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Fountain
City Presbyterian Church of Knoxville, Tennessee
contracted with D.L. Simmons & Company, representatives
of Phoenix Organs North America, for a new Three Manual,
Sixty-four Stop Custom digital organ. The designation
for this organ will be the Phoenix PD364. The
organist, Mr. Matt McCurry and the Director of Music, Mr.
Bob Eubanks were instrumental in both selecting Phoenix as
their organ builder, and in designing the stoplist for the
organ. Mr. Donald Anderson, the Tonal Director of
Phoenix Organs finished the stoplist and make sample
selections for what will be a stellar example of the
offerings of this custom-built organ company.
The
Phoenix PD364 features a massive Dark Walnut custom-finished
three-manual console with inset panels and roll-top.
The stop control is with Harris moving drawknobs with
all-white heads and black shafts. All other controls are
from quality pipe organ supply houses. Keyboards are solid
wood-core with off-white naturals and ebony sharps.
Also, as per organist desire is a lighted clear acrylic
music desk and an adjustable bench with backrest. One
added feature on this organ are optional built-in organ
dollies to be used when the organ is brought front and
center for concerts.
The
organ has 5 divisions, with 76 digital ranks, including a
floating Bombarde division featuring 16'-8'-4' Trompette en
Chamade and 16'-8'-4' Tuba Mirabilis. The organ has
complete intra-manual and inter-manual couplers at
16'-8'-4', Unison Off, plus Bombarde to
Great/Swell/Choir/Pedal, which with the already large number
of stops makes for a very flexible and expressive
organ. The organ speaks through 16 channels of
amplification (totaling 2400 watts), with speakers in left
and right chancel chambers numbering 74 speaker drivers in
30 speaker cabinets. These feature Phoenix's new
exclusive AcoustiCube12 speakers that utilize a compact
computer-designed cabinet only 9" X 9" X 9"
with speakers on four sides for 360-degree sound dispersion,
and a corresponding woofer cabinet with 12"
driver. The AcoustiCubes are amazingly effective in
providing added dimension to the sound and preventing the
"shotgun" directional effect on normal
speakers. The low-end pedal is served by a 600-watt
amp and the massive Phoenix 151600 sub-woofer which is
capable of fully developing the lowest frequencies in the
three 32' stops in the Pedal division.
CLICK
HERE TO SEE PHOTO ALBUM OF INSTALLATION
After the
first Sunday Service with the new Phoenix organ we
received a good report from Matt McCurry. Here is a
short excerpt:
"I
wish you could have heard the comments on dedication
Sunday. The combination of the new organ with the
choir brought tears to many. At the end of both
services the chancel was packed with people trying to see
the organ at work. There were nothing but positive
comments from everyone. (The people in the first
service even said
I should open it up more -- I played at full quite a
few times!! The en chamade even spoke a few times!
:)) A few people came up and said ... "now THAT is
what an organ is supposed to do!! (when the floor
shook, of course) I left it on display for an hour
after the last service and there were still people checking
it out. Everyone is in love with the sound, the
voicing, everything. So, needless to say, it is a HUGE
success."
"Thanks
for all your hard work... It was well
worth the wait for what I consider the best organ
around!!"
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