Fraser Gartshore

Tonight's stream is another "practice" session form the studio: What kind of piece should I study this time? It's going to be from the French Romantic repertoire - sorry to all the Bach fans out there 😂 Over to you!

1 week ago | [YT] | 16

Fraser Gartshore

No Toooooba tonight folks - I won’t be home in time! In addition, the Gartshores also haven’t had anything g to eat today, so by the time the Duchess and Princess are fed and watered, not to mention myself, it’ll be far too late!

Let’s do it next Saturday.

See you all tomorrow,

F

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 27

Fraser Gartshore

I hope you’re all going to tune in to Ben’s Kitchen Concert later!

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 5

Fraser Gartshore

🚨 WORLD PREMIERE TONIGHT! 🚨

Get ready for a very special edition of Friday Night Is Organ Music Night!

Tonight, I am proud to be giving the global debut of a brand-new Hauptwerk instrument: the Portsea sample set, created by my good friend Sam Sleath over at Sesquialtera Organs! 🎹🔥

We'll be putting it through its paces, exploring its incredible tonal architecture, and testing it out with a mix of repertoire and improvisations. You do not want to miss this exclusive first listen!

You can read up on the new instrument here before we go live:
🔗 www.sesquialteraorgans.co.uk/instruments/portsea

Grab a drink, pull up a chair in the virtual loft, and let's make some noise! See you at the console. 🎶🍻

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 2

Fraser Gartshore

Pulling out all the stops in Bolzano, Bella Italia!

4 weeks ago | [YT] | 69

Fraser Gartshore

A little confession, and a new addition to the wishlist. 🎙️
I was thinking about what to pack for our week in Südtirol next week, having faithfully promised Vanessa no heavy gear, no pelicases, no cables — a proper holiday for once. And then it hit me: what if we wander into some gorgeous little mountain chapel and there's a beautiful old pipe organ sitting there, and I've got no way to record it? I'd never forgive myself.
But the more I thought about it, the more I realised this isn't really just a holiday thing. How many times am I out and about - a church here, a chapel there, an instrument I stumble across - and I've got nothing with me to capture the moment? Those spontaneous finds are often the most magical, and they're exactly the ones that get away.
So I've added the answer to the wishlist:
🎙️ Zoom H6studio - €399. Tiny enough to live in a jacket pocket, but with the same 32-bit float recording and clean preamps as my big studio rig, and proper stereo mics built right in. No external mics, no stands, no faff, no clipping. It just comes along for the ride, ready whenever something unexpected turns up.
If we can get this over the line, I can order it from Thomann and finally have a proper portable setup - for the mountains next week, and for every spontaneous musical moment after that.
Thank you, as always, for keeping this music alive. 🏔️
🎁 buymeacoffee.com/frasergartshore/wishlist

1 month ago | [YT] | 19

Fraser Gartshore

Did you know a single sampled Hauptwerk organ can weigh in at over 100GB (which then sits as a cache file in your RAM!) and contain more than 50,000 individual pipe samples, each captured at multiple lengths and mic positions to recreate the real acoustic of a cathedral? That's more raw audio than most film scores. It's why a virtual pipe organ can sound uncannily close to sitting in the stone nave itself, without needing 3,000 real pipes in your living room (though I wouldn't say no). Next time you hear a Hauptwerk recording, you're hearing a genuine slice of a real building, played through your headphones/speakers. What's your favourite cathedral or church acoustic to listen to organ music in? Drop it below.

1 month ago | [YT] | 94

Fraser Gartshore

Did you know the classic cinema organ — the kind that filled silent movie palaces in the 1920s — wasn't just a keyboard instrument? It was basically a one-person orchestra. Pull a stop and you'd get galloping horse hooves, a train whistle, a doorbell, even a siren, all wired straight into the console. No pit orchestra needed — one organist could score an entire chase scene live. It's one of the reasons I find the theatre organ so thrilling to play; it's part music, part sound design, part magic trick. Ever heard a genuine theatre organ film accompaniment? Shall we do another silent film night on the channel? Let me know in the comments. 🎟️

1 month ago | [YT] | 69

Fraser Gartshore

Sadly no Toooooba concert for our "inner circle" tonight - however, we'll have TWO Toooooba sessions in July to make up for it!

In the meantime, check out Piotr Grabowski's new sample set for Hauptwerk - the AMAZING organ of St Margaret's church in Munich. Guess what - I'll be presenting it for you all tomorrow in our Sunday Night Is Organ Music Night stream. It promises to be a special sample set - the organ in the huge space of St Margaret's is famous for its "new meets old" specification and features. I'm looking forward to trying it out.

What would you like me to play tomorrow night? Any special requests?

See you in the chat!

1 month ago | [YT] | 7

Fraser Gartshore

Ever wonder how an organist makes one instrument sound like an entire symphony orchestra? 🎻🎺

Hey folks! For tonight's Friday Night Is Organ Music Night, we are doing something a little bit epic: The Conductor's Cut!

I'll be stepping onto the virtual podium and treating the organ console like a full orchestra, playing some massive orchestral transcriptions. I'll also be sharing a look into how I approach these pieces from a conductor's perspective—how to use the stops to mimic strings, woodwinds, and brass, and how to mentally shrink a massive score down to the manuals and pedals.

Grab your favorite Friday night drink and join me in the loft for some incredibly big sounds! 👇

#FridayNightIsOrganMusicNight #Organist #Conductor #LiveOrgan #PipeOrgan

2 months ago | [YT] | 2