“Men can never look at the sun, except downwards, at his reflection in the things of earth.   If he is reflected in a dirty puddle, he is still the sun…” -Mary Stewart in “The Crystal Cave”

We have just posted a new YouTube video that shows the rebuilding process for a standard M.P. Moller pitman windchest.   Many people have no idea what is involved in building or renovating a pipe organ, and this video is intended to help.   Plus, the soundtrack is Les Torreadors from Carmen, as played by […]

I want to forward a blog posting by Fr. Robert Hendrickson, an Episcopal priest based in New Haven, CT. His comments are so relevant that I don’t want to elaborate on them or pontificate on them.   I just want to give you the link, and let you read it for yourself. http://thecuratesdesk.org/2012/05/15/dont-do-it-for-the-kids-of-hymnal-revision-and-young-adults/

In the world of architectural preservation, they call it “adaptive reuse.”   Simply stated, the concept is that of preserving and restoring a built structure, but adapting it to a modern purpose.   For example, an old power station in London was structurally restored and converted into the Tate Gallery.   In the organ world, […]

Most of us know of Dr. Albert Schweitzer as the great and selfless doctor who left his home to establish a hospital in Lambaréné, Gabon. But Schweitzer was also a theologian, philosopher, organist, and organ builder.   In 1956, an academy-award winning documentary about his life was produced.   I watched it this evening, and […]

WARNING: TECHNICAL STUFF!   (If you aren’t interested in technical stuff, skip this one!) Geometry: There are two types of manual keyboards commonly found in organs, based on the position of the fulcrum point on which the keys pivot.   The best keyboards have long keys (usually 16″ or more), with the pivot point at […]

We paint our houses to make them beautiful.   We color our clothes to make them beautiful.   Artists paint pictures to create beauty.   And the sole right of the organ to be tolerated in church, in theatre, in school, in concert halls, in the home, depends upon its ability to create beauty.   […]

I wonder how the organist Can do so many things; He’s getting ready long before The choir stands up and sings; He’s pressing buttons, pushing stops, He’s pulling here and there, And testing all the working parts While listening to the prayer. He runs a mighty big machine, It’s full of funny things; A mass […]

  RMS Titanic I have scheduled this post to appear on the Reynolds Organ Blog, “Wild Air,” at exactly 1:17 am on April 15, 2012.   Correcting for shipboard time vs. Eastern Daylight Time, this is posting on the 100th anniversary of the exact moment that the waters of the North Atlantic Ocean closed over […]

I once was talking with an organbuilder about an instrument I had recently played that had been built by a the ___ Organ Company.   As I recall, I said something to the effect that I really liked the flutes and strings on this organ, but wasn’t wild about the principals.   His reply to […]