My interest in pipe organs goes back to my earliest memories of sitting in church in southern New York in 1954. Dad was the organist and choir director (and, to his credit, is still serving God as a church organist almost 50 years later!) In my high school years I made some tuning tools for Dad on my lathe per his description, and by proximity came to understood the basic workings of that church organ, a two-manual electo-pneumatic unit of some eight or nine ranks.

My wife remembers me saying early in our marriage that someday we would have a pipe organ in our home. It was five years later that she spotted an ad in the newspaper for a pipe organ. Assuming that it was probably a reed organ and a misprint, I called anyway. Within an hour I was looking at pipes, console, and the dusty miscellany that always accompanies a disassembled pipe organ! We bought the three-rank two-manual organ on the spot and transported it home in a raging icy February blizzard in northern Vermont. Part of the organ rode in our station wagon and the remainder was piled on the trailer, connected by cables that we didn't dare cut.

Over time I've refinished the console, built several new wind chests for it, and expanded it from its original size. Despite the myriad of stops, its basic ranks are Flute, String, and Diapason. I added a fourth rank; a very nice Violin Celeste, and also the bottom octaves of the 16' Flute, 8' String, and 8' Diapason. When we expanded our home we built a separate pipe room with a sloped ceiling to accommodate the pipes; thankfully the lowest octave of the 16' Flute is stopped! The blower is enclosed in a case complete with an air filter. Its distributed inlet design allows it to run quietly in the pipe room. Swell shades behind a decorative non-speaking façade separate the pipe room from the rest of the house. Photos of the installation are on my web site.

I play fairly accurately, albeit slowly, on the simpler key signatures. I'm interested in playing hymns more than anything else. I'd really like to take lessons but priorities are elsewhere at this point. For instance, a nine-rank two-manual organ is sitting in my barn, ready for restoration and installation in my church. I have a team of seven people ready and waiting to help starting in January 2001. Perhaps lessons will come after that is done...

I'm an electrical engineer (ASIC chips, microprocessors, analog) but have experience and interests in a broad range of fields.

Jon Fick

Email Jon