Embossed gift pipes
The ideal gift for an organist – a decorative, inscribed pipe
What more appropriate way to express gratitude for an organist's achievement, or personal milestone, than the gift of an embossed, inscribed organ pipe?
We have been pleased to respond to such requests to make such pipes for many years. The ideal size to affix to a wooden mount is between two and two-and-a-half feet in length. The note G in the two-foot octave with a 33mm diameter is recommended.
As an alternative to a mount, a hook can be soldered at the back of the pipe to hang it on a wall. All gift pipes are made from 80 per cent tin and may be plain or decorated, according to the wish of the purchaser or dedicatee.
One pipe made for the organist and photographer, Nick Moore, was pitched at two-foot C. The polished metal is plain except for a bayleaf upper lip.
An inscription – such as that on the pipe for Gert van Hoef – can be added in Chris Shires' own hand. When completed, each pipe is carefully encased in layers of bubble-wrap before being placed in a reinforced cardboard tube.
In fact, we are so confident about our packing that we guarantee each pipe will arrive undamaged.
If you would like to recognise, thank or commemorate an individual or organisation, please give us a call.
A romantic gift for Cambridge University organ scholar, Anna
A decorative organ pipe proved an unusual though apt gift for the recipient: Anna, who was reading Medicine at Cambridge University, was the inaugural Fitzwilliam College Organ Trainee in 2016-17.
The position allowed her to receive instruction on the organ, in singing and in conducting, and she was elected Organ Scholar from 2017-18.
Her boyfriend Jonas, who graduated from Cambridge with a Master in Gas Turbine Aerodynamics, approached Shires to ask if we could make a decorative pipe as a birthday gift and we were delighted to oblige.
A wedding pipe for Gert van Hoef and Marjolein
When the Dutch organist Gert van Hoef married Marjolein Speijer in Voorthuizen, we were asked by Gert's friend Jeff DeCoe to make an embossed organ pipe to mark the occasion. It was crafted from 80 per cent tin by Terry Doyle.
Embossed pipe in polished
tin for cathedral organist
The remarkable contribution of organist Ian Barber to the life of Belfast Cathedral over 35 years was recognised at a special Choral Evensong.
Among the many tributes was one by a former choir lay clerk, Philip Prosser, left, who presented Ian with a gift of a mounted, embossed organ pipe in polished tin.
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We were pleased to be invited to make this gift to a dedicated and widely respected cathedral musician.
Here's a pipe we made to celebrate an 18th birthday. We are happy to inscribe a message by hand for a birthday, an anniversary, an acknowledgment, a retirement or indeed any celebratory or memorial occasion. Just give us a call with your requirements.
A birthday jest
in the right tone
The display pipe on the right, with two eyes, a nose and a smiling mouth, is known as a Jester and was made in our workshop.
It was commissioned for Guy Russell, right, the former tonal director at Nicholsons Organ Builders by his wife as a gift for his 65th birthday.
Our team was delighted to be involved in this special project for a good friend.