John Brombaugh - Organ Building Style

Organ Building Style

The majority of Brombaugh organs are tuned in a "Well temperament." This enables them to play music composed in any key but, compared with Equal Temperament, favors the central keys used in most organ literature of all periods. Since its introduction in 1978, the "Bach" temperament by Herbert Anton Kellner has become Brombaugh's standard tuning, though several of his organs are tuned in 1/4 Syntonic comma Meantone where their primary intention is for historically oriented performance of the organ literature older than that of Johann Sebastian Bach's. Many of his easily movable small positives have transposition capabilities to facilitate their playability at different pitches; these (excepting his Op. 2 that was made during his apprenticeship with Noack) are his only instruments tuned in Equal Temperament.

Although he has been interested to recover and use many of the lost concepts from the ancient organ-builders (e.g., they only use mechanical key action), he also considers himself a builder of this time who is amenable to the use of the best current construction methods and the use of ideas necessary for the convenience required by organists of our time. For example, his Opus 35 - an organ of 3,250 pipes, 3 manuals and pedal with 46 stops that was dedicated on Pentecost 2001 at the First Presbyterian Church in Springfield, Illinois (of which congregation Abraham Lincoln and his family attended, and Mary Todd Lincoln was a member) - is a synthesis of historical and modern techniques.

Among John Brombaugh's contributions to modern organ-building are:

• the first use in modern times of an unequal temperament for tuning a large pipe organ in North America - on his Op. 4 at First Lutheran Church, Lorain, Ohio that was dedicated by David Boe in June 1970. The temperament used was Andreas Werckmeister's IIIrd temperament, Werckmeister's first inventive departure from the ancient Pythagorean or Meantone tunings. This temperament has since been used on many new organs worldwide.
• general absence of plywood in the construction of his instruments, especially in the casework and by the earliest return in 20th century organ-building (beginning in 1968) to using only solid wood for the windchest tableboards.
• consistent use of fine architectural concepts and details for his case designs, for example, those described by the renowned Renaissance artisan, Andrea Palladio and those found in instruments made by the late Gothic builders. He has also been interested to develop designs with suitable modern styles where appropriate, not just to work only making historically governed copies.
• the first use of hammered pipe metal in modern times in the United States, also done for his Op. 4 for Lorain, Ohio.
• beginning in 1970 with his Op. 4 for Lorain, Ohio, consistent use of "wedge bellows" in all of his work to provide a slightly unstable winding that gives the organ a more musical character or "life." A few of Brombaugh's instruments have the mechanism needed so the organ's wind could be produced by foot pumping its bellows - the norm before electricity (or other energy sources) could take over this rather boring job.
• beginning in 1970, development and use of an electronic "tuning machine" having a CRT display that can be set for any temperament and a reference pitch variable over a 4:5 ratio; the device provides an accuracy of 1/5 cent or 0.1 Hz and also has a filter settable to observe the various harmonics individually so all pipes of compound stops (such as the Mixtures and Cornets) may be very accurately tuned.
• the first use worldwide of the high lead content pipe metal alloy such as was found in the work of Hendrik Niehoff in 16th century northwestern Europe for his Op. 19 at Central Lutheran Church in Eugene, Oregon.
• among the first uses of Meantone tuning in a major new organ in the United States, (along with Charles Fisk's organ at Houghton Memorial Chapel, Wellesley College and Gene Bedient's organ at Augustana College in Rock Island, IL) for his Op. 24 organ for Fairchild Chapel at Oberlin College that was dedicated in September 1981 by Harald Vogel. Meantone organs in North America remain very rare.
• the general use of "vocale" voicing of the pipes to achieve the tonal beauty so common to the organs in and prior to Bach's lifetime.
• first installation into Continental Europe since the 1930s of a new pipe organ built in the United States - the Meantone organ for the Hagakyrkan in Göteborg, Sweden, dedicated by Harald Vogel on March 8, 1992.
• first use of the Ruckpositive in a major concert hall organ - by using two Ruckpositive divisions to the left and right so the organist is not hidden from view of the audience in the Toyota City, Japan, Op. 37 instrument inaugurated by Harald Vogel on November 11, 2003.