It's finally here, folks - whether you live in New Zealand, Australia, the USA or the UK, you can buy the perplexing, confusing, fun, challenging/not-too-challenging, special, illustrated puzzle book for musicians. 
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It's been a long time coming but at last I have completed the process and now you can buy "Organs and Organists: Their Inside Stories" and Martin's wonderful CD "Resounding Aftershocks" with free shipping worldwide!

No-one likes the awful cost of postage, and I've been battling this for what seems and lifetime. But at last, it is now available - even if only for one book and one CD from our shop (but also on eBay now too) . It is a start. How long it will be free, goodness knows. Our postal service tends to raise prices mid-year, so I will be keeping a watchful eye. Meanwhile, do visit the Organ & Organists page and Martin's CD page and make the most of it!
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The highly popular new book peeking behind the scenes of the world of the pipe organ and organists is on sale for only 2 days more! Get your copy of "Organs and Organists: Their Inside Stories" NOW before the cost goes back to the usual pre-sale pricing.  This is a one-off offer so don't miss out. And besides, you will want to order now if you live in the northern hemisphere, to make sure of your copy. 
Go here to order "Organs and Organists: Their Inside Stories"

Those concerts are what inspire and stimulate and soothe and all the rest of it, but boy, can they be tough on the old backsides if you have to sit for hours on a hard pew with an excruciating upright straight pew back. Believe me, I've struggled with many different types and although they are designed to keep the faithful souls from napping during long sermons, they don't help enjoyment of musical events. 
SO! enter our competition to win a concert cushion and you could have more pleasant concert experience  (can't guarantee the quality of the music - that's in the hands of the performers). The prize is a cushion (sometimes referred to as a stadium cushion) with a picture of the jaw-dropping Flensburg pipe organ façade.  
Go here to read the details and enter, but remember to do it before midnight on November 29th, 2019.  If you don't want to wait for the competition to finish, look at the different designs on other cushion in our shop here.

Sitting on hard pews for hours on end does nothing to encourage people to go to organ concerts (or recitals, if you must). The hard wood in so many cases was probably designed to keep the congregations in years gone by awake as they listened to 2-hour long sermons. I have suffered sitting in many a pew that felt more like a medieval torture chamber than a means of resting, so I was delighted to discover that Zazzle has released these cushions (which they can "Stadium cushions" and which I would refer to as kneelers) which I have assembled in a collection called "Cushions for concerts, kneelers for gardeners". 

The website details are 

• Dimensions: 12.5" x 14" x 0.67"
• High-quality durable neoprene provides the perfect cushion and insulation from cold wet, stadium seats
• Also ideal for camping, kneeling in the garden, hunting, ice fishing, and canoeing
• Convenient cut-out carrying handle
• Approved and permitted for NFL stadiums
• Water-resistant
• Bottom of cushion is black

At the moment there are 20 designs (many with entirely new photos) in the collection but it will grow in the next few months.  These would be perfect gifts for concert lovers or even for gardeners - help save those knees! 
If you don't see your favourite organ there, drop me a note through our contact form and I will see if I can help. 
​Click on the image below to go to the collection - and happy sitting!

And the winner was Lynley Clark!
Here was the puzzle:

​Well, THEY'RE not muddled - just their names. I've been having fun mixing up the names of well-known composers to use as a competition. If you would like to enter a competition by un-mixing their names, and be in the draw to win a copy of "Organ-isms: Anecdotes from the World of the King of Instruments" - or even if you just like puzzles, go to our competition page. But hurry - the deadline is Sunday June 9th  at midnight, New Zealand time. What have you got to lose? 

Well, these ones especially. That magnificent magazine The Oldie runs weekly giveaway prizes, and you can land yourself some rewarding goodies by entering. (The Oldie magazine, by the way, is a kind of Punch meets Private Eye and spawns Huff Post for those who have no time for bullshit. Satire and irony are high on the ingredient list and old age is targeted by and for the contributors. A refreshing publication in a world of sycophancy. I recommend it.)

 The point is, keep an eye on the page offering these giveaways over the next few weeks as several items from our Pipeline Press shelves are being dangled as prizes. At the moment, Organs and Organists: Their Inside Stories is one little offering (ends tomorrow Thursday, I think, but best go and do it now while you can) and others, which include Organ-isms: Anecdotes from the World of the King of Instruments and Martin Setchell's CD Cardboard Cathedral Organ Capers are coming along shortly. So bookmark the page and check back. Remember the old adage about mouths and gift horses...

They are rather like a continuo player on harpsichord or piano. They are not soloists, they don't stand out from the crowd, but blend in to support and provide basic harmony. Work like Trojans for most of whichever work they are playing for, but are the quiet, background heroes of any mass or major work where they play a vital role. A skilled continuo player is worth their weight in gold, often required to read from figured bass and have a highly honed musicianship. 
So I bow in awe and admiration to the organist who was asked late last night to step in to fill the shoes (or bench?) of a sick continuo player for a Mozart Mass for a concert this afternoon in St Mary's Pro-Cathedral in  Manchester Street. He still hasn't seen the music, and has not rehearsed with the other musicians (and will not be able to before the concert), but I am certain he will carry it off with his usual professional aplomb. This will be like jazz in frockcoats. If he does it well, no-one will notice; that's the rub. It will seem like business as usual. Just like one of those small but important gadgets from your kitchen drawer.
​Long live the professional musician - and good luck mate!

It was an unusual transition on Monday - or was it Sunday? Time blurs when on the road. A frantic last weekend in Germany, with a concert in calm Rheda-Wiedenbrueck on Friday evening. Fast forward to early morning for quick escape via the Autobahn 2 hours up the road to Hildesheim to return hire car, check in Gasthof and be in time for Martin to play the concert in The Mariendom on Saturday morning. The almost guaranteed traffic jam never eventuated so everything went disappointingly smoothly (worst times make best stories later). 

I am beginning to wonder if Interpol have been alerted about the 2 mad visitors who keep fleeing hotels far too early with bulging bags - in hands and under eyes - heading for train stations. It's us, chaps, so don't fret. This time it was to catch the train on Sunday morning to Frankfurt airport, fly to Manchester, hire a car, drive to Kendal in the lake District. Holidays! All 3 days! And the best weather that the UK has ever had to offer, in a sublime part of the country with a close friend. Scores 120% on my happiness chart.

But first the airport brouhaha. Security is one thing but chaos and treating travellers like so many headless chickens or bales of hay is another. Anyone who has flown will know this of course, and Frankfurt has never been an easy place to leave from, but Sunday was worse than usual. Chaos, lack of signage, clear instructions, and duplication of queues for queues for queues. Strange and extremely unpleasant and uncomfortable. Can it really not be better organised?

But we got there. And unlike unfortunate refugees and asylum seekers elsewhere, we had a place to go to, and were by contrast treated with kid gloves by comparison. Something to remember.

And now, our 4-week UK tour begins, after having been revived by the charms of Lake Windermere, Chapel Stile and Wray Castle. Have a look at Martin's concert schedule for June/July and come and join us; if nothing else we can always chat afterwards over a beer in the local pub. Ah, England!

* Ar'reet? : my translation of a northern greeting. Love it.

Apart from the obvious joys of touring in the northern hemisphere during our winter, reunions with friends and family, and the fun of concerts and music always somewhere, is the variety and spice of life. 
Even in the short week which we have been on the road in Germany again, we have met various organs which have been so diverse they almost seem totally different instruments - which they are, I suppose. 
Trying to shake off jetlag, Martin and I called in to watch an organ open day in the Wiesbaden Kurhaus. It was a chance for all comers to drop in and play, so we happily sat in as audience for a change. The  Friedrich von Thiersch-Saal is gorgeous, and the instrument itself, a Steinmeyer from 1954,  comes with a bright red detached console. 

But there is little time to relax. Barely 5 hours later, with only 2 hours in which to explore the tonal resources, Martin is thrust back on the organ bench to play the second concert of the day - this time in Schlangenbad, about 20 minutes drive from Wiesbaden. Set in a beautiful forested area (and near the Wambacher Muehle - a famous mill museum), Schlangenbad means snake bath. Hmmm. I kept toes firmly out of any water. In contrast to the 4-manual Marktkirche, this little tracker organ has only 2 manuals and no sequencer (which means I have to keep awake and alert to help pull stops). The church is neatly and delicately decorated after recent restoration, and the audience almost seems to have had the same treatment. All very warm, friendly and well-behaved. (Trust me, this is not always guaranteed). The post-concert meal at the Mill by 10pm was hard-earned. 

Moving right along, our next stop was down south; en route we called in to get some respite from the heat (no - not complaining. Just sayin') at the World Heritage UNESCO site of Speyer Cathedral. If you ever want a perfect example of Romanesque architecture, this is it. No chance to play the organ but it was simply enough to wander around the historic site and soak in the history. Besides, look at the climb necessary to get to the console. 
Discovering little hidden charms between concerts is part of the fun, and Bretten was one such town, where we stayed en route to Bavaria (and snared a nice little warning from the authorities about parking - ouch). Half-timbered houses line the streets, and the town has an enchanting legend about a little dog (the Bretten Hundle) which was fattened on scraps when the town was under siege, then sent out to convince the enemy that the township still had plenty of food. Courageous dog, although I don't think it had much choice in the matter. 
Then a welcome return to Muhlacker for the 5th time; such a welcome and a warm audience. It really does make a difference, so think about this when you are next listening to a live concert. It isn't like watching TV; the performer can hear (and sometimes see) you, and knows when you are paying attention and they know when you are getting restless, and they know when you are having a good time. That is the biggest buzz - when an audience leaves with smiles, chats, and even better, they want to know when you can come back again. To some, the word entertainment is an embarrassment, but we love the idea that people have enjoyed their time with Martin's music. To us, this is what it's all about, and if the audience have spent time and money to get to a concert, then we have a responsibility to make sure they are well rewarded. Seems they were. Thanks for having us back, and see you again in a couple of years, Muhlacker.

And on, amid the lightning and pouring rain, to Hanau, discovering the gem that is Aschaffenburg on the way ...