1 The recent rebuild work of the organ was a result of some problems that started to become a nuisance to the Church and its Organists - mainly a background "sh" noised and occasional loud bangs. I was asked to investigate the problems after other advice had been sought as I had been instrumental in the original proposal to install the organ. My investigations led to no clear solutions so I contacted Tony Koorlander of Musicom -an organ systems supplier company - as I knew he had been involved with the Bradford System for many years. This led to a visit by Tony Koorlander, myself and my son-in-law who has many years of experience in the organ environment. The conclusion from this visit was that there was no 'easy fix' and unexpected ageing of some components was probably to blame. Also it was felt that some of the layout and quality of the construction in the console was not up to the standard expected from the country of origin.

2 The rebuild of the organ which was agreed last year has now been completed.

3 During the rebuild difficulties were experienced due to incompatibilities between some of the original electronic system and the new system units. These difficulties could not have been foreseen as Musicom's initial inspection of the organ was based on (I) their experience of the Bradford organ system over the last fifteen years; (ii) their contact with Bradford University staff who were responsible for the initial design; and (iii) their close contact with William Isaac who did the initial voicing of the organ. However they were not aware of how the Ahlborn Organ Company, who built the organ, had interpreted some of the Bradford design. The Bradford company Ahlborn U.K. did the installation under the direction of their owner Richard Wood. William Isaac at the time was working half time for the University and half time for Richard Wood

4 To improve the efficiency of the new Musicom system two extra matching loudspeaker units were added with approval of AMCC at a very attractive price from a local church to the Musicom offices. The old system had three music boards and potentially eight audio channels but when the organ was installed only seven of these audio channels were used. However the new system is based on multiples of four: four music boards; thirty two digital audio channels; eight analogue audio channels (with the very low pedal signals fed to two sub-woofer channels). The extra loudspeakers were removed from the very high position in the church at Musicom' expense and transported to Aylesbury at my expense. The extra audio channels were not added to increase the volume but to enable a more efficient distribution of the audio signals into the building. Two extra amplifiers were necessary which Musicom supplied but it transpired that there was an extra two channel amplifier already in the old system!

5 When testing the new system a mismatch hiss noise was evident. This was quite different to the "ssshhh" noise that had been one of the reasons for embarking on the rebuild! The problem was that the old amplifiers are like domestic audio equipment in that they have "unbalanced" connections (two wires - one earthed). The new system uses a professional audio equipment approach in using "balanced" connections (two signal wires and a separate earth wire). To provide the performance expected from this rebuild new amplifiers were purchased to eliminate this mismatch problem. The sale of the original amplifiers, which still have a significant value, have been sold to offset the additional cost of the new amplifiers.

6 During the rebuild Musicom's founder has done the modification work necessary in the organ console while I have been fully occupied with all the work necessary for the new system to be positioned in a more efficient place under one of the loudspeaker concrete shelves and the installation of the extra loudspeakers and amplifiers. The organ is now in two parts for greater efficiency: (I) data collection within the console, and (ii) organ processing in an enclosure close to one of the loudspeaker shelves.

7 An additional unit (a midi data filer ) will also be included so that in the absence of on organist the organ can play itself using pre-prepared computer discs. This is a common facility in many current organs.

8 As at the end of 11^th January 2007 the organ was left fully operational with all the new system units, extra loudspeakers and new amplifiers. The problem of the "noise" has been eliminated:- no "bangs" have been experienced and the new system will have significantly reduced the rapid note playing problem. Thus the reasons for the rebuild have been satisfied. AMCC now has a 'state of the art' organ.

9 Both Musicom and I apologise for the protracted nature of this rebuild. The main reasons for this have been:- the difficulty of obtaining rapid decisions (for very legitimate reasons) and the difficulty of arranging mutually practical dates for work to be done. As consultant I thank AMCC for their understanding and hope that the end result is more than satisfactory. I am pleased to have been asked to be involved again with this organ and will continue to help whenever necessary.

Anthony B Woods (Organ consultant to AMCC)