From an insert in the May 15, 2005, issue of Steeple Notes ... The CONSOLE where the organist sits, will have three keyboards, or manuals, and a pedal board. It will be shipped in June and will sit behind the pulpit, as before. Our organ consists of five divisions or groups of pipes. In organ-speak, each division has a name. The GREAT division is on the front wall by the altar. It is the backbone of the organ, the foundational tone of the instrument. The SWELL division is located in the chamber on the east chancel wall. It is so named because the pipes are enclosed behind louvers that open and close by means of expression pedals on the console, thus allowing the sound to swell or crescendo. The CHOIR division is opposite the Swell in the west chamber. It traditionally has softer sounds useful for accompanying the choir, along with colorful solo sounds. The ANTIPHONAL division is on the back wall of the balcony and is intended to support congregational singing and also to make possible the playing of "antiphonal" music. The PEDAL division is shared throughout the other divisions and contains the lowest sounds, many coming from pipes that are 16 feet long. A pipe organ is like an orchestra. Ours has 48 ranks of pipes. A rank, or row, consists of 61 pipes of one particular sound or color-from its lowest note to its highest. The voices of our organ include several types of flutes, strings, woodwind sounds like the oboe and clarinet, and three different trumpets. One other sound, the Diapason, is a purely organ sound and not meant to imitate another instrument. No two organs are exactly alike. Even if they are of the same design, the room around them determines much of their tonal character. Our sanctuary has been prepared to be an acoustically reverberant space for not only the organ, but also the choir and the congregation. Over the next two to three weeks, we will see the organ take shape. That doesn't mean it's ready to play. Several weeks of work lie ahead once the parts are assembled and all the wires are properly hooked up. The beauty and character of a pipe organ depends on more than just fine raw materials and quality construction. The work of "tonal finishing" requires an extraordinary set of ears and some rather simple tools. Each pipe must speak clearly and match the pipes next to it and then all the pipes in the division, Hours, days and weeks will be spent making sure the organ "speaks" the way the builder intended. And who is this "tonal finisher"? In our case, as with all Schoenstein organs, the finishing work is done by the man who owns the company and designs each organ the company builds, Jack Bethards. Having already made several trips to our church to study the space, Jack will come after installation is complete and begin his work that will make this organ truly "one of a kind," totally suited to our space and designed to support our worship. SOLI DEO GLORIA To God alone the glory!