The power of the pipe organ

Hooray for old-fashioned craftsmanship. When the folks at First Congregational Church of Palo Alto decided to have a new pipe organ built, they didn't buy some all-computer glossy thing with a digital voice. They got the real deal: thousands of gleaming pipes, a lovely console that smells like new wood, and a new acoustically friendly wall for good measure.

(Here's my Weekly cover story on the pipe organs of Palo Alto.)

"For certain things, digital organs work. But we do a lot of traditional music. People expect a real pipe organ," said Joe Guthrie, the church's organist and assistant music director.

The one exception came at the lowest end of the scale, which would have required the largest pipes, 32 feet tall. So for those few pipes, the church saved space and money by installing the capability to play those notes digitally, Guthrie said.

Guthrie says this didn't compromise the sound quality. "It's so low -- it's not really a sound; it's a feeling," he said. For the record, the lowest note on the organ is a C.

The new organ was officially unveiled on May 13, replacing an elderly instrument that had pieces as old as a century. So what happened to Old Semi-Faithful?

It ended up with an organ broker who is "parting it out," so other organizations can buy parts of it to use, Guthrie said. Thanks to the Internet, you can buy and sell parts all over the place. Craftsmanship meets technology.

Guthrie feels nostalgic about some of the old organ, particularly one trumpet stop, which is a knob on the organ console plus a corresponding rank of pipes.

"There's a trumpet stop that has played many brides down the aisle," he said. "I hope it's been recycled and being used for other brides."

Pictured: Joe Guthrie at the new pipe organ. Photo by Marjan Sadoughi of the Weekly.