Building a Heritage™ Allen Organ

There are few things more exciting to an organist than the ability to be involved in the design and installation of a new instrument, except, perhaps, when that new instrument is their very own.

After many years of not having an instrument at home, the opportunity presented itself for me to finally acquire a fine organ, and my choice of builder was Allen Organ Company. My timing couldn't have been better, as the company had recently launched its Heritage™ Series of custom organs. In selecting such a Heritage instrument, I had the opportunity to be involved in every aspect of the design of the organ. Since, as the saying goes, "a picture is worth a thousand words," the following photographs will help tell my story.

1. The organ's construction begins with the console sides. The option to have custom Gothic-style side panels required the special craftsmanship of Allen's woodshop, as shown in the following picture:
2. Constructing the console was accomplished using old-world highly-skilled techniques, resulting in a solidly-built, carefully-fitted console shell, as seen here:
3. With each piece hand-fitted, forming a true one-of-a-kind console, this impressive instrument began to take shape well before the finishing process, as shown here:

4. As I requested, a cherry finish for the outside casework with red oak for the stop jambs and coupler rail, the finish was applied and hand-rubbed, as seen here:
5. When the finishing process was completed, the console was then moved to the Fitting department. Allen allowed me to visit the factory to see the console at this point, indeed an exciting day for me. At this phase of production, I began to get a clearer picture of what the organ would look like. Since I had chosen the design and finish, I was delighted that the outcome exceeded my expectations. The finished console, even prior to being fitted with keyboards, drawknobs and other parts, was exquisite, as seen in the following photo:
6. The next step in the process began the actual final assembly of the organ. The first step there was the installation of the keyboards and drawknobs. Having specified maple drawknob stems with rosewood caps and rosewood sharps for the keyboards, this was no easy task. However, the following pictures show the care and attention to detail typical of Allen's quality at every step of the production:

7. After the console was fitted out with all of its controls, the next step in the final assembly was the installation of all of the sophisticated electronics, consisting of computers, amplifiers, power supplies, and other devices that go into a fine digital instrument. This entire assembly process is completed by one person to insure accuracy and quality control. At this point in the instrument's construction I again had the opportunity to see how carefully each step is performed and how important it is to Allen to adhere to the strictest standards of manufacturing excellence. Of interest to me was the fact that the sub-assemblies were all built in-house, which Allen indicates is essential in maintaining a superior level of quality in every component. The following pictures show those components ready to be installed, as well as the installation process itself, by the technician responsible:
8. Once the organ was "built," so to speak, it was yet only an electronic device awaiting the real "heart and soul" to be installed. As I was specifically interested in an English specification, Allen responded by selecting a perfectly cohesive set of digital samples that represent exactly what I had in mind. Dwight Beacham, Vice President of Engineering of the company, personally undertook the task of completing this aspect of the organ. Dwight is seen here at work considering every nuance of the instrument's final tonal design:
9. No Allen organ leaves the factory until it has gone through an extensive set of protocols known as "final test". I had the opportunity to see and play the instrument set up in a Test Room. Allen's test engineer, Bill Rybitski, put the organ through its paces for several days before being convinced that everything was in order and functioning according to Allen's stringent quality control standards. This process involves setting the organ up exactly as it would be in its final location (in this case my home), and going over every detail of fit and finish, form and function. Since Bill is also a fine organist, he and I had a wonderful time exploring the organ's tonal design and we found the instrument to be a delight to experience. Since the Test Room has an acoustic similar to my music room, it also offered me a good idea of what I could expect from the organ in my home. The following pictures show the organ in the Test Room connected to Allen's specially-designed speaker systems, using the exact number and type of speaker that is currently in my home:

10. Finally, the day I had waited for so long arrived when the Allen truck pulled up at my home. The men from the company's installation department carefully unloaded the heavily-protected console and placed it my music room in the space prepared. Then they installed the speaker cabinets, using high-quality cable and with great detail concerning the cosmetics of wiring installation. When completed, we turned on the organ for the first time in its new home. Everything was in order and worked flawlessly. Over a period of weeks, several tonal experts from Allen assisted me in the meticulous task of "matching" the organ to its space and bringing out the best in the Renaissance™ tone generation system. We voiced the organ stop-by-stop and note-by-note, just like a fine pipe organ. Through Allen's amazing SoundMatrix™ technology, we even changed some of the organ's actual voices to best compliment my room. The result of these voicing sessions is an instrument that some of the finest recitalists have described as perhaps "the best non-pipe organ they've ever encountered." No small compliment for a home installation, but the pipe-like intimacy and musicality of the instrument is no less than would be expected from Allen. Here is the instrument, installed in my home, where it gives me endless pleasure while challenging me to become a better organist: As any organist can appreciate, the history of my organ's build is one that is very special to me . I am pleased to share it with you.