Ian and Jennifer Brown have been spending their days in the lofty spots of the Glen Innes Anglican Church this week, taking on the task of cleaning the church organ for the first time since its installation in 1957.
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The organ is a familiar instrument for Ian, who was apprenticed to the company that undertook the installation almost 60 years ago.
“This is the first time it has been taken apart and any cleaning has been done,” Ian said.
“Organ pipes speak a lot clearer and with better tone when they don’t get choked up with dust and grime.”
The veteran instrument builder has been working on the local organ for almost 50 years, as well as over 100 instruments across the state.
“I have always been interested in the organ as a musical instrument,” he said.
“I learnt the piano like many people when I was young. I was interested in the organ and then my wife Jennifer sort of started as an apprentice with me. She is an experienced organ builder as well.”
Ian described his trade as woodworking on a grand scale and said the complex instrument was a clash between construction and music.
“We live in Ballina where we have a factory and we do everything from building an organ right through to cleaning and repairs,” he said.
Contrary to what may be common perception, the organ is a wind instrument and Ian said the only real similarity between it and the piano is the keyboard interface.
“This is a wind instrument and an organ has some voices that imitate other instruments,” he said.
The shape and construction of the pipes mimic some common and not-so-common orchestral instruments, including the oboe.
“The shape of the resonator, the bell on top, is just like an orchestral instrument. If it was just a straight cone, opening up to a wide space at the top, it would sound just like a trumpet. If it was a cylinder all the way up, it would sound like a clarinet.”
“The tone is all produced the same way, from a beating reed tongue, and the shape of the resonator shapes the tone of the pipe.”
The local organ is made of 660 separate pipes, but Ian said it is a site he is accustomed to navigating.
“It looks complicated but it is sort of more and more of the same thing in a way,” he said.
“It is banks of pipes that are a bit repetitive. Everything is clearly marked. There is the name of the note stamped on every pipe.”
The church group has funded the work and are taking steps to ensure the instrument’s upkeep, meeting with local MP Adam Marshall this week to discuss repair work to the church roof.
In the meantime, Ian and Jennifer are hard at work tuning and maintaining the 58 year-old instrument.