The Wicks Family has been building pipe organs for over 100 years, and it is still the basis of our business. The foundation of our company is built on pipe-only instruments. We have experience building pipe organs from a single rank continuo to large church and concert hall organs. Creating beautiful pipe organs is our most challenging job, and accomplishing this job requires several aspects we can quickly and easily provide:
Tonal Design
Every pipe organ begins as a concept of sound and function. Wicks approaches each organ only after ascertaining the respective requirements of the desired instrument, such as room size and acoustic properties, placement of the organ, the main function of the organ, and style of worship or performance the organ will uphold. This information plays into the size, the specification, the scaling, and the tonal design of the proposed organ. Once that proposal is agreed upon, further detail is added to the concept, adding specific information for every pipe in the organ, including placement, pipe materials, wall thickness, mouth cut-up, and relative volume. The tonal design of our instruments closely follows our Tonal Philosophy.
Pipe Construction
The best laid plans for a pipe organ are useless without the craftsmen to bring the instrument to fruition. Once the design of the instrument is complete, it falls into the hands of our select group of craftsmen who cut, assemble, adjust, and perfect every pipe of every rank. Although we no longer manufacture our metal pipes in-house, we can still provide them exactly as before. Our former pipe shop foreman purchased all of our pipe-shop equipment before we downsized, and utilizes our scales, patterns and methods of construction in his own independent shop, mere miles from our own. Still having this resource in such close proximity helps us to control quality, price, delivery time, and even to correct any problems quickly and inexpensively.