Los Angeles, CA
Tower (Newsreel) Theatre
Organ by The Rudolph Wurlitzer Co. Opus 1620 Shipped 4/23/27--Standard Style 216
PEDAL BACK RAIL
16' Tuba Profunda PEDAL SECOND TOUCHES
16' Diaphone
16' Bourdon Bass Drum
8' Harmonic Tuba Kettle Drum
8' Diaphonic Diapason Crash Cymbal
8' Tibia Clausa Cymbal
8' Clarinet
8' Cello (Viol d' Orchestre & Viol Celeste)
8' Flute ACCOMPANIMENT (first touches)
4' Octave (Diaphonic Diapason)
Accompaniment to Pedal *Octave
*Solo to Accompaniment
Snare Drum
Tambourine
ACCOMPANIMENT Castanets
Chinese Block
16' Contra Viol TC Tom Tom (single-stroke muted-Snare Drum)
8' English Horn
8' Harmonic Tuba
8' Diaphonic Diapason ACCOMPANIMENT SECOND TOUCHES
8' Tibia Clausa
8' Clarinet 8' Harmonic Tuba
8' Orchestral Oboe 8' Clarinet
8' Viol d' Orchestre 4' Piccolo
8' Viol Celeste Marimba
8' Concert Flute Cathedral Chimes
8' Vox Humana Glockenspiel
4' Viol Triangle
4' Octave Celeste Solo to Accompaniment
4' Flute
4' Vox Humana
2-2/3' Twelfth (Flute) SOLO (first touches)
2' Piccolo (Flute)
Marimba (reiterating Harp) Sub Octave
Harp Unison Off
Chrysoglott Octave
SOLO SECOND TOUCHES
SOLO
16' Tuba Profunda
16' Tuba Profunda 8' Clarinet
16' Bourdon*
16' Contra Viol TC
8' English Horn TREMULANTS
8' Harmonic Tuba
8' Diaphonic Diapason Main
8' Tibia Clausa Solo
8' Clarinet Vox Humana
8' Orchestral Oboe Tuba
8' Viol d' Orchestre
8' Viol Celeste
8' Concert Flute TOE PISTONS--9
8' Vox Humana
4' Harmonic Clarion Pedal Combinations 1-3
4' Octave (Diaphonic Diapason) Bird
4' Piccolo Fire Gong
4' Viol Steamboat Whistle
4' Octave Celeste Horse's Hooves
4' Flute Pistol Shot (single-stroke Tom Tom)
2-2/3' Twelfth (Flute) Klaxon (antique auto horn)
2' Fifteenth (Viol d' Orch.)
2' Piccolo (Flute)
1-3/5' Tierce (Flute) COMBINATION ACTION
Marimba
Harp --Pedal--1-3 (toe studs shown above)
Cathedral Chimes --Accompaniment--PP/P/MF/F/FF & 1-5
Sleigh Bells -Acc. 1-3 fires Pedal 1-3--std. wiring
Xylophone --Solo--PP/P/MF/F/FF & 1-5
Glockenspiel
Bells (reiterating Glock.)
Chrysoglott SWELL PEDALS
Main
Solo
PIANO-STYLE PEDALS--2 Crescendo
--Right end of kick panel--
--Snare Drum Roll (1st touch)/Bass Drum & Cymbal (2nd touch)
--Sfortzando--All ranks (1st touch)/All tuned percussions added (2nd touch)
--Sfortzando affects only the Pedal and Solo keyboards--
ACCOMPANIMENT MANUAL KEY CHEEK--RIGHT SIDE
Push Button--Door Bell
BLOWER
5 horsepower
*These stop tabs are in unusual order for a Wurlitzer. Generally, speaking stops are
grouped by pitch and, within a given pitch, arranged in order of loudness. Clarinets
seem to consistently violate this protocol in all Wurlitzer models, however.
Also, coupler tabs are normally found at the end of a given keyboard's stop tab
compliment.
Another strange element of the 216 is the absence of a 4' Piccolo stop on the
Accompaniment manual. This, and the second-touch stop compliment of the organ,
strongly suggests that the Style 216 was created within the "footprint" of the Style
215 and basically expanded by the addition of a coupler switchboard to the 215 relay
and switches--with the Accompaniment second-touch Chimes, Glockenspiel and Marimba
switches added and 215 Accompaniment second-touch Xylophone omitted. Easy to do, given
the wiring involved. The 4' Accompaniment Piccolo would have been a bit more
complicated to add, but not much more so.
Fox-West Coast chain organist Frank Lanterman designed the Style 216 for himself and
his employers. All in all, the 216 is a "path of least resistance" improvement on the
215, from an engineering perspective. No doubt, Lanterman had it in mind to keep the
cost of the new 216 as low as possible while satisfying himself sufficiently and
keeping the Fox-West Coast chain happy.
The 215's Kinura swapped out for the English (Post) Horn was the other improvement made
by Lanterman. Again, an easy thing to do as only a new rack board would be needed.
CHAMBER ANALYSIS
MAIN--All ranks on 10" wind. Chrysoglott, relays, switches and shutters on 12"
16' Diaphonic Diapason--85 pipes
16' Flute--97 pipes
8' Clarinet--61 pipes
8' Viol d' Orchestre--85 pipes
8' Viol Celeste--73 pipes
Chrysoglott--49 notes
Relays and switching
SOLO--All ranks on 10" wind unless noted. Shutters, percussions and effects--12"
16' Harmonic Tuba--85 pipes--15" wind
8' English (Post) Horn--61 pipes
8' Orchestral Oboe--61 pipes
8' Tibia Clausa--73 pipes
8' Vox Humana--61 pipes--6" wind
Marimba/Harp--49 notes
Xylophone--37 notes
Glockenspiel/Bells--37 notes
Cathedral Chimes--25 notes
Sleigh Bells--25 notes
All non-tuned percussions
All sound effects