Beaverton, Ontario is located on the Eastern shores of Lake Simcoe, an hour north of Toronto.
The church's Hallman Organ was an old tube type organ but the console was well-built, with good, wooden keyboards and a pedalboard that with-stood the test of time and was in very good shape. The Hallman Company not only built electronic organs, but was a builder of fine pipe organs as well, in the German style. New contacts were fitted on the keyboards and a new lighted stop tablet system was cut into the existing tab rail.
The newly retrofitted organ now has a 16 memory combination action, and 34 stops with 3 specifications, English Romantic, Baroque and Orchestral/organ. All stops are separate and independent pipe samples from such pipe organs as Letourneau, Casavant, Aeolian Skinner, Harrison and Harrison and Willis. The orchestral samples will be used as solo stops, but will also enhance the church's contemporary music program. Actually, some of the samples on the Baroque specification are from a Hallman pipe organ, characterized by chiffy Flutes and 'crisp' sounding Principals with wonderful edge tone.
Members of the church brought in scaffolding and installed the AcoustiCube speakers. They were hung from the ceiling, near the front of the church, and are not noticeable. The reflective qualities and the 360 degree dispersion create a far more realistic organ sound than typical speakers.
At right, Rev. Ted McCollum, watches Phoenix' Donald Anderson voice the organ.
