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 The two-manual, 28-stop organ in the First United Methodist Church in Henderson, Kentucky, is nearing completion and Shires was pleased to supply the facade pipes. The intricate gilded pipe shades, carved by Morgan Faulds Pike, add the crowning touch to this beautiful case. The instrument has been designed by the American organ builder, Michael Rathke, who spent two years of his early career with Mander Organs in London. It is catalogued as Opus 10 in the Cincinnati company's expanding output. It is also pleasing to record that Michael is among our growing number of clients in the United States. Picture by Nikolai Peek, music director and organist.
It was a great pleasure to receive positive feedback on our work from one of our customers in America. Among the reed pipes we have made for the Ortloff Organ Company of Massachusetts is this 8' Trumpet stop of zinc with spotted metal bells. It is to be installed in a new organ being built by Ortloff for St Dunstan's Episcopal Church, Shoreline in Washington State. Jonathan Ortloff kindly wrote on Facebook: 'We are lucky to be able to work with some of the best suppliers in the pipe organ business, including Shires Organ Pipes of Leeds, England. 'They have completed the two reed stops for our Opus 2 in Shoreline WA. The next pipes will be shipped here for racking next week and then to Chris Broome for voicing.'  Damaged pipes, seemingly beyond repair, arrive in our workshop in Leeds.
Here's a Gamba 8ft made by Chris Shires for our organbuilder friends in Malvern, Nicholson and Co. Many thanks to James Atherton for asking us to make this stop which features a zinc body section with spotted ends. Scale: C= 96mm. We recently made a smaller scale Gamba in spotted metal for a private client in Yorkshire who wrote: "Thank you for making such a lovely stop. It blends beautifully with the flutes 8' and 4' and brings added colour to the instrument."  
Chris Shires spent a day casting these languids to be fitted into some large-scale Open pipes we are making for a leading organ builder. The brass bar is placed inside to prevent sagging. The diameter of the bar is 3mm Didier, the languid will get three pipes in the higher end of the 16ft octave.
George Fowler has been making mixtures for over 50 years – and as these pictures show, he’s rather good at it. He began making separate ranks when he was an apprentice at FJ Rogers in Bramley, Leeds, and progressed to making multiple ranks for an entire stop 40 or so years ago. At present he is making a VI rank mixture, above, for an organ builder in America – that’s 335 pipes in total (and 670 pieces to solder) – made from 80 per cent tin. Shortly before starting work on the VI rank mixture, George completed a IV rank mixture. He reckons the total time from cutting out the metal to completion of 560 pipes for both stops is about 240 hours. A meticulous worker who takes pride in each pipe, he says the secrets of good pipe making are patience and dedication. “The important thing is to set it off right, to get the job right from the beginning. Preparation is key.” And at 71, there are plenty more pipes to make and seams to solder. “I still enjoy my work, it keeps me going,” he says.  We are grateful for the kind comments about this set of polished zinc facade pipes made for an organ by the American builder, David E Wallace. The diapason rank has been described as 'lovely' and 'very aesthetic with the dark housing'. Organists are clearly delighted by the new instrument, the firm's Op 78, which stands in a church in Ontario, Canada. David W Wallace says: "One of the organists who plays our Opus 78 wrote to us this past week and had this to say: 'Words cannot describe how thankful we are for the organ you built for us. Last night was a clear indication of how one can effectively lead God-centered singing with the King of instruments, and to do so with as beautiful an instrument makes doing it an absolute delight.'
NEWS UPDATE: All of the reeds for our friends at Noack Organ builders are completed. They will be installed in a new organ for St Peter's on Capitol Hill, Washington DC. We are delighted to have worked on this project!
On the left are sample pipes of a Tuba which will be sent to a customer to voice. On the right are the spotted metal resonators to hood the pipes perfectly. In making the pipes, we have used a Willis C scale closed English shallot, a replica of those in use in the organ in Canterbury Cathedral .
  The Three Choirs Festival is a major event in the British musical calendar, so it was an honour to take part in this year's festival in Hereford. Our managing director, Terry Shires, talked about about his career in pipe making and the history of the trade in All Saints' Church, High Street, Hereford, on August 3. During the well-received session, he also gave a demonstration of pipe making by creating a replica of the middle C Great Principal pipe in the organ at Worcester Cathedral. He says: "I have done many demonstrations like this over the years, and I always ask for a volunteer to have a go at soldering. Kris Johnston made a great job and I presented her with the pipe I finished and voiced." In other news, we are delighted to be working with the distinguished American reed voicer, Chris Broome, who specialises in voicing reeds made by Skinner. Broome & Co was established in East Granby, Connecticut, in 1998 by Chris and David Broome to satisfy a need in the pipe organ industry for quality voicing and organ pipe reconditioning and repair services. Their company is recognised as a specialist in the restoration of reed stops in pipe organs by major 20th century North American organ builders. We look forward to helping them in any way we can. |
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We manufacture, repair and restore metal organ pipes to a high standard from our workshop in West Yorkshire, UK.
Please contact us to see how our team can assist your organ building or restoration project, no matter how large or small. |
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