By Julia Train
Atlantic City’s Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall, previously known as Convention Hall, is a premier spot for sports and entertainment.
The hall has hosted a plethora of exciting events, from the Miss America Pageant, boxing matches, and the 1964 Democratic National Convention to musical performances by The Beatles, Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi and The Rolling Stones.
Now, that list includes the organ in the venue’s main auditorium’s organ–the world’s largest and loudest pipe organ and instrument– accompanying a silent film, which is a first.
On Wednesday, the Historic Organ Restoration Committee presented a music-filled day centered around the organ.
It started at 10 a.m., with the usual weekly Curator’s Tour of the organ, where people can step in it, and a free lunchtime concert with Ian Frazier, winner of the American Theatre Organ Society Young Organists Competition.
From 2 to 4:30 p.m., there was a classic car show on the floor, and then at 5 p.m., with all the cars still on the floor, “The Black Pirate,” a 1927 silent film, played and 22-year-old Brett Miller accompanied it with the historic Midmer-Losh pipe organ.
Miller, who is originally from Doylestown, Pa., but resides in Ocean City in the summer, fulfilled his dream of accompanying a silent film with the world’s largest instrument after playing lunchtime concerts at the hall for the past six summers.
“I’ve been here since I was 16, and I’ve always wanted to do a film and I’m really lucky they asked me to do one,” said Miller.
While the film played on a large screen at the front of the arena and the Hall’s new jumbotron was used, the hard part was making sure the music stayed in sync with the film with just his monitor, since he couldn’t see the film from his seat at the organ, according to Miller.
Miller’s background
The musician started playing piano at 8 years old after seeing his brother play the instrument.
When he was 10, Miller fell in love with a new instrument after watching an organist accompany a silent film at the University of Pennsylvania.
“I thought that was just the coolest thing,” Miller said.
He then received lessons from Ben Model, a Museum of Modern Arts film accompanist in New York. He learned how to score, or create the music, for a silent film.
“Luckily, [my parents] didn’t think they had a crazy child on their hands,” he laughed.
At 12 years old, Miller started professionally accompanying silent films on the organ, mostly by himself, but occasionally playing with orchestras like the Philadelphia Orchestra and Boston Symphony.
As one of the youngest in the field, he plays both original music and some written specifically for the films.
The world’s largest instrument
The main purpose for the event was to get the community into the Hall to see the world’s largest and loudest instrument.
The organ’s construction started in May 1929 and completed in December 1932 by the Midmer-Losh Co., of Merrick, Long Island, N.Y.
The instrument is often described as “The Sonic Mt. Rushmore,” with the specifications drawn-up by Atlantic City native and Atlantic County state Sen. Emerson L. Richards.
Sitting on the right side of the stage, the organ’s pipes are controlled by a seven-keyboard console that sits on the right side of the stage.
There are ten 32-foot ranks, the world’s only 64-foot diaphone and four voices on 100 inches of air wind pressure – double that of any other organ ever constructed– and has an official total of 33,112 pipes. It has a total of 1,235 stop tabs which control the 449 ranks, or voices, of the organ, according to the Historic Organ Restoration Committee’s website.
Although it has not functioned fully since 1944, it’s currently at a bit above 60% functionality and being restored, with the project completion anticipated for 2030.
Julia is a student at Rider University, majoring in multiplatform journalism with a minor in social media strategies. At school, she writes and is news editor for The Rider News and is the News Director for the radio station, producing news updates. She’ll be graduating in the spring. Connect with her on Instagram @juliatrain
