Westhampton Presbyterian Church

Westhampton, NY

 

1974 M.P. Moller

Opus # 11061

II/22

Stoplist

Exterior     Interior     Console     Organ

The 1974 Moller pipe organ at Westhampton Presbyterian Church has provided many years of faithful service to the congregation.  That same congregation is expanding, and the church wanted to increase the organs versatility and sounds.  It was a modest sized organ, acceptable for leading the congregation but not quite up to the task of recital work.          The church had considered electronic additions as an alternative to real pipes.  There are several problems with this approach and it is usually not recommended.  The first problem with this type of combination is the noticeable difference between the obvious artificial sound and the live, genuine sound of real pipes.  Another problem that plaques such installs is tuning issues.  Even with a "tuning knob" or other complicated device, there is no realistic way to faithfully follow the random tuning fluctuations of organ pipes which give them their characteristic warmth.  Another point to consider is the need for the church to have an electronic service technician in addition to a pipe organ technician, and whom to call if a problem develops.  The last problem we saw with the proposed electronic additions here is that most of the proposed stops already existed in the real pipework and were thus redundant.          Our proposal included the complete solid-state rebuilding of the console incorporating the Peterson ICS-4000 switching system, plus many other upgrades.  MIDI, transposer and multiple levels of memory are major features of this system and give the organist unprecedented levels of control over the instrument.  Major pipe additions include the following ranks: Pedal Bourdon, III Mixture, Oboe, Krummhorn, Gedeckt, Trumpet, Octave, Fifteenth, Geigen Bass.          The organ sounds and looks fantastic now.  It is fully capable of recital work yet is not overpowering when it comes to leading the congregation in song.