Vestry Member Maria Long and Building Committee Member Rob Smith took time out from their summer vacation in Maine to visit the workshops of the C. B. Fisk Company where St. Peter’s new organ, Fisk Opus 136, is being built. Outside of Boston, in Gloucester, Mass., Fisk’s facility encompasses all aspects of the organ building process. Project Manager Andrew Gingery escorted Maria and Rob through all aspects of the construction, from the blueprints, designs, and models to the testing of a completed stop.
Maria Long views the model at what is "eye level" for the scale.
The visit started in the “model room,” where a scale model of St. Peter’s nave was the focal point of the room. (See also this earlier posting from Sam Gardner and Ben Outen’s visit to Fisk.) Nearly every aspect of the nave, down to the stained glass windows, is represented in the model. By placing her chin on the “floor,” Maria has the same perspective of someone actually standing at the foot of the chancel steps.
Will Finch cuts metal for each note on the stop.
After casting, the metal is rolled out and cut to sizes appropriate for the note and stop.
The next stop on the tour was the metal foundry. Here tin, lead, and intentional impurities are combined and cast to make the metal for the pipes. The character of the stop being produced determines the alloy content, along with other modifications such as hammering and spotting. The hammering actually changes some of the molecular aspects of the pipe and therefore the tonal qualities the pipe ultimately produces. The flat sheets of metal are exactingly cut to size for each note in the stop and prepared to be “rounded” into the familiar pipe shape.
Ted Stoddard completes pipes by assembling feet, mouths, and chimney caps.
Ted Stoddard works on completing pipes, shown in the foreground.
Afterwards, feet and mouths are added to the pipe. The foot is the portion that receives air directly from the wind chest. The mouth is the part that “speaks” or emits the sound. And the height and circumference of the pipe determine the sound it emits, both on the musical scale and its tonal characteristic (a flute, a string, a clarinet, etc.).
Nami Hamada shows the frame for the keydesk that will hold the three manuals of the organ.
Wood for the keys is being cut. The naturals will be made of rosewood; the flats and sharps will have a white bone veneer applied. The effect will be the reverse of a typical piano keyboard, but in keeping with many historic mechanical action organs.
Nami Hamada, one of Fisk’s voicing specialists who visited St. Peter’s on the last Sunday before the renovation began, shows off the keydesk she is constructing for the three manual organ. Each “manual” is a keyboard, that controls every note that the organ is able to play.
During the last part of the tour, one of the finished stops was in the voicing room being tested. Here, the voicer tests the newly finished pipes in a single group, a stop, and refines the assembly as necessary.
One stop, the great harmonic flute, is complete and being tested.
A completed stop is connected to a simple windchest in the "voicing room." The detail here shows the pipes, their mouths, and the feet.
During the rest of the summer and fall, preparation of the pipes, keyboards, and casework will continue. In the coming weeks, some of the organ sub-assemblies will be completed enabling the organ builders to continue testing and assembly. Eventually, the organ will be completely assembled in Gloucester for further testing, before it is packed and shipped to St. Peter’s.
