I have always loved pipe organ music, particularly the quiet, medetative pieces one hears in church. My church, Saint Mary's Roman Catholic Church, in Annapolis, Maryland, had a pipe organ when I was very young but it was replaced twice with electronic organs, neither of which was a truly adequate replacement for the old King of Instruments. The front pipes from the old organ were left in place in the back wall of the choir loft because their removal would have left a gaping hole. The speakers for the electronic organs were placed on shelves built directly behind the old pipes, giving the impression that the music emenated from the pipes themselves.

When I joined the choir in the 1980s I became fascinated with the old pipes; I had never seen an organ pipe up close and the construction of the pipes and the underlying physics of organ music inrigued me. I arranged to visit the Moller factory, about two hours to the west of Annapolis, one spring day. The folks at the factory were more than accomodating and I enjoyed my visit, shooting some eight rolls of film.

I had forgotten about the pictures over the years, until one day I was going through my stuff to "thin the herd" when I came across some of the long-forgotten images. Unfortunately I've misplaced the negatives for seven of the eight rolls and the picures from four of the eight - but here are some of the ones I still have. This page shows some steps in organ pipe construction; the next page shows moments in the birth of a wind chest.

Metal pipe construction
After coming out of a roller which puts the necessary amount of curvature into the metal, the pipes are hammered into final shape and soldered by hand.	After being formed, the top sections of metal pipes have the openings for the upper lip cut out.

The upper lip is then glued into place.

The bottom of the pipe, or the pipe foot, is formed as a cone with the point cut off.

This odd contraption draws the edg of the raw foot into a smooth, rounded end. This end is the toe of the pipe; it is through the toe that wind enters the pipe to make it speak.

The pipe foot is glued to the pipe.

After the foot is glued into place, the pipe gets a hot bath to remove the joint glue from the upper lip area and the pipe/foot joint. Following this, larger pipes have security rings soldered onto the backs so they may be secured in place when installed.

This way to the wind chest.

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Last updated Thursday, April 2, 1998