Allen Organs in Western Australia
THE BEGINNINGS |
||
The first Allen digital organ in Perth was purchased by South Perth Church of Christ in 1974. That instrument was used regularly until the 1990s when it was sold to a private owner. The organ is still working and in regular use. The next Allen to arrive in Perth was purchased in 1978 by the Liberal Catholic Church in Perth; this instrument is still working and being used for church services. As one of the regular organists at South Perth Church of Christ, Ron Raymond became convinced of the merits of Allen Organs and decided to become the Allen dealer in Western Australia. The first shipment of three organs to the new dealership arrived in Perth in 1979. The largest of these organs was initially installed in the Churches of Christ Christian Centre in Perth and later relocated to the Catholic Church in Margaret River where it is still in regular use. The other two organs from that first shipment were sold to private homes, and both are still operational. |
|
|
THE LARGEST ALLEN ORGAN IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA |
||
In 1992, Wesley Church in central Perth were having work done to upgrade their pipe organ, and installed an MDS-65 model organ in the church for the period whilst the pipe organ was removed and was being restored. This organ is a 64 rank, 3 manual instrument with 54 speaking stops and 12 second voices. It has 63 drawknobs plus 25 tab switches on the back rail. The organ audio system was doubled from the normal number of amplifiers and speakers, to fourteen 100W amplifiers feeding fourteen speaker cabinets. In 1999, the organ was relocated to the chapel at John Septimus Roe Anglican Community School. An Allen Expander II was added to provide additional voices to the instrument. It has since been relocated into the performing arts centre at the school. This organ has the largest number of unique stops, and the largest audio system of all the Allen organs located in Western Australia. |
Manuals: 3 |
 |
THE LARGEST HOME INSTALLATION |
||
The largest home installation is an Allen model MDS-51-S, which is located in a private home in Kingsley. Just slightly smaller than the organ above, this organ is also a three manual organ but with 48 speaking stops and 15 second voices. It has 64 drawknobs and 21 tab switches on the back rail. The audio system consists of seven 100 watt amplifiers feeding 14 speaker cabinets. |
Manuals: 3 |
 |
THE LARGEST BUILDING HOUSING AN ALLEN ORGAN |
||
The Anglican Cathedral in Geraldton is the largest building in Western Australia housing an Allen organ. This inspiring building has a large floor area with seating for around 600 people. The organ is a large two manual instrument with 63 tab stops, being the equivalent of a 55 rank organ. It has six 100 watt amplifiers feeding six speaker cabinets. The organ is located in the balcony at the rear of the building with the sound of the organ speaking out into the upper roof area of the building. |
Manuals: 2 |
 |
THE MOST STOPS AND BUTTONS |
||
Theatre organs differ from church organs tonally because of the different sounds that they can make and visually because of the horseshoe shaped console with coloured stop tabs. Although theatre organs are based on a relatively small number of ranks, they tend to have a vast number of stops. There have been four Allen theatre organs sold in Western Australia, of which three are large three manual instruments. The instrument pictured, the Allen Q311-T has: 30 of the stop tabs are red, 10 are black, 6 are yellow and 55 are white. |
Manuals: 3 |
 |
MORE THAN ONE ORGAN |
||
St Joseph's Catholic Church is the only church in Perth currently housing two Allen organs. St Joseph's is a wonderfully accoustically vibrant building - recently repainted and refurbished - and is very popular for weddings and concerts. At the front of the building there is a model MOS-225 which was installed in 1983. Complementing this instrument is an Allen model MDS-35-S located in the balcony at the rear of the building. Both are 2 manual instruments. The MOS-225 has two audio channels, 400W of audio power and four speaker cabinets. The MDS-35 has five audio channels, 500W of audio power and nine speaker cabinets. For several years, St Peter's Anglican Church in Victoria Park also had two Allen organs, but one has since been relocated to Joondalup Anglican church. |
Manuals: 2 |
 |
THE MOST UPGRADES |
||
One of the alluring things about an Allen organ is that after playing one, you do not want to settle for anything less. Testimony to this is the number of upgrades that have occurred over the years. Foremost is St Joseph's Catholic Church in Queen's Park who have upgraded four times. They originally purchased a model MADC-220 back in 1987 - a small 2 manual organ. In 1989 this was upgraded to a model MADC-2140 which had a larger audio system and a larger number of stops. Almost ten years later, they upgraded to a model MDS-36, a even larger 2 manual instrument with drawknobs and a five channel audio system. Then in 2015 they upgraded again, this time to a Protege AP-31 model - a three manual instrument with expander drawer and recorder. In Western Australia, there has also been one private owner who has upgraded three times. Back in 2001, he bought a small 2 manual organ for use in his private residence. He was so impressed with this first organ, that in 2005 he upgraded to a larger 3 manual, 38 stop instrument. Again in 2014 he upgraded, this time to a Bravura model L-341 instrument; a 3 manual, 58 stop organ with 5 audio channels and 8 tonal suites. Other upgrades have also occurred at All Saint's College, Albany Presbyterian Church, Darlington Anglican Church and Scotch College. |
Manuals: 3 |
 |
THE MOST POPULAR MODEL |
||
Smaller, two manual instruments with self contained audio systems have been the most popular organs. In the 1990's, the most popular model was the MADC-221. It had 26 speaking stops. Instruments were installed in the Grand Lodge in Perth, and in Catholic churches in Attadale, Dianella, Palmyra and Shenton Park plus another in a private home. In the first decade of the twenty first century, the most popular model was the Protege C-6. There were five of this model installed in WA, in Catholic churches in Busselton and Bateman, the Anglican church in Bullcreek, the Free Reformed Church in Byford and one in a private home. In the second decade of the twenty first century, the model L-5 proved popular, with organs located at Mundaring Anglican, Darlington Anglican, the Catholic church in Beaconsfield and one in a private home in Darlington. |
Manuals: 2 |
 |
THE MOST UNUSUAL INSTALLATION |
||
Hidden away amongst the trees at a Catholic retreat at Wilyabrup near Margaret River is a lovely stone chapel. The building is about 16m long and 10m wide and only seats about 40 people. With stained glass windows, plush red carpeted floor, wonderful stonework and beautiful marri wood on the altar, it is a truly beautiful building. Installed in this building is a model MADC-3160, a two manual instrument with 39 drawknobs and four 100 watt channels of audio and four speaker cabinets. For the small size of building, the 400 watts of organ make it a huge and powerful installation. The chapel, as well as its organ, are unexpected treasures to be found hidden away in such a remote location in the South Western corner of Western Australia. |
Manuals: 2 |
 |
