Photo 1. Jim W. does final prep of the wall the day before the installation of the Violone pipes. His commitment to this project as a member of the church has made a critical difference in the installation of the entire instrument.
Photo 2. The pipes arrive in the morning and are carried into the church by a number of volunteers.
Photo 3. Church organist Jim W. shows how he feels about the organ.
Photo 4. Pastor Luke and church organist Jim W. making music together as they do with other musicians on Sunday morning.
Photo 5. Pastor Luke and church organist Bev R. also making beautiful music together. The organ beautifully accompanied and complemented the guitar and did not dominate it.
Photo 6. Most, but not all workers take a few minutes off to attentively listen to the music which is being presented.
Photo 7. Time for lunch. Everyone sits at tables with tablecloths and beautiful flowers which the church provided.
Photo 8. The biggest pipe of the 16' Violone starts its trip up the ladder to the ledge.
Photo 9. Once on the ledge, the pipe begins to be moved into its vertical position. This proved to be difficult because even though the ledge is 27 feet long, the left end of the pipe extended beyond the end of the ledge.
Photo 10. Gradually the pipe is pushed up with the assistance not only of four men but also with the use of two ropes and an eye hook which had been securely affixed to the wall.
Photo 11. The pipe is edged closer and closer to a vertical position. Of considerable assistance was not only the back wall, but also the adjacent pipe (16' D) which had already been fixed in place.
Photo 12. Almost in place. However, the foot of the pipe is not yet up on the windchest. The pipe must be lifted vertically, the hook be put into the rackboard, and the pipe foot be put in place.
Photo 13. Finally the pipe is in place and it is then cleated on to the rackboard. The cleat will provide much more resistance to earthquakes than the standard hook alone can provide.
Photo 14. This picture gives an overall perspective of the situation after the next (16' C#) pipe has been put into place. Our workers were taking a well deserved break.
Photo 15. The final product of the day's labor. This display of pipes is truly impressive as it is symmetrical and fits the space exactly. The longest pipe is less than a foot from the ceiling.
Photo 16. The pipes present a warm color tone which matches the sanctuary very closely. It appears that the pipes were in fact made for this space.
Covenant Presbyterian Antiphonal Organ Installation Begins
Carl Dodrill 03/23/11
March 22, 2011 was an exciting day for the volunteers for the Foundation and for Covenant Presbyterian Church. The reason is that the Antiphonal organ began taking shape at the back of the sanctuary. In preparation for this day, Jim R. and John R. of the church took down the sound panels on the back wall and did patchwork and painting on the wall. The first stage of the installation was that of the bottom two octaves of a 1911 Austin 16' Violone rank. After extensive preparation of these pipes, they were loaded in and on the top of two vans and taken to the church. Upon arrival at the church, everyone was greeted with truly inspiring organ music by one of the church's organists, Jim W. As volunteers brought in the pipes, they were thrilled by the music coming from the organ they had worked on for more than a year.
As the racking had already been mounted on the back wall, some of the smaller Violone pipes could be easily put into place. However, as the ledge where the Antiphonal organ will sit is only a little more than 3 feet wide and yet 13 feet off the sanctuary floor, it took considerable planning and experimentation to figure out how to get the big pipes safely up onto the ledge and then in a vertical position and fixed in place. Wes and Jim R. took the lead in this planning, but major thanks are also expressed to Carl P. and John R. who were up on the ledge for hours and to Jim J., Fred, and Carl D., who were on the floor providing important support. The longest of the pipes is 17 feet long and it weighs 80-90 pounds. The photos show how raising this pipe was done on a step by step basis. (Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them)
The church, with the assistance of Pastor Luke and Secretary Terri, provided a most pleasant setting for lunch which included tables with tablecloths and flowers on each table. The lunch itself was provided by Halie and Mary Kaye of the Foundation. During lunch, Pastor Luke gave an inspiring talk about the meaning of the organ for the church. The points that he made were 1) the organ speaks of the greatness of God, 2) the organ shows the ingenuity of people as designers of the instrument, giving the Great Designer the glory, and 3) the organ conveys to all that Covenant Presbyterian Church is an historically rooted church with a heritage of beautiful music.
Mini-concerts were provided through the day by Bev R. and Jim W. who are the organists for the church. The pieces that they played were from a variety of composers and these pieces demonstrated the capabilities of the Great, Swell, and Pedal divisions of the instrument which are already playing at the front (see Projects for a fuller description of these divisions). Further, Pastor Luke played first the trumpet and then the guitar to show how the organ could accompany the variety of instruments used in worship. The playing was truly gratifying to the volunteers who could see clearly how the instrument they had worked on so hard was truly of benefit to the people of the church.
This day was a highlight for the volunteers of the Foundation as they were repeatedly caught up in the beautiful music they heard and also as they clearly saw the value of the organ to the church. It was truly a day of celebration for the nearly 20 people who were there. By the end of the afternoon, all 24 of the Violone pipes were in place. These pipes will form the base of the string rank (Violone/viole) which together with the principal rank (Violin Diapason), the flute rank (Melodia), and the reed rank (Cornopean) will constitute the Antiphonal organ when it is completed. The rest of the Antiphonal organ is in fact expected to be installed in the next two months.
See the photos in the left sidebar and click on the small images to enlarge.