Ballantyne Magazine

WINTER 2011

Ballantyne Magazine covers news, events, real estate, restaurants, shopping, health, schools and business in the upscale Ballantyne Area of Charlotte, NC.

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Left: At four stories high, David Nelms tunes the horizonal "en chamade" pipes. Below: Pictured are four of the organ's five manuals. The natural keys are made of bone, while the sharps are walnut. descending from heaven, loom three trompeteria of 1,323 polished metal pipes, including 391 bronze pipes "en chamade" that extend horizontally toward the congregation. On the left is Gabriel's Horn; on the right, the Herald Trumpet; in the center, three sets of Millennial Trumpets. These five sets of pipes serve as musical heralds for festive fanfares, exclamatory hallelujahs in hymns and wedding processionals. The pipes also can lead with a solo trumpet melody against a full organ accompaniment. Such a wealth of pipes, known as "voices," bestows the Calvary Grand Organ with 205 characters or colors of sound, the equivalent capability of an orchestra: the imitative voices of 44 flutes and 22 strings (including 15 celestes, with ranks tuned slightly off pitch to produce a shimmering sound based on the difference in frequencies), 28 principals, 34 reeds and 14 tremolos. Add to that an exquisite zimbelstern (German for cymbal star), whose tiny, tinkling bells rotate in a random pattern to create an ethereal effect. Breathing life into this 173,000-pound masterpiece of an instrument are seven electrically driven blowers situated two stories below the floor. Another two blowers sit WINTER 2011-2012 four stories up to provide wind to the trompeteria. The result is an almost unparalleled voicing that will reverberate in just under three seconds throughout the 5,500-seat sanctuary. The Console The Calvary Grand Organ's console, which weighs one ton, is a work of art itself. The Honduras mahogany cabinet contains five, 61-key manuals, ascending from Choir to Great, Swell, Recitiv and Bombarde. The natural keys are fashioned from bone, the sharps from walnut, with 137 pistons of white maple tucked beneath the manuals. The console doors comprise a mind-boggling 302 stops (drawknobs) and 200 other controls, rendering it the world's largest American-made drawknob console. The organ's command and control center also features solid state, electric console BALLANTYNE MAGAZINE 63

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