FAQs
Here are some of our most frequently asked questions. If you don't see an answer here, please feel free to visit our contact page to send us a note.
In short, just over 60% of the organ is playable. While this is an impressive number, a very small amount is actually restored. Only about 20% has been removed from the chambers and fully restored.
It depends on how you ask and how you count! In fact, many lists categorize them as 1a and 1b, instead of 1 and 2.  While the Wanamaker organ has more ranks (or sets of pipes) with 464 ranks compared to our 449, we have more pipes – about 5,000 more!  Many of our ranks play a little bit higher, and a little bit lower, meaning more pipes per rank and therefore more pipes in the organ. The Midmer-Losh is also recognized as the world's loudest musical instrument. Both organs are very different and were manufactured with different purposes. We like to think of them as a fellow organ, rather than as a competitor.
That's a great question. The simplest answer is funding. Our funding is steady and quite adequate to facilitate our current restoration schedule. If additional moneys are received that means we can call on more of our colleagues in the industry to help in various ways to speed up the restoration process. In reality, there will always be a need for at least two people to maintain the organs, even after restoration is finished, to ensure they don’t fall back into the state they were several decades ago. Right now, we are aiming for the completion sometime around the organ’s 100th birthday.
Most likely! It depends on the schedule of the hall. Boardwalk Hall is a very busy municipal building, but visit our contact page and send us a note to see our availability. Keep in mind the schedule on our website does not reflect the schedule of Boardwalk Hall. In addition, both organs will not be available to play surrounding a large concert or film event.
Most likely! It depends on the schedule of the hall. Boardwalk Hall is a very busy municipal building, but visit our contact page and send us a note to see our availability. Keep in mind the schedule on our website does not reflect the schedule of Boardwalk Hall. In addition, both organs will not be available to play surrounding a large concert or film event.
No. Both the Kimball and Midmer-Losh organs are entirely acoustic musical instruments. The sound is produced either by pipework or by real percussion instruments located in the chambers that are struck pneumatically.