Trinity UMC, Spartanburg South Carolina

Trinity United Methodist Church - Spartanburg, South Carolina

Beginning in 2008, we were asked by Organist/Choirmaster Justin Addington to care for the 1988 Moller pipe organ installed at Trinity United Methodist Church. Upon our first inspections of the instrument, we found it to be in good mechanical condition, but with rough, and uneven voicing.

With input from Mr. Addington, we devised a plan to remedy the voicing of the existing instrument, while also making a few tonal revisions and the addition of a hooded, 8' Festival Trumpet. In our work, we will relocate a few stops, while adjusting the balance within the Mixtures and voicing the Great Principal chorus in the rich, graceful manner our organs are becoming known for.

The new 8' Turner Trumpet will serve as the Solo voice for this instrument. These pipes are built to our exacting specification, and feature hooded resonators to properly project the tone into the church. They also feature our custom shallot schedule to allow for the maximum rich, fundamental tone, while still retaining power sufficient to serve as a solo voice against the full Great Principal chorus. In our instruments, we do not feel the solo reed should obliterate the full organ ensemble, but rather serve as a solo against the Great chorus, but also serve as the last ensemble voice when added to full organ. In this way, these voices are never too loud, nor too brash, but rather enhance many musical situations.

Trinity United Methodist Church
M.P. Moller Opus 10759
Robert I. Coulter - Organbuilders
Opus 7
III - 26

Great Organ 16' Lieblich Gedeckt (Swell, added) 8' Open Diapason (revoiced) 8' Bourdon (revoiced) 4' Octave (revoiced) 2' Super Octave (from Positiv, revoiced) IV - Mixture (revoiced) 8' Turner Trumpet (hooded, NEW) 8' Minor Trumpet (Swell) Chimes Pedal Organ 32' Resultant (New) 16' Diapason 16' Lieblich Gedeckt (Swell) 8' Octave (extension) 8' Chimney Flute (Swell) 4' Choral Bass (extension) 4' Chimney Flute (Swell) 16' Double Trumpet (Swell, extension) 8' Turner Trumpet (Great) 8' Minor Trumpet (Swell) 4' Clarion (Swell)

Swell Organ 16' Lieblich Gedeckt 8' Gemshorn (revoiced) 8' Gemshorn Celeste (tenor C) 8' Chimney Flute 4' Principal 4' Flute (new extension 8') 2' Flautino III - Fourniture (revoiced) 8' Minor Trumpet (revoiced) Tremulant Positiv Organ 8' Wood Gedeckt (revoiced) 4' Koppel Flute 2' Block Flute (from Great, revoiced) 1 1/3' Larigot III - Sharp Mixture (revoiced) 8' Krummhorn 8' Turner Trumpet (Great) Tremulant

C13 - C61 of the 8' Turner Trumpet on our voicing machine. The bottom octave was on the offset and outside the line of focus. What a sound these pipes make! Built to a scale of Cavaille'-Coll, and voiced from scratch in our Atlanta, Georgia shop.

Saint Andrews Roman Catholic Church - Montgomery, Alabama

We were honored to have been contacted in early 2010 to inspect the historic Moller organ at Saint Andrew's Catholic Church in Montgomery, Alabama. This instrument is of mechanical action, and was built when the church was constructed in 1907. As these instruments were often built for 'remote' locales, they were of robust construction. This instrument is mostly in its original form, with the addition of a 2' Super Octave on an electric chest as the only tonal change.

Upon our inspection, we found the organ in largely good condition. There are, however, numerous problems in the key and coupler actions that have proven troublesome for sometime apparently. Also, there are signs of attempts at voicing/regulation to the Great 8' Dulciana, with the result of many pipes not speaking at all. Pipe voicing is a delicate art, and shouldn't be delved into lightly.

In this minor restoration, we will correct problems with the actions, regulate voicing as needed, and check all the wood pipes for proper packing/speech. We will also revoice the added 2' Super Octave. These pipes add a brillance to the organ, but in a manner that does not blend with the other 103 year old pipes. We believe additions to existing organs should be done in a tonal sympathetic manner, and should reflect the existing style of the instrument.

We are honored to care for this historic pipe organ, and look forward to ensuring another 100 years of reliable service to the congretation of Saint Andrew's.

Saint Andrew's Catholic Church
M.P. Moller pipe organ
1907
II - 9

Great Organ 8' Open Diapason 8' Melodia 8' Dulciana 4' Octave 2' Super Octave (not original, revoiced) Pedal Organ 16' Bourdon

Swell Organ 8' Violin Diapason 8' Salicional 8' Gedeckt 4' Flute Tremulant

Saint Luke's Presbyterian Church

Schantz Organ Company; 1967
II - 3 1/2 ranks

In April of 2009, we were honored to be invited by Clair Maxwell, Director of Music at Saint Luke's Presbyterian to inspect the Schantz organ in storage at the church for installation in their new chapel.

This instrument originally constructed as a home practice instrument in 1967. The instrument served that purpose to two different owners until 2004. At that time the owner decided to move into a smaller residence and not take the instrument. The organ was then donated to Saint Luke's Presbyterian as a nucleolus for a larger chapel organ.

As so often happens, plans and funding changed and the instrument sat in storage for many years. Finally the desire emerged in the church to install the organ it is current state in hopes of through its use it would elicit greater interest into expanding the instrument into a more suitable chapel instrument.

It is an honor to assist Saint Luke's Presbyterian in the care and enhancement of this fine pipe organ.

Saint Luke's Presbyterian Church - Dunwoody, Georgia
Schantz Organ Company - 1967

Manual I 8' Rohrflute 4' Principal 2' Flute II Mixture Manual II 8' Quintaton 4' Rohrflute 2 2/3' Nasat 2' Principal

Pedal 16' Gedecktbass 8' Rohrflute 4' Principal 2' Octave

An Arguement for the Swell 8' Principal

There has been a reemergence in recent years of 8' Principal stops in Swell organs. In the opinion of this writer, this is the single best development in pipe organ specifications in the past 25 years. Historically, 8' Principals were found in nearly every division, with the exception of Brustwerk organs.

The organs Bach knew and preferred had numerous 8' Principal stops. As the Principal tone is the single voice that is unique to the organ, and the 8' pitch the unison, the presence of 8' Principals seems logical.

Yet during the 'Organ Reform' movement, 8' Principals began to disappear from divisions other than the Great and Pedal. In many three manual organs designed by Ernest White for the Moller company, the only 8' Principal to be found at all would be a small scale 8' Spitz Principal for the Pedal. Imagine an organ of 40 ranks, with two Great mixtures and no 8' Principal tone!!

First Presbyterian Church - Anderson, South Carolina
M. P. Moller organ, 1958 - Opus 9225

Great Organ
16' Quintaton
8' Gemshorn
8' Rohrflute
4' Principal
2' Waldflote
IV Fourniture
Tremolo

Choir Organ
8' Quintflote
8' Erzahler
8' Erzahler Celeste
4' Koppelflote
2' Prinzipal
1 1/3' Larigot
8' Hautbois
Tremolo

Swell Organ
16' Gedeckt
8' Gedeckt - extension
8' Gambe
8' Gambe Celeste
4' Nachthorn
III Plein Jeu
8' Trompette
Tremolo

Pedal Organ
32' Resultant
16' Sous Basse
16' Gedeckt - Swell
8' Spitzprinzipal
8' Rohrflote
8' Gedeckt - Swell
4' Spitzprinzipal - extension
4' Rohrflote - extension
2' Rohrflote - extension
III Mixture
16' Posaune - extension Swell

The theory forwarded by Mr. White was this. In a Swell organ, an 8' Principal like tone could be created by combining a large scale 8' string with a small scale 8' stopped flute. This theory fails for a number of reasons:

It is a compromise at best. A large scale 8' string on the relatively low wind pressures of the era, looses its stringy character, and becomes neither string nor principal. The same is true for the stopped flute. If it is too small, the richness and fundamental are lost along with its inherent sweetness.

It creates an imbalance. Most organists prefer a Swell organ with 4' Principal, perhaps a 2' Principal and a mixture. A division such as this sounds top heavy and lacking proper foundation for the upper work. Many organists get around this problem by using the unison off and Swell to Swell 16' coupler, again a compromise.

1 + 1 = 3.

In a Swell organ of 8' String and 8' Stopped Flute, there are three possible combinations of 8' unison tone.

8' String alone
8' Stopped flute alone
8' String & 8' Flute

With the addition of an 8' Principal, the flute can be voiced more richly, the string more keenly and then 1 + 1 + 1 = 7!!

8' Principal alone
8' String alone
8' Flute alone
8' Principal & String
8' Principal & Flute
8' String & Flute
8' Principal, 8' String & 8' Flute

With these three stops, if they are properly voiced of nearly equal volume and fiercely independent character, more than double the possible combination of stops are possible.

During the 1970's & 1980's, a secondary 8' Principal could be found in some organs, often in the Choir and called 'English Diapason'. While better than nothing, this also missed the point in my opinion. Unless the Choir organ were extensive, there would typically not be another 8' open stop or any volume, leaving the 8' English Diapason alone to function as string and principal without excelling at either.

The French have the Jeu de Fonds concept of 8' Montre, 8' Bourdon, 8' Flute Harmonique and in large instruments 8' Salicional. This concept should be looked to for inspiration in the design of any swell organ. Three stops, each of unique character, but which blend together to produce a wonderful, rich effect that greater than the sum of its parts.

There is a similar concept in French classic cooking called the mirepoix, a combination of three aeromatic vegetables, onion, celery and carrot. For the creole, it is called 'Le Trinitie' and is made up of; onion, celery and bell pepper instead of carrot. These three ingredients are the common building blocks upon which two entire cuisines are based. The musical combination of Principal, String, and Flute, while not sustaining for life as gumbo, can still be just as satisfying to the musical soul.

Bon Appetit!

Robert Coulter
http://coulterorgans.com

1730 Cahman Organ

While in Uppsala, we took a field trip to see the historic 1730 pipe organ by Johan Cahman in the Kristine Kyrka (Church) Lovstabruk, Sweden.

The town of Lovstabruk was a 'company town', built by an industry owner to house the workers and families of his iron works. The organ was built by the Swedish builder and completed in 1730. The sounds are quite remarkable, and each of the 4 mixtures in this two manual organ has a tierce rank, giving the organ its bright, powerful sound. This is a historic gem, and the largest preserved baroque organ in Sweden.













Robert Coulter
http://coulterorgans.com

more Uppsala

More pictures from in and around Uppsala, including pictures from inside the towers..... really amazing views from 100 meters above the ground!








Robert Coulter
http://coulterorgans.com

Fish or Pasta

Work continues at a fever pitch here. We've finished the voicing on the 14 ranks of flues in the Great organ. It really does make quite a sound. We are now totally entrenched in the Solo, Viole d'Orchestre (3 total) and all, including a Walcker labial clarinet.... Amazing sound....

I have to admit, I have always thought of myself as not quite just an American. I am very loyal to my country and vote regularly, but had just believed I could fit in anywhere in the the world quite easily. A citizen of the world if you will without ever having seen the world. Damn if I wasn't wrong.



These past 10 days have been more of a culture shock that I could have ever expected. Granted in my nearly 32 years I've yet to truly master the English language, but you don't really appreciate it until the only time you hear it is in your own head. Luckily, most Swedes speak English at least as well as I, and the three Italians I'm working with have English skills that range from fluent to just enough to convey a point. Still, there is a nobility and subtle grandeur in our language most of us neither produce, nor appreciate.

On appreciating things, I am a fan of fish. That comes quite honestly from my Mother. (she's a fiend for seafood, will knock other old ladies down for shrimp on the seafood buffet bar) Ok, I made that last part up just because I knew she would be reading. But I do love fish, or at least did.

Since my arrival, there have been 20 non-breakfast meals. There have been, to this point, three meals that have not involved fish, pasta or both! It's been very nice eating so well, with all healthy food and terrifically fresh ingredients, but I fear this is too much like some strange detox program for fans of red meat and sweet tea. (red meat is rare to find here, and sweet tea? forget it.... like some odd fat camp for southerners)

It is not nearly as bad as I make. Francesco both loves to cook as well as excelling at it. All the boys have so far been a joy to work with, even if I rarely know what they are saying. My only fear is they are trying to put me in an early grave from the sheer quantity of food they consume, but that is another matter.



Enough for now, next time I'll talk about the drinking problem in Sweden.... Not enough, and I only mean that partially the way you think..... Now the only reason you are here.... More pictures.....









Robert Coulter
http://coulterorgans.com

Uppsala, Sweden

As promised, this is my first post from Sweden so my friends can keep up with me while here. My internet access has been limited until now, but I should be able to post more regularly now.

Uppsala is a very charming town, not at all large but quite full of people. The cathedral is a truely stunning place, and I truly feel honored to be working there with the Ruffatti firm.

Cathedral

new Ruffatti pipe organ

1876 pipe organ by Akerman (quite wonderful)

As promised, this is my first post from Sweden so my friends can keep up with me while here. My internet access has been limited until now, but I should be able to post more regularly now.

Uppsala is a very charming town, not at all large but quite full of people. The cathedral is a truely stunning place, and I truly feel honored to be working there with the Ruffatti firm.

So far the Swedish people have been really very friendly, if not all that outgoing. Once you have spoken to them they are nice and helpful, but under almost no circumstance will they speak to you first.

I now, for the first time in my life, know what it means to be different. There is no way to hide my being an American. 6'1", brown hair, new beard (yeah...), I stick out like a cat in hen house. It's not a big deal, other than the constant stares at me take a little getting used to. It has also happened three times now that I walk in to a place and as soon as I say hello, someone says, "Oh you're from the states?"

I have to make one further commentary about the people. The people here are incredibly beautiful, period. It is nothing short of staggering. Your senses are constantly assulted by the torrent of remarkable faces passing by. I must say that unfortunately, these people do not appear to age as well as others. 25 seems to be the magic age and it is unfortunately a rather quick slide then to the late 30's.

So, so far this has been nice. The working conditions are nice, and other than the 4am-3pm schedule, I can't complain. In the next post I'll mention more about the town and the cathedral, and the super cool British couple I met last night. Her = student here; Him = British Army (FUN)

Robert Coulter
http://coulterorgans.com

First

This is the my first post to the new Coulter-Organbuilder blog. My immediate plans are to use this blog to keep my friends, family and supporters informed of my work while working in Uppsala, Sweden.

For the long term, I would love to have this blog show insight into the challenges and rewards involved in:
Pipe organ building
Pipe organ service & maintenance
Small business ownership
Starting and growing a business

This will probably end up being more cathartic for me than anything else, but if others enjoy it, even better. If it helps organists or other interested individuals understand all that goes into the construction and maintenance of fine pipe organs, then all the better.

Sincerely,
Robert Coulter
http://coulterorgans.com