Posted 7 years ago
AnythingOb…
(1778 items)
As this item is NOT my own personal property, unlike everything else I show here. Instead, this is simply "what I actually do for a living" (at least for much of the last 1.5yrs or so in this case) which is now nearing its final completion (thus official acceptance, thus final *big* check to my employers) which will ultimately end up being the property of South Main Baptist Church in Houston, TX.
The gold colored organ pipes and their immediate surrounding structure (of black walnut) in the first pics are all brand new (as of yesterday, literally!) and are only the "front" of the entire instrument, the vast majority of its working parts are out of view behind the (ca. 1925) grillework, occupying a sorta U-shaped space roughly 20' deep and 30' high all the way around. The final installation of most all *that* has taken place during recent months, after first being built at our shop then transported and reassembled onsite.
3rd pic is a closer view of the 'Console", where the organist sits and ultimately operates all that stuff upstairs behind the grillework. Its outer cabinet is also black walnut, the playing keyboards and controls are of rosewood and polished cowbone with polished brass metal hardware.
Last pic is a "before" pic (of a large framed photo hanging in their choir room) showing what we replaced, which existed there from sometime in the early 1980's (?) until now. (and also showing some of what they otherwise spent their recent few years and many million $$ redoing/restoring, with the rest of the room)
Sorry the pics aren't better, I haven't had a moment yet to try to take any with a real camera vs. the phonecam. (which doesn't much like their TV lights, it seems...?)
Wow, how cool !
You might enjoy this:
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/saving-a-worlds-fair-pipe-organ/
Actually Ben, that article is one of two (the other about automatic band/fairground organs) which brought me to CW in the first place?!! <applause>
Very Impressive!
Thanks very much everybody for the loves -- especially to PhilDMorris, Ben, and buckethead for your kind comments! :-)
A few further details. The instrument we replaced (last pic above) was installed there in 1987, and actually incorporated most of the original pipe organ first installed in the building in 1937. Both of those organs only occupied the space behind the 5 center 'grille sections', until 1987 they were all probably only grillework. Our instrument now occupies space made behind *all* of the grilles, and is rather larger than either of its predecessors, having 4 manuals (hand played keyboards) and 85 ranks (complete sets) of pipes, vs. 4 manuals/63 ranks in 1987, and 3 manuals/34ranks in 1937.
And if anybody is curious, my personal part in the building of it all mainly involves the by-hand construction/assembly/electrical wiring of the countless little "delicate mechanisms" inside all of everything, which ultimately make it all work. OH -- and in the odd chance that anybody was actually thinking to tune in to the live-stream this Sunday morning to hear it a little, you gotta wait a week -- ironically enough, on the first actual Sun morning when 99.9% of the new organ will be physically complete and operational...turns out their Organist/Choir is gonna be "on tour" someplace else, and the service music will be provided by a hired "brass instrument" group. <headdesk> The organ won't be used at all, though it will still no doubt have 'em all talking...? <lol>