About Us
Our Past, Present, and Future
The Columbia River Theatre Organ Society was formed in 1994, for the preservation and enhancement of the theatre organ and its music.
The Club's public purposes include:
- To further public appreciation of the theatre pipe organ and its music with educational programs and concerts.
- To encourage talented musicians to preserve the art of theatre organ playing through competitions and awards.
- To encourage skilled organ builders and technicians to preserve the art of theatre pipe organ building through educational seminars, writing books and articles, and on-the-job training of aspiring pipe organ builders and technicians.
For information on CRTOS programs, membership, or any other topics contact us at info@crtos.org
Click here for a membership application
For website content submission, and related questions or comments please contact the webmaster at webmaster@crtos.org
Are the pipe chambers haunted in the Hollywood Theatre? Are spirits of previous melodious sounds still echoing there?
Whether you believe in those possibilities is not important. What is... are the processes under way to bring about those long lost sounds back to those chambers, to burst forth into the main auditorium, with grand and glorious melodies equal and possibly surpassing what existed when the Hollywood opened its doors in 1926.
Yes... a real, honest to goodness, grand and eloquent theatre style pipe organ is in the process of detailed and methodical, finite restoration to go into those hallowed chambers. It will be larger than the first one, yet have a similar but improved sound over the original one.
Before the days of theatre pipe organs, theatres engaged musicians to play in an orchestra in the orchestra pit of the theatre to accompany silent films. As costs rose, theatre owners searched for a way to save money, and the theatre organ was developed, duplicating most of the sounds of an orchestra, played by one individual instead of many in an orchestra and the cost saving was realized. Those sounds include: flute, strings, trumpet, clarinet, French horn, tuba, and a unique organ sound called diapason. Thus, many of the theatres worldwide had an organ in them... even some of the small town theatres. Eventually, maintenance became a cost factor and many of those organs were ‘ripped’ out especially when talking pictures came about. There are still some major theatres in the US and Europe with magnificent organs in them: San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, Chicago, New York, Atlanta, and elsewhere... but none in the city of Portland, OR... yet!!
The Columbia River Theatre Organ Society (CRTOS) is in the process of making that happen. They have all the organ parts needed to achieve the expected results. The 3 manual console is in place now and being used electronically. Much discussion and detailed planning over the last 14 or so years of CRTOS existence has brought us to this point in time. With the energies and perseverance of many volunteer hands, the actual restoration processes have been under way for over a year... yes a year! It takes quite a bit of time, and lots of tedious, hard work and planning to achieve the eventual magnificent results of the sounds that will be experienced when it is completed. With the volunteers involved it could take another year before real pipes speak to us from those hallowed walls. All of this is being accomplished with the support and involvement of the staff of the Hollywood Theatre and Film Action Oregon. Of course, they own the building and thus the chambers where the organ will be installed. The organ will be the property of CRTOS and under their supervision, control and of course, on-going maintenance, because it is something that has to be maintained in optimum condition to promote that glorious and magnificent sound produced by an organ. It will be available for silent films, special programs, accompanying special films prior to and after a showing, and to students interested in learning to play a theatre organ.
So what takes so long? Well... each and every piece of the organ parts are being meticulously dismantled, restored or repaired to their original state and then re-installed or assembled. This includes the wood chests... the big “tables” that the pipes sit upon which are taken completely apart in some cases, sanded and re-glued and re-assembled. Talk about green!! We are not killing trees to do this!!! Inside those chests or “tables” are magnets which are cleaned and polished and sometimes re-wired or replaced with new ones, and leather ‘action’ or pouches which must be scraped clean of old and worn out leather and glue then re-glued, re-leathered, installed and adjusted before the top boards and bottom boards of those chests can be put back in place with polished and cleaned special screws. On top of those top boards go rack boards which keep the pipes in place so that the mouth of the pipe, or bottom, will sit solidly into the opening in the top boards, under which are the magnets and leather pouches, controlling the wind emitting from a very large special type of blower, pumped into the chests, activated and controlled by the organist at the keyboard of the console. But to achieve that control from the keyboard there will be many miles of wiring between the console which you can see now in the Theatre, going to switches and relays in the pipe chambers and then to the chests and the magnets and other equipment to create the glorious and encompassing sound of the mighty theatre pipe organ. To control the loudness of the pipes, there are ‘swell shades’ in front of each chamber. They look like big, vertical venetian blinds, but are thick wood, and operated by the organist with a foot pedal at the console. They also need to be refurbished, the action that works each shade re-leathered, and then the shades padded with felt so they do not make a slamming noise as they open and close. There are other items that are necessary for the organ to respond as intended: wind trunks, bellows, regulators to maintain steady wind pressure as sounds are produced, the relays and switches mentioned earlier that have to be wired. In our modern day and age, the console contains a computer that will be used to assist in controlling this gargantuan and monumentally large ‘beast’! So... what you see in the form of the console when you are seated in the auditorium of the Theatre is but a drop in the bucket of what exists behind the scenes. In the basement of the Theatre will be housed the large blower and electrical system which will supply the wind power to the pipes and the electrical impulses as the keys and stop tablets are pressed by the organist at the console. Again, many miles of wire are involved as is a 15-inch diameter pipe going from the blower to the two chambers and into the various mechanisms and then generating the speaking sound of the pipes as the organist selects the desired stop tablets, presses the keys on the 3 keyboards, the foot pedals, and the swell pedals to control the level of sound allowed to be emitted from the chambers. The actual sound of each pipe is not controlled, but the amount of sound from the chambers is controlled by those swell shades or ‘venetian blinds’!
You will also hear sounds from what is called a ‘toy counter’ which includes such things as bird whistles, tambourines, cymbals, wood blocks, sirens, claxon horn (oo-ooga!!), and drums. Then there will be chimes, a harp, glockenspiel, and possibly other similar ‘instruments’ in the chambers. ALL... yes... all of this is controlled by the organist at the console... the keyboards, the pedal board and the expression pedals (for swellshades), plus a crescendo pedal which permits the organist to gradually add all the pipe sounds existing in the organ as they push down on that pedal.
Underneath each of the keyboards are buttons called pistons. They allow the organist to pre-set certain sets of pipes by way of selecting the desired stop tablet and ‘adding’ them to that button or piston. Thus, the organist is able to immediately get the sound or sounds desired by pushing that piston rather than reaching up and selecting several stop tablets above the keyboards. These pistons or buttons can be changed as desired.
Sound intimidating? Confusing? Overwhelming? Like too much work? Well, not for those that are dedicated to making this happen, and dedicated to giving back to the City of Portland and its citizens some of those glorious sounds of yester-year.
It WILL happen!! It is happening!!
Now... if we have startled you, or, hopefully, generated your interest, extra help and extra hands are frequently needed with various projects under way and being planned. There are many types of jobs that can be done even by the inexperienced or novice or those that know nothing about organs and may not even play an instrument, all under the guidance of several members with years of experience. Also, it is an expensive process, and all monetary donations are gratefully accepted. Or, if you have music that you do not want or use, we periodically have sales of those items at sponsored events. We always have a good time as we ‘whistle while we work’, thinking about how this or that project is going to make the difference in gracing those hallowed halls of the Hollywood Theatre. So, considering helping us 'whistle while we work' until the real 'whistles', the sounds of pipes from the size of a pencil to 16 feet long, do the 'whistling' for us!
Columbia River Theatre Organ Society is a non-profit, educational organization dedicated to the preservation of the theatre organ and its music.