Project Overview; A Plan of Attack

As I begin this project I have a few goals and priorities in mind to help keep me focused.  In order of importance:

1)   Purpose: This is to be a practice instrument.  I don't want to get too carried away with too many features that I don't really need.  However, if I'm going to the trouble to build a pipe organ in my house, I want to be as awesome as possible.

2)   Musical: I want the sound to be cohesive, balanced, and appropriate for the space.  I want enough diversity of tone to keep practice interesting and fun.

3)   Efficiency, Quality, & Economy: I want to start practicing as soon as possible.  I want to take the time to make any necessary or pre-emptive repairs now (do it right the first time).  I am on a relatively tight budget so I don't want to waste money on unnecessary features or repairs.  The key is finding a balance between these three.

4)   Aesthetics:  This instrument is a part of my home.  I want it to look attractive; like a piece of furniture. It should look as if it were entirely an original instrument- not cobbled together by an amateur.

From Organ Layout

I made the above layout by creating a scale drawing of the living room and a scale cut out of each part of the organ. I tried different arrangements of all the parts until I settled on this setup. Yes, it goes wall to wall and barely fits. Yes, it will be cramped and not terribly convenient to tune.  It will take a considerable amount of space, but I don't use my living room that much as it is. Acoustically, the room is of course not vibrantly resonant, but it isn't dead either. The walls and ceiling are plaster (durock, actually) and the floor is solid oak. The room is about 13' wide by 22' long and the ceilings are 8' 3" high. I plan to keep the sofa and coffee table, but replace the current area rug with a smaller one. I will also have two leather chairs in the room. Hopefully that won't absorb too much sound. I can always get rid of furniture for the sake of acoustics...

From Organ Layout

To explain the above sketch:

"Up" is west, "down" is east, "right" is north, and "left" is south.

The 8' bass offset of the principal & dulciana will be on the west wall and to the right and will be as close to the floor as possible. The pipes will speak under the rohrflote and main chests (4' rohr, gedeckt, dulciana & principal from back to front). The bottom of these chests will be about 24-30" above the floor. The 8' gedeckt offset will be to the right of all this, facing south, on the floor and speaking under the main chest. The main chest will be skirted with a simple screen to hide the view under there without blocking the bass sound.

The 16' octave of the gedeckt is located on the west wall to the left speaking under the oboe chest. I plan to rebuild the oboe chest so it will have four shorter rows of pipes rather than two long rows. This will allow me to put the oboe in an enclosure with swell shutters. This will be a lot of work, but the oboe will be more versatile, better able to support the principal or solo against the gedeckt. The swell shades will overhang the console just a bit. Deagan chimes will eventually be mounted on the south wall or on the frame work of the oboe enclosure. The "kickboard" on the console will be replaced with a screen so the 16' pipes aren't so blocked.

The blower, reservoir, and tremulant will be located in the basement store room below. My plan is to remove one of the 12" floor tiles in front of the (fake) fireplace to bring the wind through the floor.

Basic Plan of Attack:
1) Prepare the basement and get the wind system functional. I will make serious patches and repairs to the wind system now, and smaller repairs when it is closer to installation time. I also need to set up the basement work area and rearrange things in the wood shop.

2) Windchests. Rewire, inspect and repair the leather as needed. The cotton-covered wire has to go. I am considering using spreaders that can be "unplugged" rather than cut from the console if I ever need to move it. Haven't decided for sure though. Also rebuild the oboe chest and its swell box.

3) Pipe restoration. Cleaning pipes, releathering gedeckt stoppers, removing dents, have damaged pipes repaired, check the voicing. Seriously consider the principal. If it sounds good, no problem. However, the metal seems relatively thin and several pipes need serious repair. I may be farther ahead to start over...

4) Console. Cleaning as needed, refinishing the shell, adjust key travel, adjust contact points, replace cracked pedals, engrave new stop tabs, name plates. I have an idea for a mechanical Great-to-Pedal coupler since the pedal division is sadly lacking. Why wouldn't a unified instrument have all stops available in the pedal as well? Who knows. We'll see if I have time for the coupler. That may need to wait a year or two.

5) Wind system. Fix all leaks and prepare for installation.

6) Living room remodeling. I need to add some recessed lighting anyway and need to have that plaster work done before I move pipes in. Now that I think about it, I may do this before I start cleaning the pipes. Hmmm... I may repaint the room- haven't decided though. Also, I will have the screens, etc. custom built.

7) Installation! Hopefully it all comes together easily without too many glitches.

Of course all this is subject to change as I dive in. There is a lot I don't know, but am excited and anxious to get going on it!

The Initial Purchase

Ever since becoming fascinated with the organ I have wanted a practice instrument in my home. I knew it was a pipe dream (groan) but the thought floated through my head from time to time anyway. If I had the right space, I would go for a modestly sized instrument loaded with German Baroque flavor. In my current house, it would need to be much smaller. A Moller Artiste would be great, but they seem to hold their value relatively well keeping them out of my price range. I've had at least five people say someone they know has an electronic organ they want to get rid of. I turned all five down, thinking that if the opportunity for real pipes came along, I didn't want to be stuck with and old 'toaster'. Besides, those probably weren't AGO standard consoles.

One day in January, 2009 I was browsing around on ebay and stumbled across a listing for a small instrument that needed some work. After sending emails back and forth with the seller I learned that it was more of an assemblage of parts that could become an instrument rather than an instrument that simply needed repairs. It was located in Wichita, KS about 5 hours south of me (Lincoln, NE). It would need to be removed within one week of the end of the auction and would require two full-size pickups or a moving van to haul it.

I tried really hard to talk myself out of it: "You don't know anything about organbuilding." "You already work two jobs and run a small landscaping company. When will you find time to build this thing?" "This will end up being a money pit." "Okay, seriously now. Do you really want this in your house?" I mulled this over for a few days and discussed it with a few fellow organists. I got dimensions from the seller, measured the living room, and made some sketches. I answered my own questions: "True, but I can learn. Besides, organ building isn't rocket science. Wind + electric circuit + pipe = music." "True, but every landscaper needs a good winter project." "Maybe. But I waste almost 45 minutes driving to church and back every time I want to practice. If you put a value on that time the project will eventually pay for itself. And, if I get a steady organist position that will help pay for it too." "Of course! How cool would it be to have a pipe organ in the house!"

The opening bid was well within my price range and I had nothing else to do that weekend. I placed my bid and anxiously watched the clock tick down. I was the first and only bidder and it was mine!

My brother and I each drove our pickups to Wichita the following Saturday leaving at 4am. I spent the whole trip down wondering what I had gotten myself into. The weather was nice for January, 40 degrees and sunny. We arrived at the seller's house and found a basement full of organ parts. He is an organ technician and over the years the spare parts just piled up. He was moving and didn't have room for everything at the new place. It took some time to sort through all the parts to figure out what went and what stayed. We built pipe trays on site and moved all the parts out of the basement and set everything on the back lawn as we decided the best way to pack it all. By 6pm it was loaded and it barely fit into the pickups. I spent the entire trip back still wondering what I had gotten myself into. We were back at the house by midnight and took the time to unpack and move everything into the basement before calling it a day.

The initial purchase included:

Console: Reuter 638. 2 manual (61 note) + pedal (32 note). 29 unified stops derived from 5 ranks, plus 21 note Deagan chimes (prep) & tremulant. Crescendo and swell shoes.  Originally from St. Paul's UCC in Kahoka, MO
Blower: Kenetic. Supposedly 4" wp
Reservoir: Unknown builder
Tremulant: Wurlitzer
Open Diapason: 8' 4' 73 pipes. Unknown builder
Gedeckt: 16' - 2' 97 pipes. Unknown builder
Dulciana: 8' 4' 73 pipes.  From a church in Ajax, ON.  Unknown builder?
Oboe: 8' 61 pipes. From Ajax, ON
Windchests for the above ranks. From Ajax, ON
Assorted parts

About the Builder

I have always had an interest in music having sung in church and school choirs since elementary school. My home church, St. John's Lutheran ELCA in rural Columbus, NE has an old analog / electronic Baldwin organ and it never really inspired me. The organist played the hymns and liturgy and as a kid, I thought that was all an organ was good for. I never gave the organ any thought, but continued with my interest in choral music and piano. I studied piano in Middle School with Jean Sharman for nearly four years. High School activities included concert and jazz choirs, musical theatre, and various small groups under the direction of Fred Ritter. I lettered in music my junior and senior years and graduated in 1998. At Central Community College in Columbus, NE I was a member of the Platte Campus Chorale conducted by John Putnam which toured locally and nationally. I received an Associate of Fine Arts degree in 2000. Following that, I attended the University of Nebraska - Lincoln to major in horticulture and landscape design. I also earned a minor in music and vocal performance. It was here that I sang with the Varsity Men's Chorus under the direction of Dr. Pete Eklund. Dr. Eklund is known for his big arrangements of hymn tunes for choir and organ. I can still remember the first time we rehearsed in Kimball Recital Hall- 100 men's voices was pretty impressive in that space, but then the pipe organ (Reuter Opus 1746, III/45) welled up behind and above us as we sang "The Spirit of God" and from that moment on, I knew that the organ was my instrument.

I attended St. Andrew's Lutheran ELCA in Lincoln, NE throughout college and began practicing (teaching myself, really) the organ. We have an organ assembled by the Vaughan Company of Hastings, NE (Opus 22, III/34) in the late 1960's from pipes collected over the years by Pr. Dan Schroeder. The organ was rebuilt about 20 years ago by Temple Organs of St. Joeseph, MO.  A link to their website is in the "Related Links" section above.  One day while working at the garden center I saw Dr. John Cummins shopping for plants. At the time he was the Minister of Music at First Plymouth Congregational Church where he played the Schoenstein Organ (Opus 126, IV/110) I recognized him from the Varsity Men's Chorus performances given at FPC and we discussed the possibility of taking lessons. I decided that if I am going to play the organ, I should learn how to do it right. We began lessons shortly thereafter. Dr. Cummins has since taken a position in North Carolina and I have not resumed formal study. I have however joined the Lincoln Chapter of the American Guild of Organists and have learned much from conversations with fellow organists and by attending concerts and recitals.