The Boardwalk Hall Auditorium Organ is the

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks ...

in the Main Auditorium of the

Boardwalk Hall Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall, formerly known as the Historic Atlantic City Convention Hall, is a multi-purpose arena in Atlantic City in Atlantic County, New Jersey. It was Atlantic City's primary convention center until the opening of the Atlant ...

(formerly known as the Atlantic City Convention Hall) in

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497.

, built by the

Midmer-Losh Organ Company The Midmer-Losh Organ Company is a defunct pipe organ building business located in Merrick, New York. Reuben Midmer founded his own organ building company in Brooklyn, New York in 1860. His son Reed started working at the shop at age 14 and eventu ...

. It is the largest organ in the world, as measured by the number of pipes (officially 33,113, but the exact number is unknown). The main auditorium is with a floor area of , giving a volume of . Consequently, the organ runs on much higher wind pressures than most organs in order to achieve a volume loud enough to fill the hall. The organ has four entries in ''

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

'', including largest pipe organ ever constructed, largest musical instrument ever constructed, and loudest musical instrument ever constructed, and holds several records in the organ world. It is one of only two organs in the world to have an open 64-foot rank, and the only organ to have stops voiced on 100

inches Measuring tape with inches The inch (symbol: in or ″) is a unit of length in the British imperial and the United States customary systems of measurement. It is equal to yard or of a foot. Derived from the Roman uncia ("twelfth"), ...

of wind pressure (about 3.6 psi). Its console features seven manuals.

Construction and layout

Construction of the organ took place between May 1929 and December 1932. The organ was designed by state senator Emerson Lewis Richards and was built by the

Merrick, New York Merrick is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. , the population was 20,130. Geography According to the United States Census Bure ...

. Most of the pipes were built by Midmer-Losh. Anton Gottfried made some of the

reed pipe A reed pipe (also referred to as a ''lingual'' pipe) is an organ pipe that is sounded by a vibrating brass strip known as a ''reed''. Air under pressure (referred to as ''wind'') is directed towards the reed, which vibrates at a specific pitc ...

s, including the Brass Trumpet, Egyptian Horn, Euphone and Musette Mirabilis. The German firm

Welte-Mignon M. Welte & Sons, Freiburg and New York was a manufacturer of orchestrions, organs and reproducing pianos, established in Vöhrenbach by Michael Welte (1807–1880) in 1832. Overview From 1832 until 1932, the firm produced mechanical musi ...

provided the Bassoon with

papier-mâché upright=1.3, Mardi Gras papier-mâché masks, Haiti upright=1.3, Papier-mâché Catrinas, traditional figures for day of the dead celebrations in Mexico Papier-mâché (, ; , literally "chewed paper") is a composite material consisting of p ...

resonators and wooden Tuba d'Amour for the Echo division. The organ is built around the Main Auditorium of the Boardwalk Hall. The organ's divisions are divided across 8 organ chambers:
The current layout of the organ was Emerson Richards' third design. The first design was to house 43,000 pipes in six chambers (all mentioned above without the two Forward chambers), but the quoted cost greatly exceeded the allocated $300,000, and there wasn't enough space to house all the pipes. The number of pipes was then reduced to 29,000. Later, when the Forward Chambers were also used, some stops from the original plan were reinstated, raising the numbers of pipes to the present official number of 33,114 (see also below). The seventh and eighth chambers were placed in the ceiling above the center chambers, as placing them any further back would result in synchronization issues due to the

speed of sound The speed of sound is the distance travelled per unit of time by a sound wave as it propagates through an elastic medium. At , the speed of sound in air is about , or one kilometre in or one mile in . It depends strongly on temperature as w ...

, which takes nearly half a second to travel the length of the arena. The contract price was $347,200 ().

Console

The organ's main

console Console may refer to: Computing and video games * System console, a physical device to operate a computer ** Virtual console, a user interface for multiple computer consoles on one device ** Command-line interface, a method of interacting with ...

is the biggest in the world. It has 1,235 stop tabs controlling 587

flue A flue is a duct, pipe, or opening in a chimney for conveying exhaust gases from a fireplace, furnace, water heater, boiler, or generator to the outdoors. Historically the term flue meant the chimney itself. In the United States, they are ...

stops, 265

reed Reed or Reeds may refer to: Science, technology, biology, and medicine * Reed bird (disambiguation) * Reed pen, writing implement in use since ancient times * Reed (plant), one of several tall, grass-like wetland plants of the order Poales * ...

stops, 35 melodic percussions, 46 non-melodic percussions, 164

couplers Coupler may refer to: Engineering Mechanical * Railway coupler, a mechanism for connecting rolling stock in a train device ** Janney coupler ** SA3 coupler ** Scharfenberg coupler for multiple unit passenger cars * Quick coupler, used in constru ...

, 18 tremolos, 120 swell pedal selectors for the 6 swell pedals controlling 15

swell box In an organ, "Swell" (German: "Schwellwerk;" French: "Récit") refers to the division whose pipes are enclosed in a swell box. This box has a large opening covered with moveable shades or shutters which resemble heavy venetian blinds. When open, ...

es, and a stop

crescendo pedal A crescendo pedal is a large pedal commonly found on medium-sized and larger pipe organs (as well as digital organs), either partially or fully recessed within the organ console. The crescendo pedal incrementally activates stops as it is pre ...

. The console is also the only one in the world with 7 manuals. The lowest two (Choir and Great) have a range of seven octaves, and the next lowest (Swell) has a range of six octaves, while the rest have a normal five octave range. The bottom five keys on the Swell manual (GGG to BBB) are in place mainly for cosmetic reasons, as there are no pipes, in most ranks, for those notes; however, these keys would sound if

were activated. The manuals from top to bottom are: The Great and Choir manuals have been enlarged to seven octaves so that specially extended stops in the pedal can be played throughout the 85 note compass of both manuals. These stops can be selected by stop-keys in two divisions in the right stop jamb. The Grand Great (for the Great Manual) controls stops from the Pedal Right and the Grand Choir (for the Choir Manual) controls stops from the Pedal Left. For example, the Grand Ophicleide can be played from the pedalboard, but also from the Great manual by means of the Grand Great. Also, some divisions are playable on two manuals. For example, the Choir-Swell division is usually played from the Choir manual, but it has been duplexed stop key for stop key to the Swell manual, so that all the stops can also be played from there as the Swell-Choir, no matter what stops are drawn on the Choir manual. The same is true for the Great-Solo, which is usually played from the Great manual, but can also be played as the Solo-Great from the Solo manual. Although the four Gallery divisions can be played from any manual, their "home" is the Bombard manual. Not only are they the only divisions playable from it, but its keyslip contains the pistons for the Gallery organ.

Stops

In addition to 852 stopkeys controlling the speaking stops summarised above, the organ console also has the following: * 35 melodic percussion stopkeys * 46 non-melodic percussion stopkeys * 18 individual tremolo stopkeys, plus one "master tremolo" stopkey * 164

* 120 swell pedal selectives

64-foot Diaphone-Dulzian

The organ possesses a unique stop in the organ world, the 64-foot

Diaphone The diaphone is a noisemaking device best known for its use as a foghorn: It can produce deep, powerful tones, able to carry a long distance. Although they have fallen out of favor, diaphones were also used at some fire stations and in other situ ...

-Dulzian in the Right Stage chamber (Pedal Right division), one of only two true 64-foot stops in the world. (The other 64-foot stop is the Contra-Trombone reed stop in the

Sydney Town Hall Grand Organ The Sydney Town Hall Grand Organ is a large pipe organ built by English firm William Hill & Son in 1890. It is located in the Centennial Hall of Sydney Town Hall in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.) The stop is unique, because it is a reed/diaphone hybrid. When construction of the organ commenced, it was planned to have two 64-foot stops in the pedal, a Diaphone Profunda and a Dulzian, in the Right Stage and Left Stage chambers respectively. Later, the design was revised, and the Diaphone was cut, because it was feared it would crowd the Right Stage chamber (due to the width of the pipes). Consequently, the Dulzian was moved to the Right Stage chamber. However, the sound of the 64-foot Dulzian did not meet the criteria, requiring Diaphone pipes to be used for the lowest 22 notes. The remaining pipes in the rank are reeds. Because of the low frequencies involved, and because the diaphone is voiced to imitate a reed stop, the transition from reed to diaphone cannot be detected. The Diaphone-Dulzian's low-C pipe is in length, weighs , and produces a frequency of 8 Hz, a tone that is more felt than heard; the sound of the vibrating pallet is described as "a helicopter hovering over the building". The pipe stands upright for about , the remainder is mitered (turned) towards the Right Stage chamber's grill, like an upside-down L. All pipes taller than are designed in this manner. The two lowest pipes (CCCCC and CCCCC#) are fed by a single, dedicated 8-inch diameter wind line, operating on 35 inches of pressure. A second identical wind line feeds the remaining pipes. The Diaphone-Dulzian rank spans from C₃ to g²; it is sufficiently extended so that the 64-, 32-, 16-, 8- and 4-foot unison stops, and the -foot, -foot and -foot mutation stops, may be drawn from the same rank. No other extension rank in the world spans that far. Also, when the 64-foot and -foot are combined, the

resultant In mathematics, the resultant of two polynomials is a polynomial expression of their coefficients, which is equal to zero if and only if the polynomials have a common root (possibly in a field extension), or, equivalently, a common factor (ove ...

tone simulates a 128-foot stop, equivalent to a 4 Hz tone on low C. Use of the Diaphone-Dulzian is rare, being used primarily in registrations of moderate volume - in very big combinations it is lost, and in smaller ones it is too loud. Nonetheless, when the stop was first tested in 1930, it caused tiles to fall from the auditorium ceiling and structural elements of the building to rattle.

Grand Ophicleide

The Grand Ophicleide in the organ's Pedal Right division, behind the Right Stage chamber grill, speaking on 100" wind pressure, is recognized by ''Guinness World Records'' as the loudest organ stop in the world. It is described as having "a pure trumpet note of ear-splitting volume, more than six times the volume of the loudest locomotive whistle." The Grand Ophicleide produces up to 130

decibel The decibel (symbol: dB) is a relative unit of measurement equal to one tenth of a bel (B). It expresses the ratio of two values of a power or root-power quantity on a logarithmic scale. Two signals whose levels differ by one decibel have a po ...

s at a distance of 1 meter, and is designed to be heard over any other stops that might be playing. The pipes were built by Roscoe Evans, who served as the organ's first curator. Because of the high pressure on which the pipes stand, they must be tightly secured to the pipe chest, with individual parts secured to each other. If any wind leaks, a whistle, almost as loud as the tone of the pipes themselves, may be heard. Completing the rank presented a problem; the highest 12 notes are produced by special flue pipes having a similar voice and timbre. All of the reed pipes use weighted tongues. The tuning wires are held firmly in place to maintain the correct tuning. The 8' rank is made from lead alloy of exceptional thickness (to prevent the pipes from cracking under the extreme sonic vibrations), while the 16' rank is made of wood. The Grand Ophicleide rank is extended one octave above the 16' unison rank, allowing an 8' register to be drawn from the rank; it is playable from the 85-key Great manual and from the 32-key pedalboard.

32-foot stops

To provide all the power needed in the pedal, the organ has ten 32-foot stops:

Records

The organ has been recognized by ''

'' as the largest musical instrument, the loudest musical instrument and the largest pipe organ ever constructed, although some debate still exists about the last. ''Guinness'' also recognizes the Grand Ophicleide 16′ in the Pedal Right division to be the loudest organ stop in the world. The organ was recognized by the

Organ Historical Society The Organ Historical Society is a not-for-profit organization primarily composed of pipe organ enthusiasts interested in the instrument's design, construction, conservation and use in musical performance. Formed in 1956, the headquarters moved fr ...

as an instrument "of historical value and worthy of preservation" as part of its ''Historic Organs Citations'' program. The Citation, No. 313, was presented to the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority by Paul Marchesano on October 26, 2004. Officially, the organ has 33,112 pipes, but the exact number of pipes is unknown. A detailed survey conducted in 1999 concluded that the organ had 33,114 pipes, recently revised it to 33,116 after the discovery that one rank went down two notes lower than specified in the organ builder's contract. It is very hard to determine exactly how many pipes the organ has, also due to the condition the organ is in (see "Current state" below). The organ is the only one in the world to have stops standing on 100 inches wind pressure. It is also the only organ to have two 32-foot pedal stops on 50 inches wind pressure. There are two more organs in the world with stops on 50 inches, but these are 8-foot solo trumpet or tuba stops. 100 inches wind pressure (equivalent to 3.56 psi or 0.25 bars) is about 30 times more than a normal organ stop (even high-pressure stops usually only stand on 10 to 12 inches). The organ has four stops on 100 inches (also known as the ''Big Reeds'') and ten stops on 50 inches wind pressure: Apart from the aforementioned stops on record wind pressure, almost every division stands on at least 15 inches wind pressure, except for the Choir which stands on 10 inches, and the Unenclosed Choir stands on 3 3/4". Also, some individual stops stand on lower wind pressure, for example, the Diapason X of the Great division stands on only 4 inches. The organ's wind supply is the most powerful ever used in a pipe organ. The DC motors for the original eight blowers had a total power of . These were replaced with AC motors in the early 1990s, which have a total of and their seven blowers pump of wind per minute. The Right Stage chamber has two dedicated blowers, a high-pressure blower and a low-pressure blower. A step-up blower is fed from the low-pressure blower, and provides 100" pressure to the two 100" reeds in the Right Stage chamber and the two 100" reeds in the Right Center chamber. The Left Stage chamber is similar in having a high-pressure and a low-pressure blower, with the low-pressure blower originally also winding the Left Forward chamber. However renovations to the arena resulted in cut windlines going through walls that no longer exist. The Left Forward chamber will soon be winded from its own independent blower in a new location. The Left Center chamber and Left Upper chambers are winded from a common blower, and the Right Forward, Right Center, and Right Upper chambers are fed from a common blower, less the two 100" reeds in the Right Center chamber.

1944 damage

The instrument has not been fully functional since the 1944 Great Atlantic Hurricane, when the 4 subterranean floors of the Boardwalk Hall were flooded with seawater. This caused large amounts of damage to the blowers and especially the combination action mechanism.

1998 restoration

In September 1998, the

New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority (NJSEA) is an independent authority established by the State of New Jersey in 1971 to oversee the Meadowlands Sports Complex, but which now contains the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission, a regulatory ...

provided a $1.17 million grant, which was used to return the Right Stage Chamber of the Main Auditorium organ and the entire Ballroom (Kimball) Organ to playable condition. Afterwards, a recording session took place, which captured the organ's record holders (the 64′ Diaphone-Dulzian, and the 100″ Tuba Imperial and Grand Ophicleide).

2001 damage

Further damage to the organ took place during a 2001 renovation of Boardwalk Hall due to lack of planning and oversight and the carelessness of workmen. Pipes were removed, bent, and stepped on. (

Organ pipe An organ pipe is a sound-producing element of the pipe organ that resonates at a specific pitch when pressurized air (commonly referred to as ''wind'') is driven through it. Each pipe is tuned to a specific note of the musical scale. A set of ...

s are made from soft

alloy An alloy is a mixture of chemical elements of which at least one is a metal. Unlike chemical compounds with metallic bases, an alloy will retain all the properties of a metal in the resulting material, such as electrical conductivity, ductility, ...

s based on

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

, so it is very easy to dent or crush them.) The 32-foot Trombone stop was effectively entombed in the building's walls when an opening in one of the upper chambers, which allowed the rank to speak through the grille in the ceiling, was sealed off. Windlines to various pipe chambers were cut, with no effort to identify the lines, nor any plans to re-route or repair them. The relay for the left stage chamber was cut out without regard to its restoration, and various switching and control cables were cut. The 5-manual console connection was cut. Cement dust disrupted the switching contacts, magnets and the organ pipes. All this left the entire organ damaged and the Right Stage chamber, which was 98% operational in 1998, completely disabled. The relay of the Ballroom Organ was also removed in a careless way, which rendered that organ unplayable as well.

Ongoing restoration

In 2013, the organ once again began to be restored, with 15-20% of the organ operational. The organ was played in September 2013 during the

Miss America Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 17 and 25. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is now judged on competitors' talent performances and interviews. As ...

pageant, its first public performance in 40 years. Since May 2014, free half-hour noon concerts followed by free half-hour tours are offered Monday through Friday from May through October, excluding holidays. , in-depth "behind the scenes" tours are available weekly on Wednesdays at 10 a.m. throughout the year. Both organs of the hall (the Ballroom features a 4/55 Kimball opus 7073) have begun to slowly return to the regular musical life of the building as their mechanical condition permits. The current restoration project led by the Historic Organ Restoration Committee (HORC, a

501(c) organization A 501(c) organization is a nonprofit organization in the Law of the United States#Federal law, federal law of the United States according to Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. § 501(c)) and is one of over 29 types of nonprofit organizations exe ...

) is a $16M project entirely funded by donations from the general public and charitable foundations. Since the inception of the project, 2014 is the first year that the restoration effort has been fully funded. The restoration effort focuses on the re-leathering of the entire instrument as well as the correction of damage to pipework and mechanical systems sustained from construction and water in the intervening years. Dr. Steven Ball was named titular organist on July 1, 2013. On September 1, 2015 Nathan Bryson became the fifth Curator of Organs at Boardwalk Hall. Full restoration of the organ is estimated to cost up to $13 million. In 2016, the Left Stage chamber was brought online for the first time in decades, with a special recital in July. This chamber is now fully operational and restored and work was completed in 2019. HORC reports that , 95% of the Ballroom Organ is operational, and more than 50% of the Main Auditorium organ is operational. Restoration work is ongoing and proceeding.

References

External links

Historic Organ Restoration Committee
Official website for the Historic Organ Restoration Committee
Boardwalk Hall
Official website for Boardwalk Hall
Boardwalk Pipes
Stephen D. Smith's book ''Atlantic City's Musical Masterpiece'' online
Organ Historical Society

on ''The Organ Site'' (in German)
Ultimate Restorations
web site; see also their video program and short pieces. {{coord, 39, 21, 13, N, 74, 26, 19, W, region:US_type:landmark_source:kolossus-ruwiki, display=title Music of New Jersey Individual pipe organs Culture of Atlantic City, New Jersey Public venues with a theatre organ Auditorium Organ