Rodgers the trio User manual

OWNER'S MANUAL
TRIO 321
RODGERS ORGAN COMPANY

TABLE OF CONTENTS
RODGERS
TRIO 321 OWNER'S MANUAL
Introduction... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
The Console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Solo
Manual. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Great Manual. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Accompaniment Manual. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Pedal board. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Stop Tabs .................................................. . . 4
Speaking Stops on the Trio 321. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
The Tibias . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
The Diapasons ......... . ...................................... 7
The Strings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
The Reeds ..................................................... 9
Oboe ......................................................... 9
Vox Humana ........................................ . .......... 9
Clarinet ...................................................... 9
Tuned Percussion .................................. . ............ 10
Piano ........................................................ 10
Harpsichord ................. . ................................. 10
Harp and Carillon ............................................. 10

Traps ........................................................... 11
Trio Controls .................................................... 12
Expression Pedals .............................................. 12
Voicing Tabs ................................................... 12
Tremulant Tabs ................................ ~ ................. 13
Organ Mute ...................................................... 13
Lighted Double-Touch Preset Action ....... · ........................ 14
Rodgers Practice Panel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
The Art of Organ Registration ..................................... 18
Registration Hints ................................................ 21
The Care and Maintenance of the
Rodgers Trio 321 ................................................. 28
Console and Pedalboard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Keyboards and Stop Tabs ............... . ......... ; .............. 28
Leveling Glides ................................................. 29
Rodgers Limited Warranty ..................................... . .. 30

The pleasure of owning a Rodge!s Trio begins the very _ first
day it comes into your home.
And your enjoyment will increase as you become more familiar
with the design of this fine musical instrument . . . its vast musical
resources . . . its full, rich, exciting theatre organ . sound.
Slide onto the bench and get acquainted . Listen to the
characteristic tonal qualities of the individual Trio voices. Sample
the Toy Counter's traps and the tuned percussions. Use the Rodgers
exclusive Rhythmaker, with its four-measure rhythm patterns.
A new world of musical pleasure will unfold as you discover
each musical nuance that lies beneath your fingers.
On the following pages are some of the outstanding and unique
features of the Rodgers Trio.
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The Rodgers Trio has three 61-note keyboards and a full 32-note
pedalboard. The tones of this organ range in pitch from a bass note
lower than the lowest tones of the brass tuba to a treble note beyond
the highest tone of the orchestral piccolo. The Trio ranges in pitch from
three octaves below Middle C to five octaves above Middle C . A total
range of eight octaves! You will never find a note of music written for
the organ that cannot be played on your Rodgers Trio.
The Trio is a theatre organ designed for the horne. On theatre
organs, as on classic organs, each keyboard (or manual) has its own
name:
MANUAL
Upper Manual
Middle Manual
Lower Manual
THEATRE ORGAN
Solo
Great
Accompaniment
CLASSIC ORGAN
Swell
Great
Choir
The Accompaniment Manual is level. The Great Manual tilts slightly
forward. The Upper Manual has a more pronounced tilt. Overhanging
and tilting keyboards make it easy to move your hands from one manual
to another.
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SOLO MANUAL
This manual is generally used for single note melodies, because
of the incisive quality of the Solo Voices. This manual provides voices
which contrast the more sonorous sounds of the Accompaniment. All
four tone families are represented on the Solo Manual. Pitches range
from the 16' Tibia Clausa to the 4' Piccolo.
The Glockenspiel, which is mounted under the lid of the Trio,
is played from the Solo Manual with the appropriate stop tab depressed
on the Stop Rail. It is also included as part of the registration of preset
piston #1. The Glockenspiel's musical notes are independent of the Trio
voicing controls (tremulants , sustains , etc . ) .
GREAT
MANUAL
This manual is characterized by its large number of voices and
pitches, special effects, and the big, full sounds so reminiscent of the
traditional Theatre Organ. In addition to all voice families at the 8'
pitch, the Great Manual contains: three 16' stops-- Bombarde, Tibia
Clausa, and Vox Humana; three mutation stops--5-1/3' Quint, 2-2/3'
Twelfth, and 1-3/5' Tierce; a Piccolo at 4' and 2'; a 1' Fife, and four
Tuned- Percussion stops-- Harp, Carillon, Piano and Harpsichord. Both
the Piano and Harpsichord may be used in combination with any other
voice on the organ. The ff Piano tab increases the loudness of both
Piano and Harpsichord voices.
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ACCOMPANIMENT MANUAL
This manual, as its name implies, is most often used for back-
ground while the melody is played on the Solo or Great Manual. The
Accompaniment voices are softer than those of the upper two manuals
and provide a soft, yet full background for more subtle combinations
used in the melody. The Accompaniment Manual contains the complete
tone family at 8' pitch, plus a 4' Piccolo, a 4' Viol, and two Toy
Counter stops (Tambourine and Chinese Block). For additional loud-
ness, there is an Accompaniment ff stop which increases the volume
of the Accompaniment speaking voices.
PEDALBOARD
Because the Rodgers Trio Pedal board is concave and radiating,
a relaxed - and natural swing of the legs brings your feet within easy
reach of all 32 pedals. The Trio pedal provides a wide range of pitch
and tonal color, including two percussion effects (Bass Drum and · Cymbal).
A separate Pedal Sustain Tab controls the individual pedal voices. There
is a Pedal ff stop which increases the volume of the Pedal voices.
STOP TABS
The colorful array of illuminated Stop Tabs, arranged in a
graceful curve · on the stop rail above the keyboards, contains 46
speaking voices (tone producing sounds) and 14 nonspeaking stops
(which modify or control tones produced by the speaking stops).
The color of the individual Stop Tabs indicates the voice family
to which that stop belongs: White for Tibia, Flute, and Diapason;
Amber for Strings; Red for Reeds; Gray and Black for Percussion.
-4-

SPEAKING STOPS
The speaking stops are grouped on the stop rail in a traditional
Theatre Organ console layout. On the extreme left are the pedal stops;
the accompaniment manual stops are next; then the great manual stops;
and finally , on the extreme right , the solo manual stops .
Each speaking stop tab is engraved with the full name of the
stop in italics at the top, the pitch designation (8', 4', etc.) in the
middle, and the abbreviation of the stop name in capital letters at
the bottom.
The designation of pitch by footage is the . same as the system used
in pipe organ nomenclature. An open pipe eight feet long produces the
lowest tone (bottom C on the manual) of an 8' stop. The 8' stops are
called the "Unison Pitch" of the organ. That is, Middle C played with
an 8' stop has the same pitch as Middle C on a piano. A 16' stop sounds
an octave below Unison Pitch, a 4' stop sounds an octave above, a 2' stop
sounds two octaves above, and a 1' stop sounds three octaves above.
In addition to the octave sounding stops, there are the "Mutation"
stops:
A 5-1/3' Quint
(sounds a fifth above Unison Pitch)
A 2-2/3' Twelfth
(sounds an octave and a fifth above Unison Pitch)
A 1-3/5' Tierce
(sounds two octaves and a third above Unison Pitch)
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For example:
By playing Middle C on the Great with a 5-1/3' Quint, the
G above Middle C will sound. The 5-1/3' Quint, the 2-2/3' Twelfth,
and the 1-3/5' Tierce should never be played alone; the Tierce should
only be used in combination with the 5-1/3' Quint or 2-2/3' Twelfth.
Their function is to provide tonal color and shading. Mutations should
be used with much discretion. Unless a special effect is desired,
mutations should be used sparingly .
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