Organ and Trumpet Concert News

8 Things You Always Wanted To Know About the MFUMC Organ But Were Afraid To Ask

Q. How many pipes are part of the MFUMC pipe organ?

A. Around 2000

Q. How does the organ become softer or louder?

A. Two ways: either by the addition or subtraction of sounds or by the volume pedal which opens and closes shutters between the pipes and the sanctuary.

Q. Where is the organ?

A. Most people think the organ is the console (keyboard) but the organ is really comprised of pipes located on both sides of the choir loft at the front of the sanctuary behind the decorative screens.

Q. How is the organ different from a piano?

A. The piano is a percussive stringed instrument - sound is produced by felt-covered hammers which strike the strings. If one strikes the keys harder, it plays louder; the reverse is true. The organ sound is created by pipes. Increase or decrease in volume is only achieved by adding or taking away stops or opening and closing the shuttered doors between the pipes and the room. Our organ has 4 keyboards: three for the hands and one for the feet.

Q. Who maintains the organ?

A. An organ requires periodic maintenance just like any electric machine. We are fortunate to have a wonderful man in our community that takes care of upkeep and tuning of the instrument. It requires two days to tune our organ.

Q. What does a pipe organ cost?

A. This organ cost around $20,000 when it was installed in 1966. Replacement value of the of the organ today is upwards of $500,000.

Q. How many pipe organs are in Marietta?

A. There are a few pipe organs in churches around the square: First Baptist, St. James, and First Presbyterian. Midway Presbyterian on Dallas Highway has a large organ which has been installed in the past few years. Most churches in Cobb County have electronic organs.

Q. Why do churches even want pipe organs?

A. Nothing can lead a congregation in worship like a pipe organ! Its majesty, command of the space, ability to lead hymns, and flexibility in setting various moods for worship is unparalleled.

Join us for an afternoon of beautiful music on Sunday, February 26 at 2:00 p.m. in the Sanctuary featuring our own Arie Motschman and Brenda Brent with special guest, trumpeter Stan DeJarnett. Contact Arie Motschman

at ext 7818.

Hear the MFUMC Organ Put Through its Paces on February 26

The pipe organ at our church was installed in 1966 and built by the Reuter Organ Company of Lawrence, KS. The console (keyboard) consists of three keyboards for the hands and one for the feet. There are 37 ranks of pipes, which means that 37 different sounds and pitches can be played. If you are a math aficionado, you may ascertain that there are some 2000 different pipes in this instrument (61 notes x29 ranks for the hands, and 31 notes x8 ranks for the feet). All of these pipes are in rooms (called chambers) located on both sides of the front of the sanctuary behind the decorative screens. If you have ever been on the third floor for Sunday School and noticed that the organ sounds louder there, then you have walked by the doors to these rooms which house the pipes. When the organ is turned on, an enormous blower on the third floor generates wind which is then dispatched in large metal pipes to both organ chambers. The wind is contained in reservoirs under pressure until a key is depressed at the organ console; at that moment a device at the foot of the pipe being played opens and forces the wind through the pipe, much like a whistle. In fact, the organ is sometimes referred to as a "bag of whistles." Back in the days before electricity, the wind was piped into the reservoirs via manually operated bellows. Think of a large scale pump or reed organ. No wonder J. S. Bach had seventeen children - he needed them to pump the bellows so that he could play the organ!