Hi, My name is John Page, and I have been Membership Secretary of the
Fair Organ Preservation Society for the last eight years.

I am a fairly new subscriber to MMD, and have been reading your
articles with interest, although my main interest is in the traditional
fairground organ (European) and the Dutch street organ.

A few of you may remember me from when I attended the Mid Am Band
Organ Rally in Freemont, Ohio in 1985 with my then business partner
Judith Howard.  From 1983 to 1992 we ran a business building organs
from scratch -- and restoring some of the old ones.  Our work included
church organs, too.  Judith has since gone her own way in the pipe-
making field, and for my part, am still keeping my hand in on a reduced
scale.

During ten years I built two 48-key organs, based on the standard
Gavioli scale.  The comments by Ingmar Krause about a week ago (I have
been away on holiday for a while, so am only just catching up!) suggest
that he is not really familiar with the 48-key scale, but confusing it
with the 52-key "Limonaire" street organ scale.

The 48-key scale comprises:

    22 notes melody
    12 notes accompaniment
    8 notes bass
    2 keys for snare drum
    1 key for bass drum

This leaves one for Forte, one for Piano, and the key frame muting key.

It is interesting how electronics seem to creep in everywhere.  It has
its place, of course, and I am not against it being used in the playing
mechanism of organs -- as has been done in church organs for a very
long time.  But I maintain that the sound of pipes will never quite be
equalled.  It is pure natural sound, with each pipe having its own
unique voice.

Gordon Forcier is looking for 22 Mortier xylophone bars.  I believe I
have a set tucked away somewhere in my workshop.  They were obtained
direct from Oscar Grymonprez, the celebrated Belgian restorer and
dealer of Mortiers.

Sincerely
John Page

 [ Welcome aboard, John.  With help from folks like you and Ingmar and
 [ Hans van Oost I have a growing collection of scales, and someday I
 [ hope to place the data in the MMD Archives.  Glad you've joined us !
 [ -- Robbie