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

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

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