ORGELBAUER

115 year-old wooden pipe being mitered to fit inside a new swell division.

The orgelbauer is concerned with the design, fabrication, restoration and sound design of pipe organs. Included in their job is the maintenance, repair, renovation and reconstruction of a large variety of existing organs. In addition to building and maintenance, the regular tuning and intonation adjustments to the instrument are of great importance as well.

In December of 2017 pipe organ building was included in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. I had already started a multi-year mentorship in pipe organ building earlier that same year.

The tradition of pipe organ building has been around for centuries, with the original invention dating back to the 3rd century BC. There have been countless mechanical improvements and modernized inventions along the way. My entrance into the profession began as a way to join together multiple skillsets and interests.

music composition & music performance
fine woodworking
design/build exhibition development
mechanical assemblages & low-voltage electronics
digital fabrication & prototyping (CNC, 3D, Laser, Mold/Cast)
educational outreach & community improvement

Every day on site or in the shop was an opportunity to learn something new. I discovered an array of devices, most with mechanical elements, covering all shapes and sounds. Here is a glimpse into what would become my world of worship and wonder!

St. Paul’s Memorial United Methodist Church (South Bend, IN)

St. Paul’s is an impressive building sandwiched into one of the oldest neighborhoods in South Bend. The stately stone church on the near west side has ties to the earliest days of the city’s history. It was built between 1901 and 1903. The building and Bennett organ were a gift to the congregation from the Studebaker family, who lived nearby and were just starting to enter the automobile business after manufacturing wagons for decades.

I worked on the team that completely restored the Bennett organ in 2017, and then became the caretaker afterward. It was one of the most rewarding times of my career. Behind the gilded gold leaf facade pipes, that are now adapted to function, is a 3-story sensation of nearly 2000 precisely pitched pipes.

This is a layout for *The American Organist* (11/2018) that I designed for *Peterson EMP*, in celebration of the restored “Studebaker” organ, complete with a brand new console and Peterson electronics.

…below are a few of the composite renderings I made to bid on new or restored pipe organ projects…