Johannus installation in Texas

Is it real?
Fifteen or twenty years ago there was an ad campaign for Memorex® cassette tapes in which various setups were created to compare “live” music with recorded music to see whether both would break a piece of fancy stemware. A popular singer would be featured offering a terrible, powerful high note, and inevitably the glass would shatter.
What did it prove?
I’ve heard some singers who could make me cringe, but how plausible is it that the actual, acoustic human voice would break a glass? Conversely, I wonder if any other recorded sound played back with enough wattage would break the glass—a hummingbird’s wings for example or a cat on a hot tin roof. I think the Memorex demonstration was at least a little bit disingenuous, and of course we heard the whole thing through whatever speakers came with our television set. Television advertisements for televisions imply that what you see on the screen may be better than real life, but again, your appreciation of the ad is limited by the quality of your present TV.
The American Heritage Dictionary (Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000) defines the word virtual: “1. Existing or resulting in essence or effect though not in actual fact, form, or name . . . ” and “2. Existing in the mind, especially as a product of the imagination.”
I introduce the word virtual in this context of what I might call the “unreality of reality.” In recent years we’ve been given the phrase virtual reality, defined in the same dictionary as “a computer simulation of a real or imaginary system that enables a user to perform operations on the simulated system and shows the effects in real time.”
An oxymoron is not a person addicted to painkillers, it’s a “rhetorical figure in which incongruous or contradictory terms are combined.” To my ears, virtual reality is an oxymoron.

Let’s be real.
We might imagine that Bach would have stopped at 175 cantatas if he had been subject to phone calls from the clergy, or Mozart’s 30th symphony would have been his last had he been distracted by television, or—God forbid—video games. But simple things like hot water in the house and electric lights are taken for granted, and more complicated things like computers have become something close to necessities. I’m in favor of technology. The other day I stumbled over a box of detritus stored in an organ chamber by a long-gone organist. I was amused to see a 56K compact disc. 56K? How Stone Age. There’s a half-used 100-pack of 700MB CDs on my desk. Big deal. I replaced my previous 2GB laptop with a 60GB job because of the number of photos I carry around. There’s a 2GB memory card in my camera. What’s next? Remember NASA engineers using slide rules during Apollo flights? (I know that’s true because I saw it in a movie.) With a $400 GPS we have more navigation ability in a 20-foot motorboat than the entire British Navy had during the Napoleonic wars. How much more computing speed or data-storage capacity do we need?
Apply that same question to cameras (mine has more mega-pixels than yours), automobiles (mine has more horsepower than yours), or cell phones (mine’s a camera, a calculator, a calendar, an alarm clock . . . ). How much more can they offer before they stop getting better?
Many of us in the organbuilding world are devoted to the pipe-organ-technology of the early 20th century—what Ernest Skinner considered adequate console equipment should be good enough for anyone. But let’s remember that hundreds of terrific Hook organs were replaced by Skinner’s new-fangled electric things where the organist was 40 feet away from the instrument. What makes the early electro-pneumatic pipe organ the ideal? How many organbuilders and organists disdained Skinner’s innovations as superfluous or unnecessary? “If God had intended us to push pistons we would have been all thumbs.” At what point in the development of any technology does one take a snapshot and declare the ideal, after which there’s no need for further development?

Electronics in the worship space
It’s more than 50 years since churches began purchasing electronic organs to replace pipe organs. I think many, even most of us will admit that the 30- and 40-year-old models that are still laboring along are pretty poor. While they have pipe organ names on their stop tablets, they never did sound like organs. They were cheaply made and not durable. A church I served as music director had a 20-year-old electronic in the chapel that wasn’t in tune, according to the technician couldn’t be tuned, and needed parts that weren’t available. Have you ever tried to get a three-year-old computer repaired?
While it’s always risky to generalize, it seems to me that the average church that was once proud of owning a modest pipe organ is inclined to buy an electronic console that emulates a 60- or 70-stop “real” organ. What sense does it make to have an “organ” with 32¢ sounds, batteries of reeds, and secondary and tertiary choruses in a sanctuary that seats fewer than 200 people? Is it so you can play music that was intended for buildings ten times the size? It’s a violation of scale, an anomaly, and artless expression. As I wrote a couple months ago, “the Widor” doesn’t work in every church.

The Virtual Pipe Organ
Trinity Church (Episcopal), Wall Street, New York, is a prominent, beautiful, historically significant edifice that houses a large and vibrant parish with an extraordinary music program. According to the church’s website , the parish was founded “by charter of King William III of England in 1697.” The present Gothic Revival building, designed by Richard Upjohn, was consecrated on May 1, 1846. The website includes an Historical Timeline that tells us that some of the church’s vestrymen were members of the Continental Congresses, that the parishioners were divided politically as the Revolutionary War progressed, but that the clergy sided with the crown. An American patriot, the Rev. Dr. Samuel Provoost, was appointed rector in 1784, and the New York State Legislature “ratifie[d] the charter of Trinity Church,” deleting the provision that asserted its loyalty to the King of England.
In 1770, just 28 years after Georg Frederick Handel’s Messiah was premiered in Dublin, Ireland, it received its American premiere at Trinity Church. Today’s spectacular and highly regarded Trinity Choir is heard on many recordings. Their annual performances of Messiah are legendary throughout the city. Bernard Holland of the New York Times wrote, “All the ‘Messiah’ outings to come in the next two weeks will have to work hard to match this one.” And in 2005, the Times called Trinity’s performance of the great oratorio, “the ‘Messiah’ to beat.” (Now there’s an image!) What a wonderful heritage.
On September 11, 2001, Trinity Church assumed an essential national role by chance of place. Located adjacent to the World Trade Center, the church and its people were thrust into the center of that tragic story. St. Paul’s Chapel, part of Trinity’s “campus” and located a couple blocks away, became an inspiring comfort station for firefighters and other emergency workers. Through the ensuing months, as the rubble was unraveled, the chapel was staffed by the people of the church who provided food, refreshment, and a resting place for the rescue workers. The response of the clergy, staff, and parishioners to that national catastrophe was as inspirational as it was essential.
At the moment of the attack, a service was in progress in Trinity Church, the organ blower was running, and the great cloud of dust that filled the entire neighborhood found its way into the organ. It was later determined that the organ could not be used without extensive cleaning and renovation. A temporary solution was offered. Douglas Marshall and David Ogletree, dealers of Rodgers organs in New England, had been developing the “Virtual Pipe Organ,” using a technology they named PipeSourced® voices. A large instrument using this technology was installed at Trinity Church as a temporary solution while the church researched the condition of the Aeolian-Skinner.
A year or so after the Virtual Pipe Organ was installed, I attended a service to hear the instrument and was impressed by the volume and intensity of the sound. The massive building was filled with the sound of an organ. There was no distortion. People were singing, and I’m willing to bet that many of them were well satisfied, even thrilled by the sound. I had not expected to be convinced that the Virtual Organ would really sound like a pipe organ. In fact I’m not sure how I could eliminate the bias of a lifetime as an “acoustic organ guy.” As full and intense as the sound of the Virtual Organ was, it was not the sound of a pipe organ. It lacked the essential majesty of presence, the special physicality, the particular “realness” of the sound of a great pipe organ.
The experience of listening to the Virtual Organ might be compared to listening to a recording of a great pipe organ, as the sound of both comes from speakers. I understand that sampling technology is not the same as recordings, and I expect that proponents of the virtual organ will object to my analogy, but it’s those speakers that make the essential difference. Sound coming from a speaker will always be distinguishable from sound coming from organ pipes.
I can recall the depth of my impressions when as a young teenager I first heard the Boston Symphony Orchestra playing in Symphony Hall. I think I expected the huge volume of sound and the intensity of the differences of the timbres, but I had no way of anticipating the presence, the majesty, the physicality of all that acoustic sound as enhanced by the magnificent room. Oh, those double basses!
There are few musical presentations more expensive than a symphony orchestra (except opera and ballet in which the symphony orchestra is combined with the theater). A hundred serious musicians on stage in a 300-million-dollar concert hall require important organization to sustain, but we don’t hear a move to replace that experience with digital sampling. We want to hear the real thing. The symphony orchestra and the pipe organ are special in our culture because they’re so expensive. I don’t mean that the money itself is impressive—but that the money represents how majestic the expression is.
In conversations with church members I frequently hear people say that the sound of a digital instrument is “good enough” for the untrained ear. One might respond, unless your fiancée is a jeweler, why bother with a real diamond? She’ll never know the difference.
I don’t want to eat a chemically produced substitute for lobster. I want the real lobster, and for goodness sake, don’t mess with the butter!
I read on Marshall & Ogletree’s website (www.marshallogletree.com) that they sample complete pipe organs: “PipeSourced® sounds, which are skillful note-by-note, stop-by-stop recordings of famous pipe organs (90% of them vintage Aeolian-Skinners), contribute unprecedented virtual reality to Marshall & Ogletree instruments, as well as to its combination organs and custom additions for new and existing pipe organs.” That’s a long, long way from the previous generation of sampling techniques, and proverbial light-years from the early rounds of tone-generators on which the development of the electronic instrument was founded.
There have been a number of articles written in praise of the Virtual Pipe Organ, including Allen Kozinn’s review of a recital played by Cameron Carpenter published in the New York Times on July 7, 2007, with the headline: “A ‘Virtual’ Organ Wins New Converts at a Recital.” And Dr. Burdick has written an apologia defending the church’s decision to sell the dismantled Aeolian-Skinner, retain the Marshall & Ogletree Virtual Organ, and to commission another virtual instrument for St. Paul’s Chapel, which concludes,
Trinity Church is proud of its role in developing the “virtual pipe organ,” which could only exist in this new century because of the continuing exponential growth of computer speed and memory. Without the brilliance of Douglas Marshall and David Ogletree, whose research began in 1997 to develop an entirely new approach to the digital organ, we could never have achieved an instrument such as this. Furthermore, without Trinity Church having taken advantage of its historic opportunity by daring to consider such an interim instrument, the music world would not now have this dramatic new 21st century success: like an automobile with horsepower but no horses, a virtual pipe organ with musical potentials beyond anyone’s imagination.

There’s little doubt that Trinity’s Aeolian-Skinner organ was not as distinguished as many other instruments produced by that firm. (It’s at least a little ironic that there’s agreement that Trinity’s Aeolian-Skinner organ was less than great, but it’s replaced by something based on sampling “vintage Aeolian-Skinners.”) There’s no doubt at all that the Virtual Pipe Organ represents but a fraction of the cost of commissioning a Real Organ. After all, we live in the age of the seven-figure organ. There’s no doubt that Trinity Church has realized a significant short-term economy by eliminating the immense maintenance budget required by a large pipe organ. In fact, Dr. Burdick reports that they had been spending $56,000 annually to care for the Aeolian-Skinner—a specious argument in that there are many much larger and much older organs that are maintained effectively for less money. The organ world rumor-mill, that most active of subcultures, has reported many different numbers representing the cost of the Virtual Organ. I don’t know what the actual price was, but it’s safe to guess that it was a significant number of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Is it true stewardship of a church’s resources to spend such a volume of money on artifice? For centuries, Christians have given their all trying to make their worship spaces approach their respect for their faith. Huge treasures were spent in 12th-century France building cathedrals that still inspire us. Fortunes have been spent on stained-glass that fills church interiors with magical, mystical light. Trinity Church Wall Street is a spectacular edifice with beautiful vaulted ceilings, stained-glass windows, carved wood architectural elements and furniture. Hundreds of important preachers, humanitarians, and politicians have spoken there. To walk inside is to respect the care and vision with which the place was created. To walk inside is to find respite from a frenetic city and inspiration from all that has happened there. To walk inside is to worship. This is not a place for artifice.
As I’ve spoken about Trinity Church, I encourage you to read about St. Paul’s Chapel at www.saintpaulschapel. org/about_us/. Built in 1766, it’s the oldest public building in Manhattan that’s been in continuous use. Here’s an excerpt from that website:

George Washington worshiped here on Inauguration Day, April 30, 1789, and attended services at St. Paul’s during the two years New York City was the country’s capital. Above his pew is an 18th-century oil painting of the Great Seal of the United States, which was adopted in 1782.
Directly across the chapel is the Governor’s pew, which George Clinton, the first Governor of the State of New York, used when he visited St. Paul’s. The Arms of the State of New York are on the wall above the pew.
Among other notable historical figures who worshiped at St. Paul’s were Prince William, later King William IV of England; Lord Cornwallis, who is most famous in this country for surrendering at the Battle of Yorktown in 1781; Lord Howe, who commanded the British forces in New York, and Presidents Grover Cleveland, Benjamin Harrison, and George H. W. Bush.

St. Paul’s Chapel stands as a shrine for all that happened in that neighborhood and to this country on September 11, 2001. This is also not a place for artifice.
In his Apologia, Dr. Burdick reports, “Because of insurance matters after 9/11, there was no question that we’d have to wait five to seven years for a decent replacement pipe organ, during which time I felt that we’d be starving for good organ sound.” Fair enough. That’s why the purchase of the Virtual Pipe Organ for temporary use was a good solution. But I am sorry that such a church in such a place with such a history would miss their opportunity to add not to the virtual world, but the real world of the pipe organ.

A. E. Schlueter Pipe Organ
Company, Lithonia, Georgia
First United Methodist Church, Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta First United Methodist Church was originally organized as Wesley Chapel in 1847, and has maintained a long tradition of excellence in worship. The present church was built in 1903, when Mr. Asa Candler purchased the former church site for the headquarters of Coca-Cola. After moving to the new location, the church changed its name to Atlanta First United Methodist Church. Many Methodist luminaries have served this congregation, including the venerable Pierce Harris.
The first pipe organ known to be installed in the church was a two-manual Roosevelt in 1885. When the present church was built, this instrument was moved. In 1919, the organ was re-actioned and rebuilt by Möller. Further changes occurred in 1953 when the organ was enlarged to 46 ranks by another firm. A new façade was built from new and existing pipes in a “pipe fence” array; while commanding in stature, the new façade did not pay homage to the architecture of the building and was poorly constructed. Fortunately, during the 1950s work, ten stops from the former Roosevelt instrument were retained; unaltered, they could be considered for inclusion in the new 2008 instrument. Over the succeeding years, the organ was rebuilt as sections failed and generally kept in working order. The organ provided the basic needs for service playing, but, quite simply, was too small for the space.
Jump forward to 2003 when senior pastor Rev. Wayne Johnson commissioned a feasibility task force to redefine the church’s mission and plan for future ministry. As with many downtown churches, the community around the church was displaced as office buildings replaced homes. Yet this church saw opportunity. The feasibility task force determined it needed to continue its television ministry, continue its education through the Candler School (founded at Atlanta FUMC, but now only affiliated through the denomination), and renovate and restore the church building. It was noted that the organ needed to be addressed as part of the building infrastructure. The task force engaged an architect to provide possibilities for the chancel renovation. J. Donald Land, director of music and organist, led the charge to consider the organ and its renovation or replacement.
A. E. Schlueter Pipe Organ Company was one of several firms interviewed for the project. We viewed this as a real opportunity to build an instrument of significance in our hometown. It is not often that an opportunity develops to build a “Magnum Opus” in the same city as a firm’s location. The Schlueter family decided that the building of this instrument was more important than simple financial gain. Trust that our pencils were very sharp because of this unique opportunity to create art. In our interview, we discussed with the committee the opportunity for an organ of multiple divisions and a wide palette of colors, in an organ case that would complement the church. Specific emphasis was placed on preserving the stewardship of the past. In our design, pipework from the two previous instruments was incorporated in the various departments of the organ.
Quality organbuilding is never the result of one individual but of the synergy of a team. In this respect, our firm was ably assisted by the Atlanta First United Methodist Church clergy, music staff, church staff, and feasibility task force. These individuals readily gave of their time and talents and provided invaluable assistance from the inception of the organ project to its installation and tonal finishing. Specifically we would like to recognize Dr. Bob Smith, chair of the feasibility task force, who was charged with the selection of the architect and organbuilder; J. Donald Land, director of music and organist; Wally Colly, church liaison; senior pastor Rev. Wayne Johnson, deceased, whose vision propelled this project forward even in his absence; and current senior pastor Dr. Jim Ellison.
As part of the building renovation, the choir loft was to be lowered (it was eight feet above the pulpit). This meant that the organ case would need to begin from a much lower plane than the actual organ chamber. We designed the lower case walls to begin below the main organ chassis and act as a reflective shell for the choir. The interior layout of the organ was designed to allow the choir to hear the organ without taking the full brunt of large registrations. In effect, the organ “blooms” just forward of the choir loft.
At the center point of the organ, the chamber is only nine feet deep, so modest cantilevers were designed into the organ case to grow the chamber space without creating a large shelf above the choir that would hamper hearing the organ. Visually, these forward pipe towers give the illusion of a more forward presence.
The engineering that developed would require the organ divisions to be stacked one on top of another. Often stacked organs rely on the division above to form the ceiling for the lower division. This is a problem because the sound speaks into windlines, reservoirs or schwimmers, organ actions, or other parts. It is also mechanically difficult to service the above division because of the sea of pipes located below it; this is often remedied by placing additional perch boards over the pipes, thus adding more impediments to sound reflection. Our solution was a careful design that built dedicated floors and ceilings in each division.
The layout of the organ finds the Swell, String and Choir divisions located on the bottom level. The Solo and Great divisions are located in the top level of the organ, with the Pedal in an open two-story chamber in the center of the case. The Great is enclosed with a ceiling that allows it to speak into the center of the case and to blend with the lower divisions in the chancel, rather than going completely over the musicians’ heads. This purposefully built chamber has proved very effective in coalescing the many divisions of the organ and eliminates geographic specificity of the individual organ stops. The rear of the church houses the Antiphonal, Antiphonal Pedal and Trompetteria divisions of the organ. The Antiphonal is situated at the same height as the Great organ, thus promoting tuning stability.
Because the church has a very active television ministry, there was a concern about the console being exposed and commanding behind the pulpit. A lift was designed that allows the console to be lowered to reduce its visual signature, and, when not needed for other church events, the console can be lowered down and rolled into a side parking location. The platform then can be raised to increase the available space in the chancel.
The console and organ case are constructed of quarter-sawn white oak. We made a conscious effort to incorporate elements of the church building into the console and organ case. Our design engineers, Howard Weaver and Robert Black, saw to it that arches, quatrefoils, and acanthus leaves became part of our vocabulary. It was clear that portions of the organ case would require large grille openings to provide maximum divisional egress into the room. We did not desire to use cloth grilles in the organ case. These impede airflow, are long-term maintenance issues, and affect sound. We designed wood grilles with an open quatrefoil pattern, which allow both the free passage of sound and airflow for tuning stability.
In designing the console, we were very concerned about the ergonomics of its layout. Those who have had the opportunity to sit at larger consoles are aware of their visual and physical challenges. To overcome some of the issues of actually reaching the playing surfaces, we foreshortened the organ sharps as the keys ascended from Manual I to Manual V. The keyboards are not sloped, but with subtle adjustment to the manual relationships even Manual V is comfortable to reach. A similar consideration was given to the pedalboard and expression shoes, which were designed using proportions normally found in our three-manual consoles. Special attention was given to the layout of the pistons, toe studs, drawknobs, and tilting tablets. The end result is that all of the controls can be used and seen without the leaning and craning about that occurs on a large console. It is a very comfortable console to play.
Some interesting facts about the organ:
• the organ contains 93 ranks with 5,360 pipes represented in nine divisions;
• in excess of 10,000 board feet of lumber were used to build this instrument;
• the organ contains over 10 miles of wiring for switching and control;
• the organ uses wind pressures that range from 3½" to 11";
• the main manual windchests are slider, with reeds on electro-pneumatic windchests;
• three divisions of the organ are located in the rear chambers;
• the Trompette en Chamade in the rear of the sanctuary is made from brass;
• the organ weighs over 44,000 lbs.;
• the front organ case stands over 43 feet tall;
• the instrument contains pipes of lead, tin, zinc, brass, and wood;
• the wind for the organ is created by three blowers;
• the organ is controlled with a five-manual console.
The tonal design of this organ was the result of many discussions. Prior to scaling this instrument, organist Don Land and I were able to visit a number of recent instruments built by our firm. Doing this in a short time frame was very helpful to determine tonally where we had gone and where we were going. Don brought in local organists Tom Alderman, David Stills and Richard Morris for their input to the specification and console layout. Tom Alderman worked as a consultant to Don. As a triumvirate, we worked through the myriad of decisions involving the final stoplist, drawknob layout, couplers, pistons, toe studs, and other controls. In the end, I recognize that I was offered a tremendous level of trust and generally an unfettered hand in the tonal design and scaling of the organ.
As the final specification became the math of scales, halving ratios, metal thickness, mouth widths, cut-ups, and languid bevels, I had the good fortune of having Daniel Angerstein and John Tanner to look over my notes. We have worked together on many projects over the years.
For tonal finishing, I was very ably assisted by a team led by Daniel Angerstein, with the assistance of John Tanner, Lee Hendricks, and Bud Taylor. I want to thank Daniel, John, Lee, and Bud for their input regarding division balance, dynamics, color, neutrality, fundament, harmonics, chiff (or lack of), treble ascendancy, and so many other factors. There must always be a final arbiter of design and direction and, in those instances where I followed a different path or tonal treatment, the civility for further discourse remained. I would like to personally single out Daniel Angerstein for his contribution to this project.
It is the daily give and take and discussion that allows art to flourish. It is a rule of organbuilding that you will not make everyone happy with your choices and decisions. The most important question is not “what will others think?” but “have I completed the work to the best of my ability and the charge or commission that I was given by my client to achieve their vision?” As a builder, it is important always to remember what the service role of the instrument will be, and that in the end, the instrument you are building is a tool for worship and is part of the church fabric. Just as your thumbprints are on the instrument, so must be the thumbprints of the church members.
On a project of this size, one challenge was keeping the organ in tune and making adjustments called for during tonal finishing. To make this happen, the voicers would work from 8 am to noon and then break. During lunch hour, members of our staff would take the opportunity to “punch-list” final items and adjustments. When the voicers returned, the room again would settle into the silence of single tones and “louder, softer, more flue, less flue,” etc. After the voicers left in the evening, the crew was again released to make adjustments until 9 pm, when the tuning crew arrived to perform the nightly vigil of preparing the organ for the voicers in the morning. Where stops required work beyond a reasonable ability to perform it in the chamber, we would prepare sample Cs and remove the stop for voicing in our shop. The completed stop would then be installed into the organ for final finishing. This ballet of work went on for weeks on end, and I wish to thank the dedicated members of my staff for the completion of this instrument and for the internal support provided from one staff member to another.
Special recognition must go to our craftsmen, Marc Conley and Robert Black, who were ever present in overseeing the design, engineering, and building of all of the myriad parts that constitute an instrument of this stature. They ensured that the final fit and finish met our standards of quality in engineering and execution. Marc served on the “sharp end of the stick” and worked untold hours at the church to see the project to its completion.
Tonally, this instrument reflects our desire to create organs that possess warmth and clarity. In this room, which promotes clarity of tone and gentle unforced voices, we found wonderful bass presence but the need for an ascendant treble. In the tonal design, all of the divisions of the organ are based on an 8' principal chorus. We differentiated these principal choruses, in addition to the vast array of flutes, strings, and mutations to allow the performance and support of many schools of repertoire. The organ was designed with numerous strings and celestes. It is an absolute joy to hear a transcription on the organ or the subtle undergirding of a choir. With the plethora of solo reeds in the organ, we were able to provide differing reed choruses in the various divisions and pure ensemble function for some of these departments. The organ has reeds designed after English, German, and French styles. The completed instrument pays homage to the important organbuilders and organbuilding styles of the past but is not a copy of any particular builder or style.
This instrument was designed to play a role in all musical styles of worship, from traditional to contemporary. To support the non-traditional role, the instrument is equipped with MIDI capability and a separate chamber audio system. This allows other tones not normally associated with the organ to be generated and controlled by the console. In this manner the organ can blend its voices with other sounds and participate in services that might normally exclude the pipe organ.
Early on, the client had discussed the inclusion of some digital voices in the organ. There was a desire for some stops in the organ that would be considered secondary or tertiary in nature and were the type of stops that might normally be drawn out of a MIDI sound module. They did desire that these stops be voiceable and individually tunable, which specifically excluded MIDI voices. In our interview, we were asked if we would consider working with Walker Technical Company in the installation of these voices. Even though the majority of our experience had been limited to 32' and 16' extensions and percussions, we were aware of the high quality of engineering and sound quality provided by Walker.
As we considered the inclusion of digital voices, the primary question was how? It is probable that, in consultation with the client, we could have left prepared-for stops in the console, to be completed by a third party without our direct involvement. In effect, the stops could have been added in a “don’t ask, don’t tell” fashion, which we considered unpalatable. I am well aware that this method of installing digital stops has allowed some firms to remain “intellectually honest,” but I consider this method to be, at best, morally untenable. If you are providing for additions to the organ in the console and relays, which forces a digital solution because the chamber, winding system, or structure could never accommodate the proposed installations, you cannot pretend you simply did not know, and worse, you have ceded part of your tonal vision to a third party. We considered that if this were the desire of the client, we would work to ensure as seamless an integration of the adjunct stops as possible and to consult on the stops and their voicing.
One fundamental concern with the inclusion of digital stops is where does one start and where does one end once the genie is “out of the bottle.” Our consideration was simple—even though there was a possibility to use digital voices, we strongly desired the organ to be able to stand on its own with the speakers and amps unplugged. There were instances where it would have been much easier to leave out that additional 16' register of pipes in lieu of a digital voice. I am proud to say we resisted this temptation and made organbuilder choices.
Bob Walker worked directly with our firm and Daniel Angerstein in voicing and tuning these stops, and we were very pleased with the final results. Where we desired the voicing and balances to be altered and changed, Mr. Walker was accommodating and worked to achieve a result in keeping with our overarching tonal philosophy for this instrument. The digital stops are as seamless as we had hoped, and the stops contribute around the periphery, as planned by the client, without overtly placing their presence on the stoplist. To the critics, I would say that our firm approached this instrument with integrity of design, and you can indeed play the organ successfully without any digital stop. There are now 93 ranks of wind-blown pipes where there were 46 ranks, and we have completed the tonal vision of our clients in a unified, cohesive manner.
In the end, how do we view this project? In truth, we are still overwhelmed by the opportunity presented to us and the fine work completed by our staff. It is as if we have been so close to the project it is difficult to see what we have done. Analytically, we are aware that the instrument is stunning to hear and see, and yet it will take time to back away far enough from the façade, console, and thousands of pipes to see and hear what others already know of this instrument.
Personally, I do know this—our firm was gifted with an opportunity to build an instrument that we could only have dreamed of at the beginning of our career. We are grateful for the trust placed in us by Atlanta First United Methodist Church and so very fortunate to have the talented and skilled staff that we enjoy. Our tonal philosophy is to “build instruments that have warmth not at the expense of clarity and clarity not at the expense of warmth.” We are thankful to have been given such a grand canvas upon which to express our tonal ideals.
In summation, I would like to thank my father and our company founder, Arthur E. Schlueter, Jr. He is the foundation upon which our company was built and continues to thrive. His continuing role as artist, mentor, and president provides the ongoing oversight of our firm. I am humbly proud to call him both Boss and Dad, as we together work to build instruments for worship.
—Arthur E. Schlueter III

A.E. Schlueter Pipe Organ Company wishes to thank its staff including:
Arthur E. Schlueter Jr., president
Arthur E. Schlueter III, vice president/tonal and artistic direction
John Tanner, vice president of production/tonal finisher
Howard Weaver, senior design engineer
Rob Black, master cabinet-maker/organ engineer
Marc Conley, production supervisor
Bud Taylor, assistant production supervisor
Shan Dalton, office manager
Bob Parris, executive assistant
Barbara Sedlacek, office support
Mike Norris, woodshop foreman
Tony DiLeo, console builder
Bob Black, BSME, mechanical engineer
Joe Sedlacek, console wiring
Jeffery Chilcutt, CAD operator
Michael DeSimone, leathering and assembly
Dustin Carlisle, organ assembly
Sam Polk, organ assembly, tuning assistant
Kelvin Cheatham, organ assembly
Wilson Luna, assembly and wiring
Norma Renteria, leathering, assembly and wiring
Rockshawn Owens, organ assembly
Ruth Lopez, leathering and assembly
Kevin Cartwright, tuning & tonal assistant
Bob Weaver, leathering, assembly, tuning and service
Othel Liles, electrical engineer
Patty Conley, relay wiring
Herb Ridgely, Jr., sales & support
Mike Ray, electronics technician
David Stills, sales & support
Rick Stewart, sales & support
Dave Kocsis, program manager

The cover photo is by Michael Mitchell of Creative Expressions. Other photo credits as indicated.

GREAT (Manual II, unenclosed)
32' Contre Bourdon (Pedal)
16' Bourdon (Pedal)
16' Violone 73 pipes
8' First Open Diapason 61 pipes
8' Second Open Diapason 61 pipes
8' Violone (ext)
8' Harmonic Flute 49 pipes
(common bass from Rohrflote)
8' Rohrflote 73 pipes
5-1/3' Gross Quint 61 notes+
4' Octave 61 pipes
4' Prestant 61 pipes
4' Rohr Flute (ext)
3-1/5' Gross Tierce 61 notes+
2-2/3' Twelfth 61 pipes
2' Super Octave 61 pipes
2' Waldflote 61 pipes
2-2/3' Cornet III 183 notes+
1-1/3' Fourniture V 305 pipes
2/3' Scharf IV 244 pipes
16' Contra Trompete 85 notes+
8' Trompete (ext)
4' Clarion (ext)
16' Trombone (Solo)
8' Tromba (Solo)
8' Festival Trumpet (Solo)
Tremulant
Chimes (enclosed with Solo)
Cymbalstern
Great to Great 4'
MIDI on Great A
MIDI on Great B

SWELL (Manual III, enclosed)
16' Lieblich Gedeckt 73 pipes
8' Violin Diapason 61 pipes
8' Traverse Flute 61 notes+
8' Stopped Flute (ext)
8' Viola de Gambe 61 pipes
8' Viola Celeste 49 pipes
8' Viol Dolce Celeste II 122 notes+
8' Flute Celeste II 122 notes+
4' Prestant 61 pipes
4' Harmonic Flute 61 pipes
4' Unda Maris Celeste II 122 notes+
2-2/3' Nazard 61 pipes
2' Flageolet 61 pipes
1-3/5' Tierce 61 pipes
2' Plein Jeu Grave IV–VI 330 pipes
2/3' Plein Jeu Acuta III–IV 208 pipes
16' Bombarde 61 notes+
16' Contre Fagotto 85 pipes
8' Trompette 73 pipes
8' Oboe 61 notes+
8' Vox Humana 61 notes+
4' Clarion (ext 8')
4' Fagotto Clarion (ext 16') 24 pipes
Tremulant
Swell to Swell 16'
Swell Unison Off
Swell to Swell 4'
MIDI on Swell A
MIDI on Swell B

STRING ORGAN
(Manual III, enclosed with Swell)
16' Viol Celeste II 122 notes+
8' Viol d’Orchestra 61 notes+
8' Viol Celeste Sharp 61 notes+
8' Viol Celeste Flat 61 notes+
8' Dulcet Celeste II 122 notes+
4' Violina Celeste II 122 notes+
4' Dulcet Celeste II 122 notes+
8' Vox Mystique 61 notes+
Tremulant
String Unison Off

CHOIR (Manual I, enclosed)
16' Quintaton 61 notes+
8' Weit Principal 61 pipes
8' Voce Umana 61 notes+
8' Bourdon 61 pipes
8' Gemshorn 61 pipes
8' Gemshorn Celeste 49 pipes
8' Unda Maris II 122 notes+
4' Principal 61 pipes
4' Nachthorn 61 pipes
2-2/3' Nasat 61 pipes
2' Wald Flute 61 pipes
1-1/7' Septieme 61 notes+
1-3/5' Terz 61 pipes
1-1/3/ Quint 61 pipes
1' Sifflote 61 pipes
8/9' None 61 notes+
2' Choral Mixture IV 244 pipes
1/2' Terz-Cymbal III–IV 208 pipes
16' Corno di Bassetto 61 notes+
8' Clarinet 61 pipes
16' Dulzian 61 notes+
8' Holzregal 61 notes+
4' Rohr Schalmei 61 notes+
8' Tromba (Solo)
8' Harp 73 notes+
4' Celesta (ext)
Tremulant
Choir to Choir 16'
Choir Unison Off
Choir to Choir 4'
MIDI on Choir/Pos A
MIDI on Choir/Pos B

ANTIPHONAL (Manual I, enclosed)
16' Bourdon 97 pipes
8' Principal 61 notes+
8' Gamba 61 pipes
8' Salicional 61 pipes
8' Voix Celeste 49 pipes
8' Gedeckt (ext)
8' Flute Celeste II 122 pipes
4' Principal 61 pipes
4' Harmonic Flute 61 pipes
2-2/3' Nazard (ext 16')
2' Blockflote (ext 16')
2' Mixture IV 244 pipes
16' Contre Trumpet 61 notes+
8' Harmonic Trumpet 61 pipes
8' Flugel Horn 61 pipes
Tremulant
Antiphonal to Antiphonal 16'
Antiphonal Unison Off
Antiphonal to Antiphonal 4'

SOLO (Manual IV, enclosed)
8' Major Open Diapason 61 notes+
8' Violincello 61 pipes
8' Violincello Celeste 49 pipes
8' Doppelflote 61 pipes
8' Flauto Mirabilis 61 notes+
4' Claribel Flute 61 pipes
4' Eclat V 305 notes+
8' Tromba 61 pipes
8' English Horn 61 pipes
8' Harmonic Trumpet 61 pipes
8' Festival Trumpet 61 notes+
8' French Horn 61 notes+
16' Tuba Magna 73 notes+
8' Tuba Mirabilis (ext 16')+
4' Tuba Clarion (ext 16')+
Tremulant
Solo to Solo 16'
Solo Unison Off
Solo to Solo 4'
MIDI on Solo A
MIDI on Solo B

TROMPETTERIA
(Manual V, enclosed with Antiphonal in gallery)
8' Tuba Mirabilis (Solo)
16' State Trumpet 85 notes+
8' State Trumpet (ext)+
4' State Trumpet (ext)+
2' Tierce Mixture V 305 notes+
16' Trompette en Chamade TC
8' Trompette en Chamade 61 pipes
4' Trompette en Chamade 49 notes

PEDAL (unenclosed)
32' Contre Diapason 32 notes+
32' Contre Bourdon 32 notes+
32' Contre Violone 32 notes+
16' Principal 44 pipes
16' Wood Open 32 notes+
16' Violone (Great)
16' Bourdon 44 pipes
16' Lieblich Gedeckt (Swell)
16' Quintaton (Choir)
8' Octave (ext 16')
8' Violone (Great)
8' Bourdon (ext 16')
8' Gedeckt (Swell)
4' Choralbass 32 pipes
4' Nachthorn 32 pipes
4' Rohr Flute (Great)
2' Octavin 32 pipes
2-2/3' Mixture V 160 pipes
32' Contre Bombarde 32 notes+
32' Contre Basson 32 notes+
16' Ophicleide 32 notes+
16' Trombone 12 pipes
16' Bombarde (Swell)
16' Contre Fagotto (Swell)
16' Corno di Bassetto (Choir)
8' Festival Trumpet (Solo)
8' Bombarde (ext 32')
8' Tromba (Solo)
4' Clarion (Solo)
4' Clarinet (Choir)
MIDI on Pedal A
MIDI on Pedal B

ANTIPHONAL PEDAL (enclosed)
32' Echo Bourdon 32 notes+
16' Principal 32 notes+
16' Bourdon (Antiphonal)
8' Octave 32 notes+
8' Gedeckt (Antiphonal)
16' Contre Trompette (Antiphonal)

+ Walker stops

Coupler Rail
Great to Pedal 8, 4
Swell to Pedal 8, 4
Choir to Pedal 8, 4
String to Pedal 8
Antiphonal to Pedal 8
Trompetteria to Pedal 8
Solo on Pedal (couplers follow through)
Swell to Great 16, 8, 4
Choir to Great 16, 8, 4
String to Great 8
Antiphonal to Great 16, 8, 4
Trompetteria to Great 8
Solo on Great (couplers follow through)
Swell to Choir 16, 8, 4
String to Choir 8
Antiphonal to Choir 8
Trompetteria to Choir 8
Solo on Choir (couplers follow through)
Antiphonal to Swell 16, 8, 4
Trompetteria to Swell, 8
String on Solo 8 (couplers follow through)
Trompetteria to Solo 8

A. E. Schlueter Pipe Organ Company, Lithonia, Georgia
Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church, Jacksonville, Florida
The early morning hours of December 23, 2007 were of significance and great loss for the Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church. Due to contract negotiations with the symphony, the then-locked-out musicians of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra performed at Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church with a “Messiah Sing” on the evening of December 22. The proceeds of this performance were to benefit the Health and Welfare fund of the members of this institution. This was the last performance ever held in the sanctuary. Sometime in the morning hours of the 23rd a fire started and in a matter of hours consumed the church to the foundation. On the brink of Christmas, the stunned members and staff assembled on the church grounds in front of the still-smoldering pyre of their sanctuary, to console, pray, and plan. From this immeasurable loss they resolved to bolster their presence in the Jacksonville community with a new church and renewed dedication to their ministry.
Reverend Dr. Kyle Reese assembled a team to plan and oversee the rebuilding of the sanctuary. They vowed to have the church open no later than December 23, 2009, when they would again open the church to the public with a performance of Handel’s Messiah. In addition to Pastor Reese, key members who were to play a role in our building an instrument were O’Neal Douglas, chairman of the Sanctuary Renovation Task Force; Bill Mason, organ committee chairman; Reverend Tommy Shapard, Minister of Music and Worship; and Brenda Scott, organist. A constant presence on this construction project was O’Neal Douglas, who served as a living Gantt chart. He invested untold hours to assure the clear communications and coordination between all the different trades involved to build this church by the required completion date.
Lost in the fire was a three-manual, 48-rank Möller that had been installed in 1989. As one of the last instruments from Möller, it was a very good example of their building style and had been well loved by the congregation. Prior to working with our firm as a sales representative, Herbert Ridgeley Jr. represented the Möller firm. He had worked with then minister of music Reverend Kendall Smith on the installation of this Möller instrument. Marc Conley of our staff had worked on this instrument when he was employed by Möller. With these past affiliations, we began the initial discussions with the church as they considered a replacement pipe organ and evaluated firms that might build this instrument. In the words of Tommy Shapard, the charge of the organ committee was “to design an instrument with a variety of colors and levels of expression available in the new instrument to give our congregation and choir the opportunity to sing together more vitally and creatively as a worshipping body.”
I will always recall an exchange that took place early in our meeting with the organ committee. As we talked about a proposed stoplist, we were five minutes into the discussion when Chairman Mason raised a finger and jokingly said, “Arthur . . . from this point forward whenever we say Baptist, we want you to think Presbyterian.” He was referring to the landmark III/62 instrument our firm was building at that time for New York Avenue Presbyterian in Washington and its ties to President Lincoln and theologian Peter Marshall. (See cover feature, The Diapason, July 2010.) I came to find a much deeper meaning in his offhand quip. In public and private discussions, I have heard other builders refer to a “type” of organ they design by denomination. Personally, I do not believe one serves any church well by imprinting their view of any particular denomination—a generic “this is it” approach to stoplist and tonal design of an instrument. This is true regardless of whether it be Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Catholic, Episcopal, or any other denomination. There are and always will be the subtle and not so subtle differences in a church’s worship style. Often in my professional career I have had a church explain their “traditional” worship only to find a worship style that I might personally find to be contemporary, or often a church that describes itself as “contemporary” to be traditional. The euphemism “blended” often used by many churches to describe their music in worship does not solve any identity issues either. As a builder, it is incumbent upon you to experience a church’s worship with your own eyes and ears and then really listen to how your client will use the organ in their worship. This is the only surefire way to refine a stoplist and scale sheets into a cogent amalgam that will allow you to design, voice, and tonally finish an instrument that truly serves the vision of the church you are working for.
A very real challenge in the design of this instrument was that the church moved very fast in the design of a building to assure their December 23, 2009 first service. By the time a contract was signed with our firm, the basic design of the building was locked in place and key building materials had been ordered. We had to work with the architect to design space for an instrument in a building that was already well defined. To allow for an instrument, space would have to be created. As a design team, we found that if we changed the width of the hallway access to the baptistery on the right and left and had a concrete lentil poured above the hallway and above the baptistery, room could be provided for a 43-foot-wide chamber of varying depth and elevations. Taking into account the sloping ceilings in the chambers, we planned a left-to-right division orientation of Swell, Great/Pedal, and Choir. The enclosed divisions of the organ have tone openings on their front and also on the side openings into the center Great and Pedal division. These side openings provide a coalescence and focus for the enclosed resources into the central axis of the instrument.
The chancel façade is designed to frame the baptistery. The façade is silver with polished mouths and features pipework from the 16′ Principal, 16′ Violone, 8′ Octave, and 8′ Diapason. The casework has a maple finish to match the church furnishings. To support the needs of audio-visual functions in their ministry, a projection screen was incorporated into the center section of the upper organ case.
The completed organ is 60 ranks, divided among three manual divisions in the chancel and a floating Antiphonal division in the rear of the church. My specification and scaling for this instrument has its roots in American Classicism, with an emphasis on the English elements found within this stylistic construct. All of the organ divisions are weighted around 8′ chorus structure. The Great is designed around a diapason chorus that has richness and warmth but that still maintains clarity in its phrasing. The Swell features an independent 8′ Principal, which allows the 8′ Swell string scales to be narrower, since these stops do not need to provide the core 8′ flue foundation. The Gemshorn in the Choir is generously scaled, with a wide mouth to support a function in this division analogous to a foundational Spitz Principal. The mixtures in the enclosed divisions are pitched at 2′ and provide a logical completion to the enclosed division principal choruses. This allows completion of the 8/4/2 chorus ladder without breaks in pitch or the need for independent 2′ principals as single stop draws. In addition to avoiding the stridency sometimes found in mixtures with pitches above 1′, this treatment of the mixtures also frees up the 2′ pitch registers for independent manual flutes.
While individually differing in color, the two enclosed divisions have parallel flue pitch registers for support of choral accompaniment. With a large, effective shade front, these divisions provide ample resources of weight and color against the human voice.
The organ reeds were designed with English shallots, which prove much more favorable in a dryer American acoustic. As is our common practice, the organ reeds are placed on separate reservoirs, separate tremolos, and individual unit electro-pneumatic windchests. This treatment allows the reeds to be freed from the strictures of the manual flue wind pressures. This allows complete freedom in scale, shallot design and treatments, and tongue thickness. With a separate tremolo, achieving the correct depth and speed on the reed stops does not become as elusive as it can sometimes be when flues and reeds share a common plenum.
For a large festive solo voice, the chancel organ features a high-pressure English Tuba. This stop is located in the Choir division, and under expressive control it can be used as a darker ensemble reed when it is dynamically caged. It is carried down to the 16′ register to effectively ground the Pedal division.
A very complete Pedal division was desired, with multiple pitches represented from 32′ through 4′. Just the 16′ registers alone represent nine of the 24 stops in the Pedal division. In addition to independent Pedal registers, full advantage was taken of manual-to-pedal duplexes. The result is a plethora of stops under the organist’s control, with a full range of colors and dynamics.
Early on in the design of this instrument, we prepared for a 10-rank Antiphonal. Due to the beneficence of several members, the church was able to contract for this “prepared for” item and have it installed with the chancel instrument. Visually, the rear organ takes its design from the chancel façade. Positioned between the two cases is an 8′ Trompette En Chamade with brass bells. Cognizant of its position in the church and the presence of the high-pressure English Tuba in the chancel organ, the stop was voiced on a moderate 7½ inches pressure. By its position, it has presence and lacks the offensiveness that is sometimes associated with this stop. The core of the Antiphonal organ includes a complete 8′ principal chorus, a lyrical 8′ Gedeckt, and an ethereal pair of 8′ Erzahler Celestes.
Foundational support for the Antiphonal division is provided by a Pedal 16′ Stille Gedeckt and 8′ Stille Principal in the Antiphonal Pedal division. In addition to providing foundation for the rear division, these stops are also very useful in larger organ registrations by adding definition and dimension to the chancel bass presence.
Never to be forgotten in an instrument of this size is the need for quiet contemplative moments. Early in our meetings we talked about the need for the organ to have the resources for what we began to refer to as “the whisper.” In the Choir division, we added a Ludwigtone stop. This is a wooden set of pipes with a dividing wall in the center of the pipe that has two separate mouths. Its unique construction allows each pipe to produce two notes, one of which can be tuned off-beating. In our stoplist as the Flute Celeste II, when it is drawn with a closed box, full couplers, and the Antiphonal Klein Erzahlers added to it, with a light 16′ Pedal stop, there is a moment of being surrounded by an ethereal magic that is at once all enveloping and yet without any weight.
Mechanically this organ uses our electro-pneumatic slider chests, with the organ reeds placed on electro-pneumatic unit chests. Conventional ribbed box regulators are used for the winding system.
The resources of the organ are controlled by a three-manual drawknob console. Built in the English style, the console sits on a rolling platform to allow mobility. The console exterior is built of maple, with an ebonized interior. The console features modern conveniences for the organist, such as multiple memory levels, programmable crescendo and sforzando, transposer, MIDI, and the ability to record and play back organ performances.
To allow full control in the tonal finishing of this instrument, we set sample pipes on the windchests in the organ chambers and then removed the pipes from the chambers to continue work with a portable voicing machine located in the chancel. This allowed us to work unimpeded and be more accurate with cutups and initial nicking, feathering, and flue regulation than could have possible within the confines of the organ chambers and the sea of pipework on each chest. After “roughing in” the pipework voicing, the stops were reinstalled in the organ chamber for final voicing and tonal finishing. In a process that lasted months, the tonal finishing was completed by a team including Daniel Angerstein, Peter Duys, John Tanner, Marc Conley, and Bud Taylor. In addition to our tonal finishers, our installation team included Marshall Foxworthy, Rob Black, Patrick Hodges, Jeremiah Hodges, Kelvin Cheatham, Joe Sedlacek, and Wilson Luna. I am thankful for their dedication and the long hours they put into this project to make sure that our tonal ideals for this instrument were not only achieved but exceeded.
The new sanctuary was finally at a point of completion by November 16 that we were able to begin the installation. The organ was brought up divisionally to allow autonomous work by our staff in multiple divisions. This allowed 40 ranks of the organ to be brought online when first heard in public on December 23, 2009. On this day, our staff was able to return home to be with their families during Christmas, and two family members, Art Schlueter Jr. and Arthur Schlueter III, were able to begin their Christmas together at the public opening of this church with Handel’s Messiah. Forever in my memory will be standing tall as father and son during the Hallelujah Chorus. As with all organ projects, there was still work to be done to complete and finish the organ, but it was a satisfying conclusion to a year that saw the installation of multiple new instruments by our firm and the fulfillment of a promise to this congregation and community.
A final chapter to this story must be told. To assist their search for an organbuilder and evaluate plans for a new instrument, the organ committee engaged local Jacksonville organbuilder, Jim Garvin, as part of their working group. As I developed my proposal for the church, he was a ready translator to discuss the minutiae of the organ proposal—from chest design, stop type, material construction, winding systems, etc. As a builder, I found it a great pleasure to work with Jim, who ably served as a liaison between the organbuilder and the church. Sadly, during the building of this instrument Jim began a battle with cancer. Even as he was weakened by his fight with the cancer, he never wavered in his role as consultant through the organ installation and dedication. I am happy to say that he lived to sing and worship with this instrument. One of our collective proudest moments was at the inaugural organ dedication with Dr. Al Travis. With a solid look in the eye and a firm stance, we exchanged handshakes as equals who had both worked to the best of our abilities on behalf of Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church. Earlier this year Jim lost his fight with cancer. His funeral was held at Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church, where I again returned to hear organ and choir, but this time to say goodbye. I will forever be grateful for my consultant and colleague I worked with in the completion of this project. Reminiscent of the way the project started, I once again heard Handel, as Jim’s final request for his service had been the Hallelujah Chorus.
Additional information on our firm and projects can be viewed at www.pipe-organ.com or by writing A. E. Schlueter Pipe Organ Company, P.O. Box 838, Lithonia, GA 30058.
—Arthur E. Schlueter III, tonal and artistic direction

All photos taken by Tim Rucci (www.timrucci.com)

Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church
Three manuals, 60 ranks

GREAT—Manual II
(unenclosed) (16 ranks)
16′ Violone 61 pipes
8′ Diapason 61 pipes
8′ Violone 12 pipes
8′ Flute Harmonique 49 pipes
(1–12 Pedal Bourdon)
8′ Bourdon 61 pipes
4′ Octave 61 pipes
4′ Spire Flute 61 pipes
22⁄3′ Twelfth 61 pipes
2′ Super Octave 61 pipes
IV Mixture 11⁄3′ 244 pipes
III Klein Mixture 2⁄3′ 183 pipes
16′ Double Trumpet 61 pipes
(English shallots)
8′ Trumpet 12 pipes
16′ English Tuba (Choir) (non-coupling)
8′ English Tuba (Choir) (non-coupling)
4′ English Tuba (Choir) (non-coupling)
Chimes (Choir)
Zimbelstern 9 bells
Great to Great 4′
Tremulant

CHOIR—Manual I (enclosed)
(13 ranks)
16′ Gemshorn 12 pipes
8′ Hohl Flute 61 pipes
8′ Gemshorn 61 pipes
8′ Gemshorn Celeste 49 pipes
8′ Flute Celeste II 80 pipes
(Ludwigtone)
4′ Principal 61 pipes
4′ Spindle Flute 61 pipes
2′ Harmonic Piccolo 61 pipes
11⁄3′ Quint 61 pipes
III Choral Mixture 2′ 183 pipes
8′ Clarinet 61 pipes
(English shallots with lift caps)
8′ English Tuba 61 pipes
(non-coupling)
Tremulant
Choir to Choir 16′
Choir Unison Off
Choir to Choir 4′

SWELL—Manual III (enclosed) (14 ranks)
16′ Lieblich Gedeckt 61 pipes
8′ Geigen Principal 61 pipes
8′ Viole de Gamba 61 pipes
8′ Viole Celeste TC 49 pipes
8′ Rohr Flute 12 pipes
4′ Geigen Octave 61 pipes
4′ Nachthorn 61 pipes
22⁄3′ Nazard TC 49 pipes
2′ Flageolet (from 16′) 24 pipes
13⁄5′ Tierce TC 49 pipes
IV Mixture 2′ 244 pipes
16′ Bassoon 61 pipes
(English shallots with lift caps)
8′ Trumpet 61 pipes
(English shallots)
8′ Oboe 12 pipes
4′ Clarion 12 pipes
Tremulant
Swell to Swell 16′
Swell Unison Off
Swell to Swell 4′

ANTIPHONAL—floating division (10 ranks)
8′ Weit Principal 61 pipes
8′ Gedeckt 61 pipes
8′ Klein Erzahler 61 pipes
8′ Klein Erzahler Celeste 49 pipes
4′ Principal 61 pipes
III Mixture 2′ 183 pipes
8′ Trompette En Chamade 61 pipes

ANTIPHONAL PEDAL
16′ Stille Gedeckt 12 pipes
8′ Stille Principal 32 pipes

PEDAL (7 ranks)
32′ Violone (digital)
32′ Bourdon (digital)
16′ Principal 32 pipes
16′ Violone (Great)
16′ Gemshorn (Choir)
16′ Subbass 32 pipes
16′ Lieblich Gedeckt (Swell)
8′ Octave 32 pipes
8′ Violone (Great)
8′ Gemshorn (Choir)
8′ Bourdon 12 pipes
8′ Gedeckt (Swell)
4′ Choral Bass 12 pipes
4′ Bourdon 12 pipes
IV Mixture 22⁄3′ 128 pipes
32′ Posaune (digital)
32′ Harmonics (wired Cornet series)
16′ Trombone (ext Tuba) 12 pipes
16′ Double Trumpet (Great)
16′ Bassoon (Swell)
8′ English Tuba (Choir)
8′ Trumpet (Great)
4′ Clarion (Great)
4′ Oboe Clarion (Swell)

Inter-manual couplers
Great to Pedal 8′, 4′
Swell to Pedal 8′, 4′
Choir to Pedal 8′, 4′
Antiphonal on Pedal

Swell to Great 16′, 8′, 4′
Choir to Great 16′, 8′, 4′
Antiphonal on Great

Swell to Choir 16′, 8′, 4′
Antiphonal on Choir

Antiphonal on Swell

MIDI controls (programmable as preset stops) (with record/playback) (audio included)
MIDI on Pedal
MIDI on Great
MIDI on Swell
MIDI on Choir

Combination system with a minimum of 128 levels of memory

Joseph E. Robinson received his B.A. from California State University at Long Beach and his M.A. from Occidental College in Los Angeles. He studied piano with Charles Shepherd and organ with Clarence Mader, Paul Stroud and Robert Prichard. During 1970–1971 he was an organbuilding apprentice with the Schlicker Organ Co. under the direction of Herman L. Schlicker. He was organist at the University United Methodist Church in Buffalo, New York, and later at St. James’ United Methodist Church in Pasadena, California.
Now a retired business systems analyst, he is currently organist for the Aliso Creek Ward, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and a member of the Orange County California chapter of the American Guild of Organists. He is very grateful to his wife Pat, without whose support a large residence pipe organ would not have been possible. His interest in pipe organs and their music was sparked years ago when, as a sixth grade student, his class was taken on a field trip to a recital on the Mormon Tabernacle organ.

Graduate school was a joy, offering full-time study of music and the use of three fine instruments (two 4-manual Aeolian-Skinners, one 3-manual Schlicker). But that happy situation was not to last, the real world providing a career in information technology with employers adamantly against a church job. With payroll usually due Friday morning, any complications that occurred on Thursday had to be solved. “Sorry, I have to go to choir practice” was unacceptable.
Missing the superb organs of graduate school, I thought that my need for an instrument might be fulfilled by a fine residence instrument. With great optimism, in 1980, I bought a large 4-manual Casavant console. It would take, I figured, about 27 ranks to do what I “needed” done. But even at that, I would only use a small portion of the console, unless I resorted to horrendous unification. Perhaps the resources could be expanded with analog electronic generators. No, that sound simply was not good enough.
Within the last decade, the major digital organ companies (Allen, Rodgers, Ahlborn-Galanti, Johannus, etc.) have produced reasonably priced MIDI modules with digital sampling that have a lot to offer. The lessons learned in adding four of these units to my residence pipe organ provide the material for this article. I now have 20 ranks of pipes playing and four MIDI modules. Equipment The four modules are an Ahlborn Classic Archive module, an Allen MDS Expander II, the Rodgers MX-200, and a custom Cavaillé-Coll sampled module installed on an Ahlborn chassis. Syndyne LS6401 stop controllers control the two Ahlborn-based modules. All the modules are controlled by normal stops and pistons.

Speaker placement

I connected the first module purchased to my high-quality stereo system. The loudspeakers were on the opposite side of the room from the pipe ranks. Such placement only served to accent the differences between the digital stops and the real pipes. The best place for the speakers turned out to be behind the pipe chests with the speakers pointing at the wall rather than the listeners. Sound now bounces off the wall and travels through the pipe ranks before arriving at the listener. Now there is cohesion of pipe and digital sound that is light years ahead of the original placement. Proper speaker placement can be the difference between success and mediocrity.
Experience has shown that for my residence, I did not need special “organ speakers,” but high-quality stereo speakers do the job splendidly. Since these modules have 32' stops, there are four powered subwoofers that are rated flat (+ or – 3 db) down to 20 Hz. These 32' stops require this kind of support if they are not going to just fizzle out as you approach low C.

Level balance

Each of the modules includes a big reed of some sort (i.e., Festival Trumpet, Trompette en Chamade, Spanish Trumpet, and Royal Trumpet). These and other stops can be set to appropriate high volume levels. That approach results in your organ becoming a “digital organ with pipes.”
My dominant manual pipe reed is a Trompette Musette. So I set the volume level of all the digital big reeds to be slightly less than that. Next in power in the pipes is a Dulzian. All digital trumpets are set to be slightly less than it is. Third in the reed pipe ranks is a Krummhorn. The digital Hautbois, Clarinette and so forth are set in level slightly below that. A similar pattern is used for all the flue stops. In this manner the full ensemble is a pipe-dominated ensemble. It is very tempting to do otherwise, but the cost of doing otherwise is to turn your pipe organ into an electronic.

Tuning

Pipes vary in pitch with change in weather. MIDI modules do not. The modules need to be tuned to the pipes if they are to blend in. That is easily accomplished. Finding what works and what does not Each of these modules from these competing manufacturers has different strengths and weaknesses. Furthermore, even within the same product, the quality of digital sampling can vary greatly. For example, the Rodgers MX-200 contains a 32' pedal Bazuin that is almost good enough to justify the cost of the unit by itself. On the other hand there is an ensemble Principal chorus 8', 4', 2' that to my ear sounds like a 1940s electronic with Leslie speaker on slow with spring-loaded reverb. That sound may be desirable in some quarters, but not for my pipe organ. So in working with these units, you find things that work very well, and other things that you will not use.
Mutations. In general, these work extremely well. For example, on the Positiv, my 8¢ pipe Holz Gedeckt combined with the Allen Sesquialtera is every bit as good as the real deal on the Swell. Mixtures. On my Swell I am using an Ahlborn-Galanti Plein Jeu and on the Great a Rodgers Fourniture. These are working out so well that I have decided I can forgo the real mixture I originally planned and thus save space.
Flue Doubles. Sometimes a 16' flue is nice to have on the manuals. The real estate such stops take up makes them impractical for a residence organ. The Allen 16¢ Gedeckt, for example, works very well when used in conjunction with real manual flutes.
On the Pedal I have a real 16' Subbass. On some small pipe organs, a single pipe rank is used for a Lieblich Gedeckt and a more powerful Subbass by varying the wind pressure supplied the pipes. That practice is often unsatisfactory. The digital units fill the Lieblich function well. In a Rodgers workshop, Hector Olivera mentioned that he was a bit tired of the overdone ca-chunk attack of 16' pedal stops on many “organ reform” instruments. So, if I use the Allen Bourdon on the Pedal, I get a tasteful ca-chunk. If I use the Rodgers, there is no ca-chunk. You move to the real Subbass when more is happening.
Celestes. I purchased a real Gemshorn and its corresponding Celeste. The Gemshorn is the most recently installed rank on my organ. Until I could get the Celeste installed, I decided to assign one of the Rodgers Celeste stops to that function. Even though by itself this Rodgers Celeste does not sound realistic in all areas of the compass, when combined with the real Gemshorn, the result is fabulous. The effect is sufficiently successful that I have decided to forgo the real Celeste, since I don’t have room for all the remaining ranks I want.
Observation. In the above paragraphs I have listed the functions in which the digital stops work very well. In these functions, the digital stops have the following things in common:
1. Real pipe ranks are combined with them giving the “breath of life.”
2. The digital stops have a pitch relationship to those pipes as well as a timbre relationship.
Generally when you are looking for a certain timbre from a digital stop and that stop is to be used alone, the result is often not as good. The same is often true when only digital stops are combined. Reeds. Today’s digital reeds are better than ever before. But that is not to say that they equal pipes. Nevertheless, they can be quite useful.
My organ contains four real reed ranks (Rankette, Dulzian, Krummhorn, and Trompette Musette). Note that they are all short-length resonator types. Suppose the middle section of Franck’s Pastorale is to be played. With the Cavaillé-Coll unit, the Trompette can be used. Not bad, but it sounds digital. Using the real Krummhorn gives a sound that is too “Baroqueish.” But when using the Trompette and Krummhorn together something wonderful happens. The Trompette seems to give the Krummhorn a full-length resonator sound, while the Krummhorn gives the Trompette the attack and other missing characteristics of a real reed stop.
In the Pedal I use two 32' digital reeds. These are the 32' Bombarde from the Ahlborn-Galanti and the 32' Bazuin from the Rodgers unit. As good as they are, they could be better. From the lesson learned above, I ordered a 32' octave for my Rankette from Germany. This short-length 32' stop gives the digital stops the real slap of the reed tongue that they were missing. The digital stops in turn give the effect of a full-length resonator.
Principals. The older analog electronic organs provided some sort of generic sound called Diapason. With these digital modules, the principals have character. The Ahlborn-Galanti Principal has a southern European flavor. The Cavaillé-Coll Montre gives something of the sound of slotted pipes. The Allen Principal has a northern European influence. The Ahlborn-Galanti Principal is used on my Positiv division whose pipe 8' flue is the Holz Gedeckt. This Principal adds some interesting foundation tone when added to the Positiv ensemble.
That said, however, the following also needs to be noted. Suppose the final measures of Bach’s “St. Anne” triple fugue in E-flat major are played. Combining the Great pipe stops of Principals 8', 4', and 2' with the Allen 16' Principal, the Rodgers IV Fourniture, and the Ahlborn-Galanti III Cymbale gives a very good sound. What happens though if digital 8', 4', and 2' Principals are substituted for the real ones? Then you move instantly from the real organ sound to a pale imitation. If at all possible, you want at least your 8' and 4' principals to be real!
Orchestral sounds. The Allen and Rodgers modules offer orchestral sounds in addition to organ stops. While in general I do not see great art served by a one-man imitation orchestra, a number of these sounds are very useful. The Allen orchestral flute, for example, with tremolo, combined with a real 8' Koppelfloete produces a most lovely flute solo. In addition to its many orchestral sounds, the Rodgers can alter the attack by way of “velocity sensing” keyboards. That feature I can’t comment on: with my 1927 Casavant console the note is either on or off.
I just ran out of notes! While the advertisements and user manuals don’t mention it, when you own the modules, you may soon discover that you run out of notes. One reason is explained in more detail in Jerome Markowitz’s book Triumphs & Trials of an Organ Builder. In brief, as the digital organ was being developed, it was “financially questionable.” A Rockwell engineer by the name of Watson reasoned that people have ten fingers and two feet. Hence there would only have to be 12 notes available for playing at any time, not 61. That reduction resulted in a great cost saving.
If you have played an Allen or Rodgers organ that supports these MIDI modules, you will notice that the MIDI stops do not couple. On my console, it all couples. To couple is the equivalent of playing more notes. On a three- or four-manual console, if a MIDI stop is selected on each manual and pedal, and all manuals are coupled to Great and Pedal, and we come to the end of a composition such as Vierne’s Carillon de Westminster, the MIDI modules are going to run out of notes. The first notes lost in overplaying are the lowest notes, so that 32' reed is lost precisely when needed most. So you use good organ sense and reduce the number of MIDI stops requested of a module until it can supply all the notes.
Perhaps because the Ahlborn-Galanti uses a MIDI channel per division rather than per stop, you can use all its stops coupled and still have eight simultaneous notes available before overplaying. A nice design feature is that notes are lost from the second note up when over played. So on this module that important bass note is always there.

Distinctive features

Allen went to some effort to make their module organist-friendly. On the LCD you see organ divisions (SW, GT, etc.), not MIDI channel numbers. You also see the name of the stop that is going to play when you activate the MIDI tab or knob. This intuitiveness is a good feature of the Allen for those of us who want organ terms and not MIDI terms. The Allen provides more organ stop samples than any other module. [Note: Allen has replaced the MDS Expander II with a newer model. These features apply to both.]
The Rodgers MX-200 provides almost as many organ samples as the Allen. With 170 orchestral samples it excels in this area. This unit is also most like MIDI sound modules obtainable outside the organ world. On a Rodgers organ, a sound may be assigned to a MIDI channel by a “Quick Key.” Set much like a capture combination action, for example, when middle C is pressed, the selected MIDI “stop” becomes a 16' Pommer. For a non-Rodgers organ, move the part knob to the MIDI channel to be changed, set the selector switch to “flue” and turn the value knob until the number “3” appears on the display. That gives the same 16' Pommer. Since only a number appears and not a stop name, I keep my owner’s manual at the organ at all times.
Using a very different approach, Ahlborn-Galanti gives you only 20 sampled organ stops. However, the Ahlborn-Galanti is like a 20-stop organ in a box. These stops may be combined and coupled in any way. Great flexibility is provided in adjusting the relative levels and scales of each of these stops. By using a MIDI channel per division rather than per stop, only three MIDI channels are used for the 20 stops, in contrast with the one stop to one MIDI channel of the others.
If an organ needs more stops, the Ahlborn-Galanti unit is a good choice to provide 20 more stops. On the other hand, if the basic specification is sufficient, and you occasionally want to augment with a more exotic stop (i.e., French Horn or Harp and Chimes, or a 11⁄7' Septieme, etc.), then an Allen or Rodgers unit is a good choice. And of course, you can do both and more as finances permit.

Conclusion

If I had it to do all over again, I would still do the same mix to get the advantages of each brand. One does have to use a little organ common sense to get the best effects. In the Principal section I mentioned for the closing of a big Bach fugue, I used the pipe Principals of 8', 4', and 2' along with the Allen 16' Principal, the Rodgers IV Fourniture, and the Ahlborn-Galanti III Cymbale. By spreading the load across the several modules, you gain the advantages of using more loudspeakers and amplified channels, giving a more realistic ensemble effect. These modules have given me the flexibility to play effectively the same music I used to play on the large pipe organs in graduate school. When properly adjusted to complement rather than blot out or compete with the pipes, these modules offer a lot of resources at a very reasonable price.