A visit to the
Organ in Maine
by Allison Andrews, Parish Historian
On Friday,
August 28, fourteen Grace members, including 4 children, went to the David E. Wallace
& Company in Gorham, Maine, to visit
our 1885 Hook & Hastings organ in "the hospital."
David and
Nick Wallace, father and son, and partners in organ building, welcomed us into
the huge old barn that is their workshop.
The big yard and chicken coop were
a hit with the kids.
The organ is still in parts. Work continues on the major parts that work
behind the scenes in organ chamber. These
are wooden structures with intricate wooden, metal, and electrical elements.
When possible, the original parts are being reused and painted or shellacked,
in the original fashion. New parts are
built when the old ones are beyond repair, or in some cases, to replace a clumsy,
cobbled-together segment with a new streamlined version. The pieces that left Medford a dingy gray
color will come back painted a lively "Hook red." New electronic components are en route from
Germany.
In the workshop, we were introduced to a new wooden wind chest - a
deceptively simple box on the outside but full of handcrafted parts that move with split-second accuracy to
sound the proper notes. The old wind
chests were cracked and allowed air to bleed from one pipe into its neighbors,
sometimes sounding a few notes that weren't asked for.
The new console (where the organist
sits) will be built next. The workshop has
a small, fully functional Hook &
Hastings of our vintage and its console, along with others from the 1885 era, will
inform the design of our new console. The pipes themselves will require
little work by comparison because they are in good working order.
It is
interesting to note how the available technology affected not only how an organ
could be built in 1885, but changes that would be made over time.
As
originally built, our organ was a "tracker" or manual organ. A note pressed on the keyboard activated the mechanism
that opened the air valve to fill the pipe and make the sound.
To create
the wind, water pressure was used to force air into the organ's
reservoirs. We found evidence of this in
pipes and pulleys under the chamber floor. This was possible because in 1885 the city had
a water system in place, with water pressure sufficient to do the job. (And
before that, young boys were recruited to pump bellows by hand!)
Electricity
had not come into common use quite soon enough when our 1885 organ was built. When it was electrified in the 1950s, the relay system from
keyboard to pipes went from mechanical to electronic, and the removal of fixed
parts meant the console and other components could be repositioned while
maintaining the connection electronically.
Today, updating the 1950s electronics is a big part of the current
restoration. For wind generation, we use
an electric blower.
Once all of
the work at Wallace is complete, the organ will be put together for a dry run
at the shop, then disassembled and reassembled at Grace. We are on schedule for its return by Christmas.
David
welcomes visitors at any time. Give them a call if you're in the area and stop
by!
New wind chest - a big box that holds air.
Wind chest with front panel removed. It is full of intricate parts, which David explains.
Looking on are: Isaiah Irwin-Evans, Jane and Lucas Hamel, and Charlie DePalma.
Left: an electromagnetic
solenoid that will slide parts into position. Right: The H&H-style stop knob that will be used at the new keyboard.
Toe boards, old and new. David shows an old board that is being
cleaned and shellacked, and a new one built to replace one that was beyond
repair. The toe board connects to the
top of the wind chest, pipes stand in the holes and receive air from below.
Each hole
must fit its pipe exactly. Nick shows us
a cone-shaped "branding" tool for refining the hole size. The inner
rims of the holes appear dark because the wood is slightly charred.
Nick and Wes Foote discuss the plans
for layout of the organ chamber.
The workshop is an 18th century barn. There
are several functioning organs in the shop. This one is a Hook & Hastings
about the same age as ours. Its console (where the organist sits) will be one
model for the design of our new console. Note the wooden pieces behind David repainted
"Hook red."
Why build a new piece? In this case, the old one (right) was cobbled
together over time into a bulky assemblage. The new one (left) was designed and
built for the job.
Valves that
open to release air to the pipes - over 100 of them in the process of being built.
Wes ponders
the new blower.
What are
organs made of? Times may change but the
best materials remain the same. Replacement
parts are made of the same wood as the
originals. Leather is a reliable connecting material. Fish glue is made from fish! And as Steve
Duggan bravely finds out, it doesn't smell too bad.
The H&H
console that ours will be modeled after.
A portable
organ, designed and built by Nick Wallace. Packed up, it fits in a mini-van.
More photos can be found on
David Wallace's Facebook page
