This morning when I answered the phone for the monthly update from our organ builder, I was greeted not with “Hello” but with a wonderful “Toot Toot”! It was, of course, Jonathan blowing into a pipe he was voicing. Having finished voicing the swell pipes (yes! He’s done!), he’s now started in on the Great,…
The astute reader may have noticed the lack of December update. The biggest reason for that is that organ builders are also organ maintainers, and spend a good chunk of time maintaining local organs. In December, “maintenance” predominantly means “pre-Christmas tunings,” and these kept Jonathan busy the whole month, thus no December update. Now, though,…
Over the last few weeks, our hardworking organ builders in Massachusetts have made exciting progress on our organ! Jonathan continues to voice our pipes. Having finished the Swell 8’ Stopped Diapason, he has since started in on the Swell 8’ Viola. The Viola rank is, unsurprisingly, a rank of “string” pipes. No, that’s not an…
As you know, Jonathan and his crew at Ortloff Organ Company have been working on our organ diligently for eight months, methodically building the many diverse components for our organ: the windchests, slider chests, rackboards, toe boards, and wind trunks, to name only a few, making sure each component is flat, sturdy, and sealed. They’ve…
Welcome to our new monthly report of what’s happening in the Ortloff Organ Shop! While we (well… Chris and Bill) are working hard on our end to prepare our Sanctuary for the installation of our new organ, here’s an update on what our organ builders have been up to. As you know, Jonathan and his crew…
Susanna Valleau, Music Director This Sunday will be the last time that the music in our worship is led by our organ. As I will be away celebrating my brother’s wedding, I have played the St. Dunstan’s organ for the last time and find myself a little sentimental, reflecting back on all the services I’ve…
Most recently, our organ builders have been continuing work on the wind chests (bonus points if you remember what those are! If not, you can refer to my previous article. Toe holes have been drilled into the toe boards. The pipes will sit in these toe holes and the air will travel through them to make…
This is the first article in an occasional series that will update you on what’s happening at the Ortloff Organ Shop as they build our new organ! I sat down with the intention of writing about the Slider Chests that are currently being built, but I quickly realized that organ lingo is confusing! Like any…