More Second Presbyterian Church photos

Here are some more pictures from Second Presbyterian in Indianapolis

Here's the couplers and music stand

Right stop jam: (left to Right) Great division, Choir division, Positiv division

Me making a rather goofy face at the four manual console.

At Second Presbyterian in Indianapolis

The Aeolian-Skinner Pipe Organ at the Second Presbyterian Church of Indianapolis, Indiana

Today I played the 86 rank, Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ at the Second Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis, built in 1969. This organ features Great, Positiv, Choir, Swell, Chancel, and Pedal divisions.

The pedal is phenomenal, with three 16' reeds, a real 10 2/3' Gross Quinte, two full length 32' stops (Bourden and Posaune), and much more!

The swell has great reeds: 16' Bombarde, 8' Hautbois, 8' Trompette, 4' Clarion, all fantastic, I wasn't particularly fond of the strings, or principals, I thought the principals were a bit thin, the strings had the kind of chiff you'd want in a principal, with the tremolo and sub couplers, and the 32's bourden, with boxes closed, they sounded quite nice though.

The chancel division serves it's purpose of backing hymns quite well.

The great division is quite nice, I would like to see more fullness in the Flue stops, the mixtures dominate too much in this organ. It is topped of with some great chamades, not the loudest chamades I've played, but they have a bright sound to them, and they are of sufficient volume to be hear over half of the organ, but can still be used in chorus, the chamades were at the perfect volume for an organ this size, and voiced wonderfully I thought!

The choir was alright, the cromorne was voiced in a strange neo-classic fashion, and was quite funny to hear with the tremolo!

The positiv division was nice, the ranket had sort of strange neo-classical voicing to it, like the cromorne, but it works great as a chorus reed.

Over all it was a good organ, and LOUD!

Christ Church Cathedral

Arguably the smallest Episcopal Cathedral I've ever seen, Christ Church Cathedral in dowtown Indianapolis is home to two large pipe organs, a 70 rank French styled organ by Hellmuth Wolf in the Chancel, and a 53 rank Baroque styled instrument by Taylor and Boody in the gallery. I will be playing both of these organs this week.

Cool Monument in Indiana

This is the American Civil War Monument in Indianapolis, Indiana. It puts the Bloomsburg monument to shame; believe me, it is much bigger than it looks in these photos.

Back to Knoebel's Groves!

Well, we went to Knoebel's groves today, I think it's a fantastic amusement part. It's one of a kind in that it has such a different feel from other amusement parks; the creak winding through the park, the covered bridge going over it, the train ride that goes through the wood work of the Twister roller coaster (the only wooden roller coaster I've seen that goes sideways!), of course the wooden roller coasters are wonderful, both thrilling to ride, and they add to the old-timey feel of the park in general. The antique carousels with their Wurlitzer band organs, the colorful Ferris Wheel, the trees that fill the park, growing above the rides, all around the concession areas and restaurants, and sometimes, nearly in the middle of the windy paths through the park, all add to the park's disposition, if you will. The antique cars that ride right under the Phoenix roller coaster (rated as one of the great wooden roller coasters in the country), the wonderful haunted house (also rated as one of the best in the country), the funnel cakes, kettle corn, and perogies, the impressive pizza place (Cesars? I believe) with it's Greek pillars and style; the whole park is really quite nice. Plus the admission is FREE so that's a plus too!
Today, I had quite a bit of fun. While I'm not one for the crazy rides, my brother Riley is! I don't know how he got on some of those contraptions, not nervous at all, not a second thought, and loved it the whole way through, I felt sick just watching. I ended up riding allot rides with my 6 year old sister. However we all went on the tee-cups together, and just after that we all enjoyed the 'Cosmotron' together. My mother and two youngest siblings road the log flume and we got a hilarious photo of their reaction to the drop! Riley seems to be loving it while Maeve looks absolutely terrified! I can recall hearing really screaming in delight as they dropped!
The highlight of any trip to Knoebel's is riding the Phoenex of course. I don't understand why I'm afraid to get on so many crazy non-roller coaster rides, but I have no problem with coasters. The Phoenex never gets old, and I enjoyed it just as always! I don't think you can get that much air on a wooden roller coaster many other places!
It was a fun day, we're going again in late August for a picnic, maybe then I'll get pictures and video.