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OrganNet Report

April 1, 2003
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The Osiris Archive--A Personal Account

Internet address:

http://osiris.wu-wien.ac.at/ftp/pub/

earlym-l/organs/

The Osiris Archive, since its inception a little over a year
ago, has grown to over 1300 organ specifications and sports a 23-page index. There is every reason to believe that it will soon double or quadruple in size. The idea of a database for organ specifications and related information has been
around for quite a long time, but the Osiris database actually worked. Why?

For me, the biggest problem in creating an organ database
was not how to enter the data, but how to design a format that would accept
information from a variety of sources without being too restrictive. Typical
databases work just fine for phone books and the rolodex at the office, but as
they grow more complex to accommodate a wide variety of details, they become
more restrictive with regard to how data may be organized. The accommodation of
organ specifications, scalings, drawings, photographs, discography and a host
of other particulars is no easy matter.

The idea of working on an organ database came into focus
when I attended the conference on "The Historical Organ in America,"
hosted by Arizona State University, The Westfield Center and The American Organ
Academy in 1991. (See Huestis and Zuiderveld, "The Historical Organ in
America," The Diapason, June 1992:10.) The outcome of that conference was
a unique organ documentary published by the Westfield Center. This documentary
was most unusual because a group of artisan organ builders, rather than
harboring "trade secrets," released architectural drawings, scalings
and procedures used for the construction of a series of very fine instruments.

That uniqueness was also evident in the wide diversity of
this chronicle of hand made organs--ranging from John Brombaugh's mean-tone
organ for the Haga Church in Göteborg, Sweden to Fritz Noack's
reconstruction of the famous Hook organ at Mechanic's Hall in Worcester,
Massachusetts.

The presentation of these volumes of data was enhanced by
the masterful editing done by Lynn Edwards of The Westfield Center. She was
able to put together a readable publication that dealt with a huge variety of
information. Squeezed into this account of contemporary organ building were
such diverse subjects ranging from tuning and temperaments to the details of
electronic combination actions. She included pipe scalings, computer drawings
(CAD), printouts of wind chest designs and illustrations of reed shallots. And
brought it off in an attractive and readable volume!

All this made me think: "How can you do something like
this in a database? Can it take in all these different kinds of information
without coming apart at the seams?" As I pondered these questions, I was
slowly learning the  mysteries of
the "Unix" computer operating system, so that I could "surf the
'Net." This was just a few years ago--before the latest generation of
computers made the Internet into a picture show. At that time, Unix operating
systems were the basis for many bulletin boards and electronic meeting places
along the Internet's cyber-highway. I realized that the Unix system was a key
to a comprehensive database for organs, because it could accommodate a huge
variety of information the same way that electronic bulletin boards house thousands of computer files on an immense array of subjects.

I struggled with this notion for a couple of years when a
solution came to me through a contact on the Internet. Piporg-l (the OrganNet)
had become established and was growing rapidly. Along with Piporg-l, a sister
list had appeared called Earlym-l. In addition to the usual offerings of early
music trivia, recordings and general comment, it included archive at the
University of Economics in Vienna. By and by, I corresponded with Gerhard
Gonter, a systems analyist at the Vienna facility, who had set up a database
list, primarily having to do with early music recordings and catalogs. I told
him what of my interest in a pipe organ database, and he offered me a spot in
the Osiris computer to set up a directory, and subsequently a home page for
world wide web access.

Running on this unix system, the Osiris directory was ideal
for a completely free-form database. I could catalog entries by builder, site,
city, country and date and anything else that seemed like a pertinent key word.
Like this:

Cavaille-coll.notre-dame.paris.france.1868

Each keyword is separated by a period, and altogether, they
become the unique title of a file that may be read with any word processor.
There are no special "fields" or "catalogues" or
"tables" to worry about. The Internet is an ideal location for this
kind of database and its phenomenal growth is surely the result of its
interactive nature. Had this database been started "in the blind"
without the possibility of interactive access, its growth would probably have
been much more limited.

Another key element in the growth of the Osiris Archive is
the participation of about a dozen volunteers in the preparation of document
files. Volunteers come from all over the world--the USA, Germany, England,
Singapore, Italy, and Australia, to name a few places. Several volunteers have
concentrated on historic organs, making many of the entries especially
invaluable. Some have specialized in particular places, such as the organs of
Oxford, England. Some files are very complex, with scalings for all the pipes
of the organ. Others are simply the specification and little else. A file can
be long or short, simple or complex, a simple document or a spreadsheet. All
are accessible on the Unix system.

It is a mark of acceptance of the Osiris Archive that more
and more requesters  are
disappointed when they do not find a specification there. The present total of
1300 organs is just a beginning. The time will surely come when the list is
many times that number and many organs will be represented not only by their
stoplist, but discography, builders' notes, scales and "all sorts and
conditions" of data. Until that time, we can just watch it grow. style='mso-tab-count:1'>   

Here is an analysis of the Osiris Archive, dated January 16,
1996, giving the number of organs for each builder.

   1: adams

   1: adema

   1:
aeolian-skinner-sipe

  21:
aeolian-skinner

   5:
aeolian

   1: agati

   1:
ahrend-brunzema

   5:
ahrend

   2:
aizpuru

   1:
akerman-lund

   1: alain

   1:
alberdi-marti

   1: alley

  28: amezua

  10: andover

   1:
anneessens

   2:
antegnati

   2:
appleton

   1:
aragones

   1:
argaiz

   1:
arrizabalaga

  20: austin

   1:
azarola

   1: baetz

   1:
banayas

   1:
banzaf

   1:
baquero

   1:
barckhoff

   1: bates

   1: batz

   1: beckerath-wolff

  14: beckerath

  15: bedient

   1:
benzmiller

   2:
berdalonga

   7:
berghaus

   1:
berns-pels-zoon

   1:
betolaza

   1:
bielfeld

   1:
bielfeldt

   7:
bigelow

   1: binss

   1:
birouste

   2:
blancafort

   7: blank

   1:
boisseau

   7: bond

   1: bono

   3: bosch

   1:
bozeman-gibson

   4:
bozeman

   1:
bradford

   2:
breinbauer

   1:
brindley-foster

   1:
brombaugh-richards-fowkes

  15: brombaugh

   1: brown

   2:
brunner

   1:
buckhow

   4:
buzard

   1:
byfield

   1:
cadinanos

   1:
cahmen

   2:
caimari

   2:
calvete

   1:
cananos

   1: carod

  14: casavant

  24:
cavaille-coll

   1:
chapline

   2:
christersen-soenner

   1:
christoph

   1:
church

   4:
clicquot

   1:
cole-woodbury

   1:
collins

   1:
collon-st-michael

   1:
conacher

  style="mso-spacerun: yes">  1: coulter

   1: crum

   1:
dallam-willis-walker

   1:
danion-gonzales

   1:
daublaine

   1:
deania

   1:
debierre-beuchet

   1:
debierre

   1:
delarosa

   1: dial

   2:
dobson

   1:
donahue

   4:
dourte

   1: drake

   1:
ducroquet

   1:
duyschot-vater

  style="mso-spacerun: yes">  1: duyschot

   2:
echevarria

   1:
egedacher

   3:
eleizgaray

   4: erben

   1:
estadella

  11: estey

   1:
evans-barr

   1: fabry

   1:
farmer

   1:
farrand-votey

   2:
faucher

   1:
fincke

   1:
fisk-andover

  26: fisk

  10: flentrop

   2: forster-andrews

   1:
fowler

   1:
freiburger

   1:
freundt

   1:
freytag

   2:
fritts-richards

   6:
fritts

   2:
frobenius

   1:
fuhrer

   2:
gabler

   1:
garnier

   1:
garrels

   1:
gerhardt

   1: ghys

   2: gill

   1: gluck

   2: gober

   1: goetz

   8: gomez

   2:
goulding-wood

   1: graaf

   1: grant

   2:
gray-davidson

   2: gray

   3:
grenzing

   2:
groenlunds

   1:
grotian

   1:
grueneberg

   1:
guilbault-therien

   1:
guilbaut-therien

   1:
guillemin

   3:
guzowski-steppe

   1:
hagerbeer-schnitger

   1: hall

   1:
hamill

   1:
hammarberg

   1:
hammond

   4:
harris

   4:
harrison-harrison

   8:
harrison

   2:
harrold

   1:
hedlund-marcussen

   1:
heinrich

   1:
hencke

   1:
hendrickson

   2:
herbst

   1:
hernandez

   1: hesse

   2:
heuvel

   1: hilbus

   2:
hildebrandt

   6:
hill-norman-beard

   8: hill

   1:
hillebrand

   2:
hinsch

   1: hinsz

   1: hoack

   2:
hofmann

   1:
holtkamp-sparling

   5:
holtkamp

   2:
holzhey

   1:
hooghuys

  10:
hook-hastings

   1:
hook-noack

  21: hook

   1: hoppe

   1:
howard

   1:
howell

   2:
hradetzky

   1: humpe

   2:
hutchings-plaisted

   1:
hutchings-votey

   1:
hutchings

   1: iben

   1:
ihalainen

   3:
inchaurbe

   1:
international-organ-found

   1:
irisarre-serrano

   1:
isnard

   6:
jaeckel

   1: jann

   2: jardine

   1:
jehmlich

   5:
johnson

   5: jones

   1:
jordan

   2: jurva

   1:
kaat-en-tijhuis

   9:
kangasala

   1: kegg

   1:
kemper

   2: kern

   1:
kessler

   1:
kilgen-fabry

   4:
kilgen

   8:
kimball

   3: king

   1:
kirkham

  10: klais

   1:
klapmeyer

   1:
kleuker

   6: kney

   1: knol

   1:
koenig

   1:
koenken-grimm

   1: konig

   3:
koppejan

   1:
kreienbrink

   1: kuhn

   1:
kyburz

   2:
ladegast

   5: lane

   1:
larraga

   1: lauck

   1:
laukhuff

   1:
lawson

   1:
lefebre

   7:
letourneau

   2:
levsen

   1:
lewis-harrison

   2:
lewis-hitchcock

   5: lewis

   1:
lingiardi

   1: link

   1: list

   1:
lively-fulcher

   1:
llopis

   1:
loback

   2:
lorentz

   2:
maarschalkerweerd

   4:
mander

   2:
maneru

   1:
maneua

   1:
marceau

   8:
marcussen

   1:
marklove

   1: marti

   1:
martin

   1:
martinez

   1:
meere-quelhorst

   1:
merklin-kuehn

   3:
merklin

   6:
metzler

   1: meyer

   1:
michell-thynne

   2:
midmer-losh

  15: moller

   1:
monturas

   1:
monturus

   5: moore

   1:
morey-barnes

   1: morey

   1: moser

   1:
moucherel-formentelli

   1:
moucherel

   2:
mueller

   2:
muller

   1: mundt

   1: munoz

   1:
murphy

   1:
mutin-cavaille-coll

   1: mutin

   1:
navaratnum

   1:
neidhart-lhote

   1:
neijenhoff

   1: neri

   3:
nicholson

   1: niehoff-johansen

   1:
noack-hook

   3: noack

   3:
noehren

   2:
nordlie

   1:
oberlinger

   3: odell

   1:
oestreich

   1: oliva

   1:
ontko-young

   6: ontko

  11:
organeria-espanola

   1: oria

   3:
ortega

   2: ott

   1:
papenius

   1:
paschen

   3: pasi

   1: perez

   1:
peruga

   2:
petty-madden

   1:
phelps

   1:
phelps

   2:
phelps

   1: pike

   4:
pilcher

   2:
pilzecker

   1:
pirkkanen

   1: pock

   1:
pozalgues

   1:
proscia

   1: puget

   1: putz

   1: puyo

   1:
quarles-mander

   1:
quimby

   1: ranft

   1: range

   5:
redman

   1:
reichel

   7: reil

   1:
reques

   3:
reuter

   1:
richards-fowkes

   1:
richards

   1:
richborn

   3:
rieger-kloss

  10: rieger

   1: riepp

   1: roche

   1:
rodriguez

   6:
roosevelt

  29: roques

   4:
rosales

   1:
rottenstein

   1: rueda

   5:
ruffatti

   4:
ruggles

   1: rule

   1:
rushworth-dreaper

   1:
russell

   1: ryder

   2:
salazar

   3:
sanchez

   1:
sanchez

   1:
sandtner

   3:
sanjuan

   1: saur

   1:
schaedle

   8:
schlicker

   1:
schmieder

  16: schnitger

   1:
schoeler

   8:
schoenstein

   1:
schonat

   1:
schott

   1:
schrider

   1:
schroter

   1:
schuelke

   5:
schuke

   1:
schwann

   1:
semrad

   2:
serassi

   1: sharp

   1:
sieber

  17: silbermann

   1:
simmons

   9: sipe

  23: skinner

  style="mso-spacerun: yes"> 1: smethurst

   4: smith

   2:
snetzler

   1: spain

   1: spath

   1: stein

   5:
steiner

   3:
steinmeyer

   3:
stellwagen

   4:
stevens

   1:
stoltz

   1:
streit

   1:
stromback

   1:
swart-hagerbeer

   2:
tamburini

   1:
tannenberg

   7:
tarazona

  10:
taylor-boody

   1:
thielmann

   2:
thomas

   1:
thompson

   3: thule

   1:
tilton

   1:
toledo

   1: treat

   1: trebs

   1:
treutmann-hillebrand

   2: trost

   1: tuomi

   1:
ugarte

   1:
unknown-italian

  75: unknown

   1:
urarte

   2:
usarralde

   1: valdonado

   1:
van-deventer

   1:
van-daalen

   3:
vandaalen

   3:
vater-mueller-witte

   1: vater

   2:
verdalonga

   2:
virtanen

   1:
visscher

   4:
visser-rowland

   1:
volkland

   1:
von-holy

   1: votey

   2:
votteler-holtkamp

   1:
wadsworth-taylor

   4:
wagner

   1:
wahlstrom

   1:
walcker-flentrop

   9:
walcker

   9:
walker

   1:
wanamaker

   1:
wandke-frels

   1:
wangerin

   1:
weisse

   9:
wells-kennedy

   1:
welte-mignon

   1: welte

   1:
westenfelder

   1:
whalley-genung

   8: wicks

   1: wiese

   7:
wilhelm

   1:
willis-mander

  12: willis

   1:
winterhalter

   2: woehl

   1: woehl

  16: wolff

   1:
woodberry

   1:
wulf-dalitz

   7:
wurlitzer

   1: ynes

   1:
yokota

   3:
zimmer

Total = 1290