This is a very special organ. I was just there tonight playing it, and I had a great (and swell) time!
The story behind this organ and the windows below is that they were in an older LDS chapel in Springville which burned down. They had been in storage for a while, until they decided to install them in this chapel.
Here's a link to a Daily Herald article with more information about the church:
This was also my first time playing an organ with actual chimes, I've only played digital ones to this point. These are pretty cool, you can even adjust the volume on them! They only play on the great, not on the swell or the pedal, even when you have the great coupled to the pedal.
There's even a handy switch to turn them on and off quickly while you're playing. It's just to the side of the great manual:
This is the only place it was indicated who was involved in the building and installation of this organ, and it only shows for a second when you turn the organ on. I know John R. Mitchell did the restoration and installation/voicing, but I have no idea who built the original organ. I do know that John R. Mitchell works closely with the Wicks organ company, of whom the Church is (or was) a regular customer.
Here's a view from farther back. You can see that the facade is pretty small, which makes sense, since this organ doesn't seem to have very many ranks.
...And the selfie. Sadly, this organ had a few stops that were out of tune, or had a couple of broken or plugged pipes. What sound there is is soft and beautiful, but there are a few maintenance issues, clearly. Some of the pipes sounded sporadically, or had to have the key pressed for a few seconds before sounding, and one of the facade pipes appeared to have a tongue that wasn't actually a tongue, but a very small pipe from a different rank.
Here's the console, plain but functional. There are separate switches for the wind and the lights, which is nice. Sadly, the bench is not height adjustable.
I like their choice of stops, and I like their choice of an oboe rather than a trompette rank for the only reed on the organ. It's more useful for church services, and is voiced in such a way that you can use it as a trumpet when you want it, and as a beautiful, soft solo reed when you need it for prelude. Which is important for worship, and a blessing to have with an organ not endowed with many ranks. Below are the Great stops.
The oboe is also playable on all 3 divisions. Below are the Swell stops.
And here are the pedal stops. The mixture is only available on the pedal and the great, there's no mixture on the swell.
Overall, this was a fun experience. I enjoyed this organ a lot, but it didn't really blow me away. If it had been better-maintained, I would have enjoyed it more. I love the chimes, and I really like the oboe stop. You don't see those on chapel pipe organs very often. I think this is one of the more versatile, usable small church organs, and I think that given a good once-over, It could be one of the best. Sadly, though, it's fallen just enough into disrepair to be noticeable, and that keeps this very good organ from being great.
Built By: Unknown, Installed by John R. Mitchell Pipe Organs of Salt Lake City, UT
Year: 2010 (Current Installation)
Manuals: 2
Ranks: Unknown
Location: 1100 W 900 S Springville, UT
Dry Creek Stake - Stoplist
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