There are many furnishings in a church, a notable one being the organ.

This update takes you off-site to learn what is involved in the age old trade of building pipe organs, especially those that will be installed in The Immaculata.

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Transcript of the Video

Welcome back to the Immaculata Church Project here in St. Marys, Kansas. Today we are going to switch gears a bit from talking about the construction project and instead talk about one of the major furnishings in the church, our organ.

I'm here today in the choir loft with a special guest, Dr. Andrew Childs. Dr. Andrew Childs is the chair of our organ committee. He is also the head of our music department at St. Mary's Academy and College and our choir director. Today Dr. Andrew is going to talk about our organ.

Thanks, Bill. As you know very early on we had to make some crucial decisions about the organ because a lot of the systems that support the organ have to be built into the structure. Very early on we knew that an electronic instrument would not be sufficient for the space and we decided to go with the traditional pipe organ. We have chosen to build this organ, Quimby Pipe Organ builders from Warrensburg, Missouri. We're very excited about that, they've given us a wonderful plan that fits our budget which includes mostly new material, but some vintage pipes. This is crucial though that they've given the build an opus number, which means they consider it a new instrument rather than a reinstallation. Now, two organs: we have one down in the transept, let’s go look at that.

We are now on the southwest corner of the transept. To give you an idea of exactly where we are, behind that wall is Saint Joseph's side chapel. And in the corner behind me we are going to have a completely independent smaller organ: this is the Aeolian-Skinner opus 1483, originally 1966 and this will support our smaller liturgical functions on the main altar such as the Divine Office and daily sung Masses.

As you can see a lot goes into building a church, a lot goes into building these organs – so let's go down to Warrensburg, and talk to the organ builders and find that process out.

Now we’re here in Warrensburg at Quimby Pipe Organs. I’m very pleased to introduce Mike Quimby, president and founder of Quimby Pipe Organs, 50 years in business. And this is Chris Emerson who's going to run us through the process. We're gonna see a lot of the pieces that will be very similar to the ones in both of the organs, actually have a lot of the Aeolian-Skinner parts there. Let's go see the shop.

[Michael Quimby] Right now they're assembling the actions into these chests and we try to make them very serviceable, so you can get them out efficiently. Everything is done with screws and springs, to adjust with humidity.

[Team Question] Will this have pipes in it? What’s in this box?

[Chris Emerson] Well, this is upside down right now, and so what this has is valves. This is just a simple valve board. These are all leather and the white pads on top are a combination of felt and leather. One for each pipe, so that when they sit at the console and play, (we don't have the action board; I’ll show you those over there, they have a magnet for them that when they play a note it actually hits a magnet which allows this to exhaust.) When that allows it to exhaust the pressure inside the chest will allow this to collapse that valve and allow the air to go out to the foot of the pipe.

[Michael Quimby] This is the main box for the transept organ. And you definitely know the manufacturer because all the magnets are labeled Aeolian-Skinner. So what you saw over here with all the little nipples and everything, all these will be fitted with spring inserts like what you see over there that’s new. All this will come out because it's busily turning back to dinosaur. All this will come out and everything will be redone.

Well let's go look at some new things, and detour away from the pipe shop a minute. This is the reed voicing room.

[conversation] So it actually will play.

[Bill Drew] So this device, this set up, is to test those pipes?

[Michael Quimby] No, it's to actually voice them.

[Bill Drew] So make sure that they are saying what they're supposed to be saying?

[Michael Quimby] Exactly, because the ones you were picking up out there, they actually have this on the bottom.

So that goes against the shallot. So we're wedged in there with a block of maple. And we’ve got brass and this is phosphor bronze on the tongue and then phosphor bronze tuning wire.

[Bill Drew] And you can move it up or down in that changes the sound?

[Michael Quimby] That's a regulating device and actually these can be tuned very quickly with just a slight movement on the top. It's done in the English-style and we do all of our reeds like that because of tuning stability.

[Team Question] Now the pipes that are in our transept organ, will they look like these?

[Michael Quimby] No, they'll be pretty. They'll be visually attractive.

[Dr. Andrew Childs] Well, we hope you have learned a lot about the organ building process, we certainly have. And I think now, I wanted to ask Mike about some of the specifics, now that we're a little bit more in mind of that. So tell us about our gallery organ in terms of some of the specifications of that instrument.

[Michael Quimby] The gallery organ that you will have has 20 ranks. It is initially provided from the beginning with a three manual console, so additions are possible. The instrument will feature a fully developed great division capable of leading and accompanying worship. It'll have a complete diapason or principal chorus in the great from an 8-foot up to a mixture and then there will be a trumpet in the great, and then flutes. And the third manual will be called the swell because the pipes are enclosed in a box with louvers like venetian blinds. And it will have organ type imitative strings, it will have various flute stops and it will have a minor diapason chorus, and it will have another reed called an oboe and then the pedal played with the feet will have a 16-foot metal diapason that you'll see in the case, and a 16-foot violone that also is in one side of the case. Then you'll see the woodwork of everything finished and it will look like it all knits perfectly with the décor of the worship space.

[Dr. Andrew Childs] We’ll be using the same color scheme upstairs as we are throughout the building so it'll all look uniform.

[Michael Quimby] We always say the best organ stop is the room, so that's what we're waiting to see. One of the superb features of this instrument is it speaks from a high point in the balcony, it will descend from heaven, so to speak, over the people in the nave, over all the parishioners.

Despite it maybe being a limited number of ranks, the primary components are there of any large instrument. It all depends on the voicing of the instrument and how it's going to function. Because 20 ranks you could put in a house, but you're not going to have your organ in a house, so it has to be scaled and voiced accordingly.

So that describes the organ in the balcony. The Aeolian-Skinner that's down in the transept, will be basically the primary instrument for all the daily functions of worship. So it will get probably considerably more use than the main organ in the balcony.

[Dr. Andrew Childs] And some of the specs on that are?

[Michael Quimby] It has flutes, principles, and it has a mixture. There's no reeds, it has four ranks, and it will be exposed to where you will physically see the pipes whereas the organ in the balcony will be in an organ case. So you'll have a style in the balcony that represents what people view as a traditional looking organ, like you might find in Europe. What you'll find in the transept, is an organ that features what was common in this country maybe 40-50 years ago with exposed pipework, very beautifully organized and sparkly and clear and unimpeded access to speak. So two really distinct instruments. One will be heroic, the other one will be in miniature, to accompany a smaller group of worshipers.

[Dr. Andrew Childs] Thanks for the descriptions, Mike. Thank you.

[Michael Quimby] You're welcome.