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The Jaeckel Organ

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Organ Specifications

Dan Jaeckel has skillfully crafted an instrument to match the historical architecture of the 1890 sanctuary. In many ways the new organ resembles the original organ of the church, an 1890 mechanical organ by the Boston Ryder organ company. There are 17 different woods used in the organ, but the main case is cherrywood carefully stained to match the church interior. All the stops, manuals and related elements have been individually hand-fabricated.

While thoroughly handcrafted, the organ also contains certain high tech advantages, such as two large flat screen monitors and four smaller monitors to make the modern day life of the organist and choir singers much easier. The monitors were donated by Sharp Laboratories.

Roughly 15% of the pipework from the old Moeller organ was re-used in the new instrument's 4000 pipes, providing historical continuity and responsible recycling. The new organ is designed to last with minimal maintenance for generations. See more technical detail.

Acoustic Changes

In an effort to improve the acoustical environment of the sanctuary, which has made it difficult to hear both the sermon and the music, carpeting on the main floor of the sanctuary was removed in the Summer of 1999 and replaced with a cherry hardwood floor. The result was a more reverberant space in which the voices of the congregation, choir and instruments can be united in worship.

The choir loft also has a new hardwood floor, and the mostly hidden wall behind the pipe organ is an acoustically "harder" concrete wall than was present before. The loft area for the congregation remains as is, and carpet aisle runners will be placed for safety on the sanctuary's lower floor.

Why is a hardwood floor acoustically better than carpet?

Harder surfaces reflect sound better than soft surfaces. (Notice how good you sound singing in the shower?) Carpet and cushions generally absorb (stop) sound, making it difficult to hear the person singing next to you, and more difficult for the choir and instrumental sounds to reach all parts of the sanctuary.