Pipe Organ or Digital Organ?

Anton Bruckner's organ in Leipzig, 1800's (still ticking!)

 

 It is very important to take the right steps when deciding on a new organ for a church. Here are my thoughts:

The organ that you are going to purchase will be there for a long time, possibly longer than you. There is nothing wrong with having a strong preference towards one or the other organ or organ builder. However you must realize your choice may not be the same as the other people in your committee. We all want the best pipe organ in the world and some people really get upset when others bring forth the possiblilty of an electronic organ. I am an organist myself and so I deal with this all the time, even within myself!  Because I need a lot of stops as I want to "colour" when I play, I would rather play on a good large electronic organ than on a small good tracker pipe organ. However, small trackers are great! 

The argument related to the life expectancy of an electronic versus a pipe organ is somewhat irrelevant. The life expectancy of a good electronic organ is around 25 years. Let's say the purchase price is $50,000 versus a good pipe organ with the same amount of stops $1M. The pipe organ will last, say,  100 years. The upkeep for the electronic organ over 25 years is $ 5,000 in the worst case scenario. The upkeep for the pipe organ is at least 5% of the purchase price every year! That includes tuning and small repairs just from the get-go. You could make the argument that pipe organs don't need maintenance for the first 20 years or so. That may be true, however after 20 years you will have to spend enormous amounts on repairs. You are really better off to maintain such an expensive investment from the beginning!

Another very important factor that most organ committees take for granted is the building itself. If our Canadian climate has a chance to get at the organ because the walls of the building are not solid stone like the older downtown buildings are and your congregation want to shut off the climate control system during the week because it cost a lot , the climate will have access to even the most expensive pipe organ and destroy it in 20 years.

The business man will also make the case that the $50K paid for the electronic organ is only 1 year interest at 5% on the 1M layout for the pipe organ.

All these thoughts are my own and were gathered over the last 25 years being in the organ business as a sale person as well as an organist. I am certainly not trying to make a case for electronic organs but they have become better sounding since sampling was introduced.

Now here`s what to do to be successful in purchasing an organ:

• Step 1

  Organize an organ committee - not too large. Uneven numbers work well for such a committee. A small organ committee proves more effective with organ briefings, trips and so forth. Understand the chain of command in your church so you know who is the final decision maker.

• Step 2

  Appoint your committee members with great care. You want sound judgment, diverse professions, team members and go getters. You need to trust them and be able to communicate with them. Educate your committee on pipe and digital organs. Bring books and  videos, listen to recordings and visit other churches with organs.

• Step 3

  Create a time line detailing a plan of when the church will purchase its organ. The time line includes fund raising, briefings, visits to churches and/or showrooms with organs. Run the committee meetings like a synchronized team with an agenda and time limits--keep them focused on the objective.

• Step 4

  Figure out what kind of organ the church needs and why. Include its visual effect in the church, style, musical tone, physical size, organ's lifespan and required space. Set the budget! These are the key factors in deciding between a pipe organ and a digital organ. Note: pipe organs need a structural after budget of 5% per year!

• Step 5

  Invite some organ builders and sales people to your committee meeting to be briefed and educated on all the details about the organs. Discuss qualities and materials as well as technology versus quantity of stops, pipes etcetera. Go over workmanship and servicing of organs.

• Step 6

  Collect three bids from three organ companies you think are suitable. Decide which bid is the best for the church and congregation.