Our Newly Rebuilt Organ

[jskumro]

Hey folks,

I'm posting to tell you about one of the organs where I work. In February, I began work for a large catholic church in Western New York. We have a large Church building with a Galanti Praeludium III. But we also have a cool little chapel on the church campus, which is the original church building that has been preserved and restored throughout the years. The chapel was originally built in 1853, and seats about 250 people. Now that the pipe organ is completed, I figured I'd "show it off."

The chapel pipe organ was recently completely rebuilt, expanded, and revised by Heritage Pipe Organs of West Valley NY. This process took about 13 months. The original chapel pipe organ was built by Tellers-Kent organ company in 1925. It was a small, seven-rank unit organ. The organ had remained essentially original for many years. Sometime after it's installation, it was reoriented from the center of the choir loft, to the side, so that the rose window would be visible once again. It has remained in this position, making it difficult to view the facade from the nave. The was neglected until about 1993 when some unsuccessful attempts were made to restore the instrument. It was further patched together until last year when the Pastor stepped up to have the organ evaluated. It was determined that the best idea was to completely rebuild the organ.

Heritage organs removed the organ in April 2010, and began work. Because of the poor, mutilated condition of many of the pipes, many ranks had to be replaced. The majority of the pipework used to rebuild the instrument was built by E.M. Johnson. Only select Tellers pipes could be saved. The Flugelhorn (renamed Fagotto) is E.M. Skinner, and the Labial Oboe is Estey. Heritage retrofitted the organ with a new solid-state switching system, new chests for the great and swell, rebuilt bourdon and facade chests, new swell motor, added swell shades to the side of the swell box, and a completely rebuilt console with new stop tablets, keyboards, pedalboard, pistons, toe studs, and Peterson ICS-4000 control module. In addition to this, the casework was refurbished, with cleaned woodwork, additional panels, and repaired and repainted facade pipes.

The finished organ has increased in size from seven to fifteen ranks. We have been very pleased with the wonderful sound of this little organ in this intimate space. In addition to all of the other upgrades, we decided to outfit the organ with an Allen Ensemble MIDI division, which has been very useful to add certain stops which we do not have. It interfaces very well with the capture action, and allows for some very convenient addition. It is a blast to play. The dedication recital was this passed Tuesday 5/24.

The specification is as follows:

Great:
Manual I

8’ Open Diapason
8’ Melodia
8’ Dulciana
4’ Octave
4’ Flute
2’ Super Octave
III Mixture
8’ Fagotto

Swell to Great 16’
Swell to Great 8’
Swell to Great 4’
MIDI

Swell:
Manual II, enclosed

16’ Lieblich Gedeckt
8’ Geigen
8’ Stopped Diapason
8’ Salicional
8’ Celeste
4’ Geigen Octave
4’ Flute Harmonic
2’ Piccolo
8’ Labial Oboe

Tremulant
Swell to Swell 16’
Swell Unison Off
Swell to Swell 4’
MIDI

Pedal:
32 notes

16’ Bourdon
16’ Lieblich Gedeckt
8’ Open Diapason
8’ Flute
4’ Octave

Great to Pedal 8’
Swell to Pedal 8’
MIDI

Divisional Pistons: 1-6, 1-6
Pedal Divisional Toe Studs: 1-6
General Pistons: 1-12
General Toe Studs: 13-18
Reversibles for couplers/tutti duplicated both toe studs and pistons.
100 levels of memory, personalized organist folders, interactive LCD display
Swell Expression Shoe, Crescendo Shoe
Blower Switch, Console/switching system Switch
Locking Roll top
Allen Ensemble MIDI Division control unit

Here are some photos:

[jskumro]

Here is a more detailed version of the specification:


Analysis:
Great:
8' Open Diapason 61 Pipes Johnson Op. 741, 1-17 Tellers facade
8' Melodia 61 Pipes Johnson Op. 741
8' Dulciana 61 Pipes Johnson Op. 741, 1-7 Tellers
4' Octave 61 Pipes Johnson Op. 741
4' Flute 12 Pipes from Melodia
2' Super Octave 12 Pipes from Swell Piccolo
III Mixture 183 Pipes, Supply house
8' Fagotto 61 Pipes, E.M. Skinner Flugelhorn
Blank
Swell to Great 16'
Swell to Great 8'
Swell to Great 4'
MIDI

Swell:
16' Lieblich Gedeckt 12 Pipes from St. Diapason, 1-12 Tellers, else Johnson Op. 741
8' Geigen 61 Pipes, Johnson 741, 1-8 Tellers Facade
8' Stopped Diapason 61 Pipes, Johnson 741
8' Salicional 61 Pipes, Johnson 741
8' Celeste 49 Pipes, Johnson 741
4' Geigen Octave 12 Pipes from 8'
4' Flute Harmonic 61 Pipes, Johnson 741
2' Piccolo 12 Pipes from St. Diapason
8' Labial Oboe 49 Pipes, Estey, 1-12 from Salicional
Tremulant
Blank
Swell 16'
Swell Unison Off
Swell 4'
MIDI

Pedal:
16' Bourdon 32 Pipes, Tellers
16' Lieblich Gedeckt Swell, Johnson 741, 1-12 Tellers
8' Open Diapason from Great
8' Flute from Bourdon (12 pipes, Moller)
4' Octave Great
Blank
Great to Pedal 8'
Swell to Pedal 8'
MIDI

[NYCFarmboy]

that looks REALLY nice! :)

[hartleymartin]

I always felt that if you have a rose window like that, that the organ casing should be split so as to sit either side of it and have the pipes facing the sanctuary. Have the great + pedal division on one side and the swell division on the other (and making use of the metal diapason pipes for the facade). I don't really like having organs facing across the choir loft.

Taking a look at the stop list, its looks like you've got a nice variety of sounds to play with, and this would be a magnificent instrument to play.

[jskumro]

that looks REALLY nice! :)

Thank you very much! It really is a blast to play. For a small organ, it's quite versatile- especially with the Allen Ensemble division (though some organistas have scoffed at that.) If you are ever in the Buffalo area, come check it out!

[jskumro]

I always felt that if you have a rose window like that, that the organ casing should be split so as to sit either side of it and have the pipes facing the sanctuary. Have the great + pedal division on one side and the swell division on the other (and making use of the metal diapason pipes for the facade). I don't really like having organs facing across the choir loft.

Taking a look at the stop list, its looks like you've got a nice variety of sounds to play with, and this would be a magnificent instrument to play.

I agree with you about the window. There are actually many organs here in the Buffalo area where this has been done. However, it appears as if the Church elected not to do that with this project. Unfortunately, I took the job in February, just before the reinstallation begun, so that change could not be made at that time. It's a shame that it is in this arrangement, because the case is quite nice. It was all restored. The facade pipes have been repaired and refinished. The facade is original Tellers, and they were known for exceptional case work. In fact, I feel it would be a great arrangement to have this organ in a divided case. Maybe someday!

Yes, it certainly has a nice variety of the "English American" sounds. It is voiced extraordinarily well for the building, and it has a nice shimmering round sound to it. I really enjoy getting to play it.

[jskumro]

It might be interesting to note that ALL of the stained glass windows in this building are fantastic. And of those fantastic windows, the rose window is by far the least impressive. I feel that it was installed with the thought in mind that it was always meant to be covered by an organ. I wish I knew whose idea that was!