Hello all! Some years ago I had the opportunity to peek behind the large Band Organ at Tilden Park and take some pictures of the inside pipe ranks, valve chest, etc. This was difficult, since there is very little room between the wall and the back of the organ. I held the camera above my head and po...

•Dear MMDians, After having gathered up all of my previously acquired data, I found a few photographs I had taken through the swell shades of the Tilden organ. They clearly show the trumpet section for the counter melody as well as the rank of pipes in front of the trumpets. A fellow MMDian has just...

•Marc is correct in identifying the Tilden Park organ. I was visiting with Ed Schmidt of McFarland, Kansas over the weekend and I asked him if he knew of this organ. Ed lived in California for many years and has worked on many organs and worked for and knew many organ restorers. As many of you know...

•A friend has asked me to try to learn the name of the proper person to contact regarding the operation of the Tilden Regional Park Merry-Go-Round in Berkeley, Calif. Does anyone know? Matthew Caulfield

•Dear MMDians, Mrs. Terry Holleman is the _concessionaire_ of the Tilden Park Merry-Go-Round. I would recommend you deal with her superiors. However, no one ever seemed to clearly make the claim of being her superior. Be prepared to get the run-around from the park offices, Matt. I wish I had someth...

•The article submitted by Jessica Craine concerning restoration of the Tilden Park Band organ did not specify which organ needs restoration. There are two organs at the carousel. The smaller organ (playing 150 Wurlitzer music) is in the center of the carousel. The larger one (a 66-key Ruth playing B...

•In the Contra Costa Times Sunday edition (Dec. 30, 2007) I read with pleasure that the historic carousel at Tilden Regional Park in Berkeley, California, will be closed for renovations for six months starting Jan. 1, 2008. A weather-proof enclosure will be constructed around it to protect it from t...

•In regards to the posting showing the Tilden Park Ruth Band Organ, Russ Doering incorrectly said that the organ plays 87-key rolls. It may have at one time played the 87-key roll, but most definitely the organ takes the 66-key B.A.B. roll. To my knowledge, the only two organs that play 87-key B.A.B...

•[ Ref. "Band Organs at Tilden Park, Berkeley, Calif." [ by Claudine Jones in 100907 MMDigest Dear Miss Jones, I was appalled to hear of your miserable experience at the Tilden Park Carousel above Berkeley. My family built and operates the steam trains in Tilden Park for the last 58 years. The beaut...

•The contract with the East Bay Regional Park District to operate the historic Hershel-Spillman 1911 Carousel in Tilden Park in the hills above Berkeley, California, is going out for bid now. I don't know where they are advertising this opportunity but I thought I would mention it on MMD because the...

A.B. Bonds mentions "B&B" organs in his query about the Tilden organ, associating that company with Brooklyn. His (not-very- well-informed) informant must mean the B.A.B. Organ Company of Brooklyn, now out of business, its equipment being bought by Senator Bovey and later divided with Ozzie Wurdeman...

I have enjoyed very much the recent discussions of the various types of band organs. When I lived in Berkeley, CA I would regularly make a Sunday pilgrimage up to Tilden Park to watch the merry-go-round and listen to the organ. There are two in the pavilion. The smaller one (runs on Saturdays) is in...

•I don't know the Tilden Park Organ. Smaller Gasparini organs (52-key size) often had no pipes under the bottom and even no flue bass at all! The bass was entirely played by a set of lingual "bombardons", with a very pleasing military band effect. If you could send me a picture I could tell more. Ha...

•I just heard that the management of the Tilden Regional Park carousel in Berkeley, Calif., replaced their Bruder (?) band organ with a Stinson. If this is true, what happened to the Bruder and what caused the decision to change? Matthew Caulfield (Irondequoit, N.Y.)

•Just to make a wild obvious guess, I suspect the change from Bruder(?) to Stinson was prompted by cost and reliability. The Stinson organs are (relatively) inexpensive to purchase and require little maintenance and can be driven by MIDI. They're also really easy to tune. Bruder organs, which sound ...

•One of the fortunate fallouts of Tony Greer's project (Thanks, Tony, a great set of disks!) is the motivation for me to hunt up a long-lost Round Tuit and transfer my Tilden Park tapes to digital media. These were made between 1977 and 1980. There is about five hours of music from the big box at Ti...

•About one week ago I was privileged to ride the Tilden Park (Berkeley, Calif.) 1911 Herschel-Spillman carousel. The 'good news' is that the carousel is in fine fettle and looks great. The 'bad news' is that they are playing insipid CD-based carousel music at a very low level through bad loudspeaker...

•Well, last week I had the sad experience of listening to what passes as 'band organ' music up at the carousel in Tilden Park in Berkeley, California. I had taken my 2-1/2-year-old grandson a month or so earlier to the steam trains at Tilden Park and we had a good ride on the merry-go-round, with ve...

•[ Ref. Claudine Jones in 100907 MMDigest and Ellen E. Thomsen [ in 100908 MMDigest, Tilden Park Carousel Band Organ One of the main factors that have killed the organs at Tilden Park is that the building has been glassed in, so when the organs were played the sound intensity levels inside exceeded ...

•Thanks for the comments on this sad state of affairs. It seems as though, in the well-intentioned desire to preserve the carousel from the natural environment at Tilden Park -- that of wind, fog, rain and generally cold temperatures -- the music has been sacrificed. This does not in any way absolve...