Do they tune it with runs of duct tape?

Words cannot describe my revulsion and disgust with management and the workers (neanderthalian knuckle-dragging grunts) that did the damage to this organ. I have been an organbuilder for decades and find these pictures disgusting! Thank God for people who care and will bring this organ back to its former glory. As to the grunts, I will spare all my vitriol.

My dream pipe organ to play someday 😊☺️♥️

The wooden reeds at the back of the case, is that the 16 foot trombone/pousane?

Genioooooooo

The best

Obrigado Sr. Peter Conte por este momento fantástico.

Sounds like a 3-stage starter.

Seen this video yrs ago..has this organ been restored ? And in a new home..it's a wonderful instrument..worth being restored

Torn down , for a corner Walgreens..store I bet..sad..

Fantastic video, looks like you were working down a coal mine! Can't wait to see it re assembled and played.

7:36 what is the name of that song? it's great! :D

At the very end, here's where I've first heard the theatre side of a Skinner just now. Very convincing as a theatre organ as well as a symphonic organ. Though I've ceased buying CDs, if there's a CD of CPA's Skinner, I would buy one straight away.

The idiots who did the renovation should’ve been sued for the damages and put out of business.

They all looked like coal miners by the time they were done dismantling the instrument!

Maybe there was nothing wrong with the organ then. But if this crew did many more "inspections," there probably is now.

Unas tomas magníficas

💙💙💙 Absolutely great images / views

so- where are we now?

Is that the original console? It looks like a bigger version of the Klann console I have in my home.

The more I listen to this vid, the more I think "Whal a bloody fantastic instrument!! Needs to be Hauptwerked..." Greetings from UK, you have some brilliant instruments over there. Long live 🇺🇸 USA!!

It is doubtful that the Maoist cultural revolutionaries that control SF will ever allow the installation of the instrument as long as they are in power: it is a reminder of America and capitalism’s extraordinary tradition, and if people see other retrospective images of how wonderful things were in San Francisco in the early 20th century compared to the disaster it is just now, THAT is an optic they can’t allow.

It is new. It is fact that it was rebuilt before being put in storage.

I studied with Richard from ‘74 until ‘79, and it’s unfortunate that there isn’t more video and quality audio of him performing, because he really was quite remarkable .

what is the name of the first piece we hear in this video?

Incredible set of photographs - an insight into the complexity of building this astounding instrument. Along with the current videos from Chris Nagorka tracing the restoration processes, this is a wonderful historical record. Thank you.

When the organ is on but no one is playing it, where does the air go??

Damn shame to tear down a historic church to build a Walmart.

Justin Kielty was for many years organist at Saint Cecilia Church in San Francisco, which has an Austin organ from the 1950s. This is the organ he mentions in the conversation.

When was this recorded?

I knew Swisher when he lived in Oregon, and we met often to discuss the Austin opus 500 and Charles' dream of creating a museum around it. I had heard the organ in 1974, when my teacher Ludwig Altman performed Poulenc's concerto with Arthur Fiedler and the San Francisco Pops Orchestra. I later played it myself briefly during an AGO organ crawl in 1981. Anyway, there was a building in Springfield, Oregon where Charles hoped to locate the museum. Unfortunately, the building's owner wasn't willing to consider letting go of the income he received from the current tenants, so those plans fell through.

Whatever became of this instrument?

Thank you for this video. I am immensely proud to have learned such a great craft.

11:38 ...and tragically go the way of so many other historically significant pipe organs, eventually lost to fire, floods, vandals or Wolverhampton City council.

"I can't do it twice." Yeah, right. So after the first time it's broken down for good?

Little did I know that my meeting with Carlo in 2011 at the Bridgewater Halls, Manchester , would be the last time I would hear his colourful impressive rendition of classic organ music. As a consequence, one of my most treasured possessions is a signed copy of his WONDERFUL "Genesis In Harmony", with that impressive flamboyant signature which tells us all of the great man's character, larger than life. He told me that if I aspired to perform on the organ.........WEAR THE CORRECT SHOES!! What a man, his legacy lives on, Thank You My Friend

Looked this project up with the link. Clearly the project is dead, and has gone nowhere, seems this organ is gone, and this project was a giant sham.

the best de gamb stop i ever heard!

Such a humorous, erudite man! His South African recital in the Pietermaritzburg City Hall is still talked about. Why do we lose them so soon?

Video is a few months older than me

I hope there's will be fund raising for restoration of this skinner

Kind of complicated and expensive for an old typewriter--and makes a lot of noise, too.

I continue to be amazed at this organ. The immense size, the complexity, the fact that there are 33000 pipes, it is more than I can take in. I am thankful that these historic photos were taken and survived, and I thank you for sharing them.

I continue to be amazed at this organ. The immense size, the complexity, the fact that there are 33000 pipes, it is more than I can take in. I am thankful that these historic photos were taken and survived, and I thank you for sharing them.

I'm somewhat amazed that no one has posted a newer video of this organ. It could drum up interest in getting more of the organ into playable condition (you are not hearing anywhere near all of it here)

What is that stop at 11:46 it's like a strange space sound almost bell like. Wonderfully

This instrument is awe inspiring! Not only in sound but the pure magnitude of its unsurpassed size and these photos show a glimpse of what the public never will see? Those pipes must have cost a fortune to make and i believe there are more than 33,000 of them! How much of this work in progress is playable in this year 2022? The pure cost of its restoration/ up keep must be taken stock of too? There will never be another and lets be honest could one be built today?

Wonderful service the Organ Clearing House provides in saving organs from waste and destruction formerly under the direction of the late Alan Kaufman and now for many years under John Bishop. Thank-you for a job well done!

Great photos. Why all the bombastic music? The viewer is overwhelmed with sfz.

He was a guy very sadly missed. He would remember people’s names years later that he had only met fleetingly…oh and a magnificent player