Most new parish organs are now electronic. The great days when a pipe organ was automatically part of any new church are long gone. Electronic organs can be really useful and sound well, if they are carefully chosen with regard to both the instrument itself and the church where it will be played.
However, these instruments come in all shapes and sizes, with endless sounds and gadgetry, and it is not surprising that the average organist, let alone the average parish priest, often just doesn’t know where to start when working out the best one to buy. Here are a few hints:
WHAT DOES IT SOUND LIKE?
Quality of sound is by far the most important thing, and you don’t need to be an electronics expert to judge it. If it doesn’t sound good, don’t buy it. Sound quality and price don’t necessarily go together. Even different organs from the same maker may vary in sound quality. You have to try before you buy.
SHOP AROUND
There are a number of manufacturers and suppliers of good electronic organs, but not all of them have local showrooms. Nevertheless, they’ll all be anxious to sell to you, so they’ll happily tell you which churches have their organs installed. This can give you the advantage of a chat with the church organist, who’ll tell you how he or she is getting on with the instrument. And you also hear the organ in its natural setting, a church. A local supplier may offer to install an organ in your own church temporarily for you to try out. This is an excellent way to judge the instrument, but it sometimes carries with it a feeling of moral obligation to buy. If the organ isn’t right for you, resist this feeling; the supplier will understand.
THEIR LIFE IS LIMITED
Unlike pipe organs, which can go on for a century and more (the one I play was built in 1874), electronic organs can wear out after a decade or two, although this can vary considerably according to usage and the manufacturer’s ability to supply spare parts. Advancing technology can also have an effect on a maker’s policy towards earlier models. The crunch comes when parts are no longer obtainable. This is a particularly important consideration when buying an expensive model; it’s worth finding out what kind of pipe organ could be built for the same money. And this factor should also be taken into account if you are thinking of buying a second-hand instrument.
THE CHURCH ENVIRONMENT MUST BE CONSIDERED
The size and shape of the church, and the resonance of its acoustic, are factors that must be taken into account. Is amplification required?
HOW MUCH GADGETRY IS NEEDED?
Don’t pay for a lot of things that you know you will never use, such as automatic rhythms, recording devices or a multitude of orchestral voices. Enquire if there is a simpler model. There usually is if you dig deep enough, and it will be a lot, lot cheaper.
Future posts on this subject will look at the basic needs of the average parish in terms of organ sounds. Also, ways to test out the organ you are thinking of buying. In the meantime, I’d like to draw your attention to that excellent booklet, Church Organs, produced by the Church of Scotland. It is downloadable from the SFO website. Go to Scottish Federation of Organists and scroll down the page to the section headed ‘The Organ Advice Committee’
And remember, the first and over-riding consideration is the quality of the sound.