin at 9 p.m.
Standing Room Only is the second new series. It is designed to promote up-and-coming bands such as the rock group X, Traxler said.
All Standing Room Only productions will be held in the Kansas Union Ballroom, which can accommodate a crowd of about 1,000, typical for those kinds of concerts, he said. SUA plans to feature one such concert a month.
"The ballroom gives us an excellent atmosphere to promote the popular bands," Traxler said. The crowds are smaller and ticket prices are lower than those for Hoch Auditorium productions.
But the well-known bands such as R.E.M. and Jason and the Scorchers, which played in Lawrence last spring, need the space that Hoch provides. Traxler said he hoped to bring in some big-name bands to play in Hoch later this year.
"The more the better, but also the more popular the better," he said.
Traxler, in his first year in the volunteer director position, said that he had no plans of last year's presence, but planned to present a more diverse series with organization.
He said that SUA planned to schedule the bands for one of the three places on campus, depending on the size of crowd the band usually draws.
Area songwriters to show off talents this weekend
By Susie Bishop Of the Kansan staff
Strains of original music from the third annual Kaw Valley Songwriters' Weekend will drift across the hillside at Potter Lake on Sunday afternoon.
The contest features the top 25 local singers and original songwriters selected from 35 tapes sent in during the past month, Rick Frydman, co-producer and originator of the event, said Monday. Songwriters sent tapes from Lawrence, Kansas City, Topeka, Parsons, El Dorado, Baldwin and Eudora. The event is free.
Brent Barnum, Shawnee freshman who will be participating in the competition, said, "I don't know about the competition, but I think I'm going to do pretty well. I have confidence in my songs.
"I've been seriously writing songs for one year. Before that I just dabbed around."
Barnum will sing and accompany himself on a small electronic keyboard. He said that this was the first time he had entered his songs in a contest.
Another KU student participating on Sunday, David Claffin, first-year law student from Overland Park, said, "I like my songs, and the people I write my songs for — my friends — like my songs. I'm interested to see what other people like.
"The two songs I submitted are campfire, mush-type songs. I hope they go over well during the day."
The music will be performed and judged from noon to 6 p.m. Sunday. The judges are songwriters Robert Earl Keen Jr., a guitar-playing songwriter from Nashville, Tenn., and Butch Hancock, a folk songwriter from Austin, Texas.
Each of the songwriters will perform the two songs that he sent on tape. The winner will be paid to play next summer at Independence Days, a Fourth of July celebration in Burcham Park.
"Robert Earl Keen and Butch Hancock are the best songwriters going on in this country," Frydman, a second-year law student from Lawrence, said.
Frydman said that he hoped many people would bring their friends to study or have a picnic on the hill while listening to some good music.
"Songwriters need listeners. We have the songwriters. All we need is the crowd." Frydman said.
The contest is only one of many activities planned for the weekend.
Keen will highlight an evening of music and volleyball beginning at 5 p.m. Friday at 1030 Maine St, Frydman said. The event is open to the public. Admission is $3.50
Leading off the entertainment will be Julie Bennett, a local singer and guitar player, with her bluegrass and folk music at 7:30 p.m. The Jolly Ranchers, a Lawrence band playing original countryrock music, will perform at 8 p.m. Keen will perform his bluegrass music at 9 p.m.
"We're not out to hit the big time." Ardys Blake, member of The Jolly Ranchers, said. "We're just having fun."
W. 12th St., and at The Harvest, 745 New Hampshire St.
The trio has been performing together for two years. They have played at the Rock Chalk Bar, 618
"I think that Deni McIntosh is the best songwriter in town and definitely the best singer," Frydman said.
The next year, the first annual
Hancock will be featured Saturday night on guitar and harmonica at Bogarts of Lawrence, 611 Vermont St. Opening for Hancock will be Deni McIntosh, vocal and guitar, at 9 p.m. Admission is $3.50.
"We had a big party out by Lone Sfar Lake." Frydman said. "Butch Hancock was there. It was so much fun we turned it into an annual event."
The idea for a songwriters' weekend originated in 1982 when a group of local songwriters gathered for fun.
Kaw Valley Songwriters' Weekend was conducted.
"The whole reason is because several years ago there used to be a good songwriters scene. We are trying to get the music scene in Lawrence back up to what it used to be," Fryman said.
The festival is organized by the Kaw Valley Songwriters' Guild, a student organization that meets every other Monday evening at The Harvest to perform and listen to music by local singers and songwriters.
Since the beginning of the Kaw Valley Songwriters' Guild on April 1, Frydman said that there had been much better attendance at coffeehouses where there was local entertainment and the listening audience was much more appreciative.