Did you know?
There is a pipe organ not far from us that has the more pipes than any other pipe organ in the ENTIRE WORLD!
AND It is just less than an hour away from Philadelphia in Atlantic City.
That's right! The instrument is known as The Midmer-Losh Pipe Organ in Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall. It was built between 1929 and 1932 to provide entertaiment for the massive crowds before modern PA audio systems existed. Boardwalk Hall seats over 40,000 people and this organ was designed to fill the 5.5-million-cubic-foot arena with sound, acting as the ultimate, versatile instrument for the massive new venue.
The world's largest pipe organ is large enough to have an actual concert grand piano as a part of it. That concert grand was made by the Chickering Company in 1928. Cunningham Piano Company has supported the restoration of this amazing instrument by restoring that concert grand piano so it is usable in performance.
Interestingly, the Chickering concert grand was never meant to be played by someone sitting at it. It was only meant to be played remotely from the organ keyboard. That meant that it was missing a few things, like:
1) Legs
2) Pedals
3) Trap work
4) Damper Action
5) A keyboard that was properly weighted to respond to a pianist's touch
All of that work had to be custom performed so the piano could return to the organ and be played remotely - or by a pianist sitting at the piano.
Enjoy a few photos of the Chickering grand piano in restoration:
