There is an astonishing variety of DIY organs to be discovered. Some are very small, experimental organs. One example, the size of two shoe boxes and equipped with a mini-fan and PVC pipes, emerged from the passion for music and the ‘urge to build things’. Another interesting case is the development from a model with two pipes and a vacuum cleaner engine to a playable instrument (Wandel). “I'm not an organist and I can barely play piano but I love music, organs and woodworking. Add to that that I'm a mechanical engineer and you have all the ingredients for a project like this”, says another enthusiast (Giangiulio). The result is a beautiful fully functional organ completely made of wood with mechanical action, one manual, one pedal, five ranks and 250 pipes. A French high school music professor studied mechanics, automatisms and musicology in order to fulfill his childhood dream of building an organ – an impressive mechanical pipe organ with two manuals, eight ranks and 422 pipes (Bélinguier). Now that we have gained a little insight into this community let us scrutinize a particular case.
Out of pure curiosity Prof. Dr.-Ing. Peter Puschner visited the music fair in Frankfurt am Main in 1986. One of the exhibitors, the organ builder Hofbauer from Göttingen, had a novelty on display: a pipe organ construction kit for private residences. After playing on the instrument for a while, Peter was approached by the proprietor. In the ensuing conversation factors like price, space, and experiences with electronic organs were weighed up and the possibility of owning a home pipe organ became an idée fixe.
Since his early childhood Peter has been captivated by music and electronics. He learned to play many instruments and built his own sound studio with magnetic tape units and other electro technical gadgets. Becoming a sound engineer, which was his dream, would have required three years of piano training so he opted for electrical engineering. After earning his doctoral degree in mechanical engineering he took on a professorship at Paderborn University. On the side he managed to pursue his interest in music and acoustic phenomena, working on reverberation frequency analysis in industrial complexes and churches. In 1972 he founded a company developing technologies for welding robots as well as “full electronic welding power sources for pulsed arc welding, high quality computer-guided TIG power sources for aircraft constructions and nuclear technology…” (Elmatech).
Two months after the visit to the music fair the Hofbauer organ kit arrived: one preassembled main console and many thousands of single pieces, including 744 pipes. Three days later the instrument was set up. Peter’s professional know-how and the acquired knowledge from prior research on organ mechanics made the construction and installation a “Kinderspiel” – child’s play. Pleasant anticipation is suspected to have added to the remarkable swiftness of workmanship. In course of a little concert the organ was inaugurated with a performance by “Kirchenmusikdirektor” and “Domorganist” Herbert Voß, then organist of Aachen’sminster.
Having taught himself to play the organ on his earlier electronic organ Peter knew that proper organ lessons were now unavoidable. For the next five years he was taught by Ulrich Peters, alumnus of Herbert Voß, on an instrument made by the Austrian organ builder Rieger for the St. Adalbert church in Aachen. The instrument and the acoustic conditions of the one thousand years old house of prayer allowed the performance of a wide ranging repertoire and were thus felt to be the ideal that should be recreated at home. Taking lessons, Peter says, and the resulting friendship with his teacher gave him access to sheet music, literature, the wider organ community and, of course, almost unrestricted access to St. Adalbert’s organ.
- If you want to find out more about the Hauptwerk virtual organ, click here.
- If you are interested in other types of organs or innovative instruments, you can for instance read about a theatre organ, or about a very special kind of piano.