Darrow 
Pipe Organ LLC

Darrow Pipe Organ
Sales - Service - Renovation
721 Pearl Street
Onawa, Ia 51040-1428
Phone: (712) 301-5964 
​Email: darrowpipeorgan@gmail.com
THE STOP TABLOID 
Choir Time 
From the Organ Bench

When was the last time you made an effort to learn a new piece of organ music? I know some of you are very good at keeping new repertoire on your “to do” list but if you have not mastered a new piece in the last 6 months I would like to challenge you to start working on something that will stretch your abilities. Choose a piece that you think you can learn but are not positive you can perform. Just working on it will improve your abilities and you may find the piece wasn’t as difficult as it sounded. I try to learn two new recital pieces every year. Sometimes I only get one done but the goal is two. I find that if I can tentatively schedule performance of the piece (not to be done if it isn’t ready) I am more likely to actually accomplish the task. This winter I started working on “Carillon” by Vierne and have it scheduled to do on Easter. Happy practicing!!
Technical Tidbits

Have you ever wondered why the pipe organ sounds so much better than an electronic organ? I think the answer lies in the complex sound produced by the pipe organ. Each stop on a pipe organ plays a different set of pipes and each key plays a different pipe in the set. There are usually 61 or more pipes for each stop and the pipes range in size from 16 feet tall to ¼” tall plus a “foot” of various lengths to carry the air from the chest to the pipe. The sound is produced by an air stream that blows each pipe and causes the entire pipe to vibrate at a specific frequency to produce its pitch. Because of small dust particles, changes in air temperature, small changes in pressure, etc. there are subtle changes in the sound constantly. Also a speaker is required to produce the vibrations of not just one note but of many when a chord is played and these multiple frequencies can work against each other so instead of getting compound sounds working together you get a somewhat distorted sound. An electronic organ is not capable of producing the complex subtleties of even one pipe let alone a whole chorus of them speaking together. That is why the electronic organs sound 
sterile and uninteresting when compared to the beauty of a pipe organ.  

Bulletin Bloopers (actual announcements in church bulletins)

The church will host an evening of fine dining, superb entertainment, and gracious hostility.
The third verse of Blessed Assurance will be sung without musical accomplishment.

The outreach committee has enlisted 25 visitors to make calls on people who are not afflicted with any church.

The Rev. Merriwether spoke briefly, much to the delight of the audience.

Next Sunday Mrs. Vinson will be soloist for the morning service. The pastor will then speak on “It’s a Terrible Experience.”