Tuesday, July 7, 2009

First Presbyterian Atlanta


We were honored to be invited by Charles Whittaker, Director of Music at First Presbyterian Church to perform a thorough inspection of the 105 rank Moller/Zimmer pipe organ. We have been caring for the small Klop organ in the chapel since its installation in 2006. While we found the main sanctuary organ to be in good mechanical condition, recent construction on the premises introduced large amounts of dirt and dust into the pipe organ. Following a full tuning of the instrument in March of 2009, numerous reed pipes fell silent or went off speech due to excessive dirt within the pipes.

Upon our proposal, we were contracted by the church to perform a thorough cleaning of the entire 105 rank, eight division instrument. In this work we will remove all pipes, with the reed pipes being sent to the Coulter Organbuilders shop for dismantling and cleaning of all resonators, eschallots and tongues. All flue pipes would be thoroughly cleaned on premises to remove dirt that can interfere with proper pipe speech.

With all the pipes removed, the wind chests will be vacuumed to remove loose dirt and then wiped clean to more extensively remove the dirt. The pipes would then be replaced and would then receive a thorough tuning and regulation of the reed pipes. During this work, substantial portions of the organ will be available for service use, with either the entire front or entire gallery organ being playable in addition to other divisions. We will coordinate closely with the music staff to ensure divisions they would need for any given service will be playable.

It is indeed an honor to work closely with Charles and Diane Whittaker, as well as the entire First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta to ensure this fine pipe organ continues to serve this historic congregation for many years to come.