Rodgers Topper User manual

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Owners Guide,
TOPPEIt
RODGE:RS ORGP\N ,CON\PP\NY, HILLSBORO, OREGON U.S.A.

TOPPER
OWNER'S MANUAL
Rodgers Organ Company
1300 N.E. 25th Avenue
Hillsboro, Oregon 97123

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
ORGAN VOICES
Diapasons
Flutes
Strings
Reeds
Color Code
PITCH INDICATIONS
DIVISIONAL CHARACTERISTICS
Solo Division
Accompaniment Division
Pedal Division
TREMULANTS
GENERAL CONTROLS
PRESETS
RHYTHMAKER
TRANSPOSER
REGISTRATION SUGGESTIONS
WARRANTY INFORMATION
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6
9
10
13
14
15
17
21
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TOPPER OWNER'S MANUAL
This manual is a guide to help you understand and
play the most advanced home organ available, the "TOPPER,"
by Rodgers. Its handsome console will blend with any
furniture style and its unique "Tone Array Panel" provides
renowned Rodgers organ sounds at the touch, of a finger.

The layout of your "TOPPER" conforms to the standard
two manual home organ concept.
The top manual (keyboard) is called the Solo Manual.
The Solo Manual contains stops having solo qualities
(color and brilliance) as well as ensemble voices (voices
that blend together).
The bottom manual (keyboard) is called the Accompani-
ment Manual. The Accompaniment Manual provides voices that
give suitable accompaniment to the solo and ensemble voices
of the Solo Manual.
The keyboards have 61 keys with a complete range from
bottom 16' to the top of the 2'. There is no doubling back
on any stop.
The Pedal Clavier (so named because it is the keyboard
for the feet) has 25. pedals and provides the bass tones for
the undergirth of the total organ.
The switches that turn the voices of an organ on and
off are called Stops. The "TOPPER" is unique in that it
requires no physical movement to turn stops on and off,
but rather uses a light touch on the conveniently located
touch switches.
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The following photo shows the "'TONE ARRAY PANEL" with
indications of the location of the following divisions:
Solo Voices, Solo Percussions, Accompaniment Voices, Pedal
Voices, General Controls, Trernulants, and Transposer controls.
r
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Notice the layout of ·the "Tone Array Panel." The ·"Tone
Array Panel" will hereafter be abbreviated TAP. Your first
step is to turn the organ "on". Look in the upper right
hand corner of the TAP and turn the switch marked "Power"
down to the "on" position. Next, double check the position
of the switch labeled "Console Speakers". This switch must
be in the "on" position to allow the organ to ~ound thrqugh
~ts self-contained speaker system (likewise the "External
Speaker" swi tch must .be in the 11 on" posi tion if there are
external tone cabinets that you wish to sound).
Now your "TOPPER" is ready to play. You will notice
that the stop name is constantly illuminated and there is
a small transluscent square located directly above each
stop. If this small square is lit, the stop directly below
is on; if the light is off, the stop is off.
--NOTE: The only time these small lights will not respond
to the TAP is when any of the five presets are engaged and
the STOPRAIL ON piston is not illuminated. (See section on
Presets.)
There are gold colored pads on the top and bottom of
each stop. These are the ~asily activat~d stop switches.
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Simply touch the pad with a gentle, but firm, touch.
There is no need to "poke" or "stab" the switch, as it
responds to a very small amount of pressure.
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ORGAN VOICES
The organ has many different voices of various tonal
qualities. There are four main classifications of organ
voices.
DIAPASONS
This voice family is the backbone of classic (church) organ
tone. It is unique to the organ, not being imitative of
any orchestral voice. The Diapasons are at the 16', 8',
and 4' pitch level on the Solo Manual; 8' and 4' on the
Accompaniment Manual, and 16' on the Pedal. The Diapasons
(DI-A-PA-SON) are best used as ensemble voices (blending
voices) rather than a solo voice.
FLUTES
The Flute voices are imitative of orchestral flutes.
(Play the 4' Flute on the Solo Manual--upper keyboard--
to simulate an orchestral flute.) They are most commonly
used and heard with a wide and rapid tremulant (Leslie
Tremulant) which began as an important characteristic o·f
the theatre organ. (Try 16' and 4' Flutes on theSo10
Manual with the Leslie Tremulant in fast mode.) The Flutes
are on the Solo Manual from 16' through l' and on the
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Accompaniment Manua1_ at 8', 4', and 2', and on the Pedal
at 16' and 8'. Loud Flutes are often called Tibia:s, which
was the characteristic "weeping" Flute stop on theatre pipe
organs.
STRINGS
These voices are imitative of the string family such as
the Violin, Cello, and String Bass. These can be either
solo voices (SOLO VIOLIN) or ensemble voices (blending
voices) such as the Cello on the Accompaniment Manual.
REEDS
These voices are so named because in a pipe organ they are
produced by a reed hitting a block of metal. and the vibra-
tions carried up a tube called a resonator. Such voices
as the Trumpet, Clarinet, Saxophone, French Horn, Vox
Humana,
etc., are reed voices. The Vox Humana is best
use'd as an ensemble (blending) voice most commonly combined
with the Flute voices of the same pitch. All other reed
voices are best classified as solo voices.
--NOTE: All the Flute voices of each division are grouped
together for easier identification.
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Color Code: On the TOPPER you will note all the voices
are color coded.
DIAPASONS
FLUTES
STRINGS
REEDS
PERCUSSIONS
white
white
amber
red
white
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PITCH INDICATIONS
All even numbers denote a unison pitch (octaves, superoctaves,
suboctaves) .
8' denotes the same pitch as a Piano, i.e., Middle "C"
on
the Piano is the same as Middle "c" on the organ.
16' denotes the octave below; Middle "c" on the organ
would sound an octave lower than Middle "C".
4' denotes an octave above; Middle "c" on the organ
would sound an octave above Middle "C".
2' denotes two octaves above Middle "C".
All fractional numbers denote non-unison pitches.
5~1/3' denotes a fifth (5 white notes)
above Middle "C".
2-2/3' denotes a twelfth (12 white notes)
above Middle "C".
1-3/5' denotes a seventeenth .(17 white notes)
above Middle "C".
1-1/3' denotes a nineteenth (19 white notes)~
above Middle "C".
These non-unison pitches called "Mutations" should be used
very sparingly.
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DIVISIONAL CHARACTERISTICS
Solo Division
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The Solo Division contains the solo voices and ensemble
lead voices of the organ. Such solo voices as the Violin,
Clarinet, Trumpet, Trombone, Saxophone, and Post Horn are
available with ensemble voices such as the Vox Humana,
Diapason, Bass String, and all the Flutes 16' through 1'.
The Solo Division Percussions include Piano, Grand Piano,
Harpsichord, etc., located in the upper left hand corner
of the TAP.
You
will notice a stop called Main Off located at the
extreme left of the Solo voices. This stop will cause the
solo voices to not sound from the Solo Manual. To couple
the Solo Main voices, use Solo to Accompaniment or Solo to
Pedal. The Flute voices will not couple arid will remain
playable on the Solo Manual.
The Solo percussion stop will make any of the Solo
voices (other than Percussion and Flute) decay after a note
is pressed and held down as the Percussion voices do. This
gives added flexibility to the tonal spectrum.
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The "Solo Repeat" will cause all Solo voices other
than Flutes to repeat. The Speed Control is located to
the left of the Solo Repeat Touchpads.
Accompaniment Division
All the Accompaniment voic~s provide a suitable back-
ground of sound and timbre for Solo combinations. There
is a volume control at the far left of the Accompaniment
manual division which raises or lowers the Accompaniment
voices other than the Flute voices.
There is a Solo to Accompaniment coupler which will
couple 5010 voices other than the Solo Flutes to the Accom-
paniment Manual. The Accompaniment traps (drum, cymbal, etc.)
located on the Rhythm?ker Panel will play from the Accompani-
ment Manua1 .
Pedal Division
The Pedal division will provide a suitable undergirth
for all combinations. Some special features are the Pedal
Sustain, which affects all redal voices, the String Bass
with its pizzicato effects, and a volume control for maximum
flexibility. Pedal Traps (Bass Drum, etc.) play from the
Pedal Clavier and are located on the Rhythmaker Panel.
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There are two couplers that bring the Solo voices
<other than Flutes) and Accompaniment voices (other than
Flutes) to the Pedal Clavier.
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TREMULANTS
Tremulants produce the vibrato effect on an organ.
The TOPPER has five tremulant controls.
The Main Tremulant controls the entire organ with a
slide control to allow adjustment of tremulant depth to
personal taste.
The Delay Tremulant is for special effects to simulate
the natural starting characteristics of instruments such
as the Violin, Trombone, and Hawaiian Guitar. It should
be noted that the Delay Tremulant turns on automatically
when the Hawaiian Guitar is touched "On".
The TOPPER is equipped with an internal Leslie Speaker
unit that affects only the Flute and Vox Humana voices.
There are three speed controls:
"Off" Leslie Unit not in action;
Slow - Leslie Unit rotating at very slow rate;
Fast - Normal operating speed for Leslie Speaker.
For standard operation, have the Leslie Speaker in Fast
mode and the Main Tremulant in Normal position.
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GENERAL CONTROLS
These controls will affect the entire organ.
The Reverberation Control (REVERB) will increase the
amount of reverberation (natural sound decay) as its slide
control is pushed upward.
The Rhythm Tone control will increase the brightness
of the traps (drums and cymbals) of both the RHYTHMAKER
(automatic) and the drums, cymbals, block, etc., that play
from the Accompaniment and Pedal divisions.
Flute to Main transfers the Flutes from the Leslie
speaker system to the main speaker system, allowing the
organist a fast way of disabling the Leslie Tremulant.
The Flute Sustain affects only the Flute voices and has
separate "On" and "Off
i'
swi tches (touchpads) located above
and below the slide control. The slide control will increase
the amount of Flute sustain as it's pushed upwards
The
Flute Expression will allow you to have separate
(independent) expression control from the rest of the org~n.
There are "On" and "Off" touchpads with a slide switch tha.t
adjusts the Flute volume independent of the expression pedal.
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PRESETS
Your TOPPER is equipped with a unique PRESET system
which allows the organist maximum flexibility for rapid
stop changes.
When looking at the Piston Rail, you will notice that
to the left there is a piston labeled STOPRAIL. When this
STOPRAIL piston is illuminated any of the stops on the TAP
will. function and immediately affect the sound of the
instrument.
To the immediate right of the STOPRAIL piston are five
general Presets. They affect the Solo voices, Solo P~rcus
sions, Accompaniment and Pedal voices. The Tremulants and
General controls are not affected by presets, with one
exception, the First Preset. Since it activates the Grand
Piano on the Solo Manual, it will automatically cancel the
Main Tremulant when fully engaged.
The Rodgers Preset System is unique since all the presets
are "Double Touch." That means each piston has two contact
points. The first contact point, called First Touch, will
add the piston to whatever else is registered. When push-
ing past First Touch into Second Touch, all other functions
are cancelled and only the lighted piston will affect the
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organ. This means that the stoprail piston can be added
to any other piston to augment any preset combination or
the preset can be added to any stoprail combination.
When you are in a preset mode (presets 1-5 depressed)
and thestoprail preset is not illuminated, the TOPPER has
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amemory that will remember the combination that YQU regis-
tered.
If you want to change the combination that is on the
stoprail while you are in the preset mode, just add or
subtract the stops by touching the appropraate touch pads
and when you return to the Stoprail Mode the changes will
be in effect. If you change stops when not in Stoprail
mode there will be no visual indication, as the lights
illuminate only what is currently sounding.
There are three toestuds (pistons activated by the feet).
The far left toestud will turn the Rhythmaker (automatic
rhythm) on and off. The center toestud adds the Grand Piano
to any combination. The far right toestud duplicates Piston
#5 which is a suitable "Full Organ" sound. These tDe~tuds
have no Second Touch properties and will override any set
combination.
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RHYTHMAKER
The exclusive Rhythmaker is a very musically useful
automatic rhythm unit. It provides rhythm patterns in
the same manner as a live percussionist by providing a
complete four measure pattern, and is the first unit avail-
able to do so without complicated mechanical functions.
The Rhythmaker control panel is located to the left of
the Accompaniment Manual.
To activate the unit either depress the "Ready" button
and strike either the Accompaniment Manual or Pedal board
and the Rhythmaker will start, or simply depress the Toe-
stud labeled "Rhythm" and the unit will start. To stop the
Rhythmaker, either d.isengage the "Ready" button by pushing
it down and releasing it, or press the "Rhythm" toestud.
The twelve rhythm patterns available are adjustable
for volume and speed. The pattern selection switches are
located immediately above the volume and speed controls,
with the Pedal and Accompaniment Trap controls immediately
above them. They are Push On and Push Off controls.
As the Rhythmaker proceeds through its patterns, you,
the organist, are aware what beat is sounding at all times.
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