Better Pipe Organ Database

Eugene Burmaster (1976)

Immanuel Lutheran Church
Jamestown, NY

Consoles

Main Console

Organ type: Non-Traditional Style, As Consoles by Holtkamp, Schlicker, et al
Console position: Movable Console
2 manuals
36 stops
44 registers
3 divisions
Key action Type: Electrical
Stop action Type: Electrical
Stop layout Type: Tilting/Rocking Tablets Above Top Manual
Manual compass: 56 notes
Pedal compass: 32 notes
Pedal Type: Concave Radiating (Meeting AGO Standards)
Expression Type: Balanced Expression Shoes/Pedals (Meeting AGO Standards)
Combination action: Setterboard
Has combination thumb pistons
Has combination toe pistons
Has tutti thumb pistons

Notes

2020-09-26 - The old church building needed to be demolished and rebuilt because of structural issues (the exterior brick "skin" was filling away from the side walls and the gallery was no longer safe). Gene Burmaster of Irving, NY was contracted to rebuild and enlarge the previous Estey Opus 3144 instrument, which had been somewhat modified by the Delaware Organ Company in 1963. Much of the previous pipework was reused. The contract was signed in March, 1972 for $28,400 and the instrument was completed in 1976, three years later than agreed. (It is interesting to note that Mr. Burmaster, formerly an employee of the Schlicker Organ Company of Buffalo -- and, in his words, "the only employee to be fired twice from Schlicker" -- was Vice-President of the Delaware Organ Company at the time of the 1963 tonal revisions.) This instrument is located in a large chamber running across the width of the front wall of the sanctuary with the Great stacked above the Swell in front of the cloth-covered tonal opening, and with Pedal pipework in various places on either side. Due to the unusual shape of the chamber, some of the Pedal pipework is as much as 15 feet from the opening. The stoplist provided from the 1976 Burmaster instrument lists, to the extent I could determine them, the sources of each rank of pipes. -John Anderson

2020-09-26 - Shortly after I was hired as Minister of Music in 1980, I put a proposal forward for additions to the Pedal division to eliminate much of the existing unification and duplexing. All of this work was done by me at a cost of $9,500, achievable only because all of my labor was donated. The Great and Swell mixtures were reduced in size from 4 ranks to 3 by removing the top rank from each, causing them to blend with, rather than overpower, their respective principal choruses. The Pedal mixture was changed from a 2' 4-rank Mixture to a 2' 3-rank Mixture, the original make-up from the Delaware tonal changes. By making the top of the Pedal Mixture a unison rather than a quint, the blend was greatly improved in this fairly dead room. Several new Pedal ranks were added as listed in the addendum stoplist with all but the Flachflöte installed on new chests. The new flue pipes were purchased from Organ Supply Industries in Erie, PA and the new 16' Gedackttrompete was purchased from and voiced by Aug. Laukhuff in Weikersheim, Germany. All new flue pipes were voiced by me and I built and wired the new chests. The Gedackttrompete is an interesting and useful stop, consisting of metal resonators and wooden blocks. Numbers 1-18 are 1/4 length with the remainder being 1/2 length, and the effect under a full Pedal is of a much larger reed because of the vast array of harmonics present in the sound. Some revoicing was done across the instrument, most notably to the SW 8' Rohrflute and 4' Principal. The Swell Oboe was carefully regulated, but as of late 1986 was virtually unusable and in need of replacement. (The current condition is unknown.) Pipe supports were installed for the SW Oboe and GT and PED Trompettes to halt the collapse of the unsupported resonators. Electric baseboard heat was added to the organ chamber to help with intonation during the winter months, and all cables from the console to the instrument were replaced in 1985/86. Because the console was movable but was installed with solid-copper wiring, we were experiencing wire breakages. All movable cables were replaced with 24-gauge stranded, color-coded cables. At this same time, the setterboard for the combination action was moved from its original location in the sacristy, across the sanctuary from the console, to the console pit. Finally, in October 1986, a new Laukhuff tremulant was installed in the Swell division where it replaced the old Estey tremulant that had failed. -John Anderson

Stoplist

Source: Updated Stoplist after the 1981 changes 1981

Eugene Burmaster (1976)
Additions by John Anderson (1981)
Immanuel Lutheran Church
Jamestown, NY

With these changes, the new instrument size was 36 stops and 37 ranks across two manuals and pedal. Pedal stops marked "unchanged" are the same make-up as in the Burmaster stoplist. Pedal stops marked "new" are from Organ Supply Industries or Aug. Laukhuff as described in the accompanying Note.

GREAT ORGAN CHANGE:
The top rank of the Mixture IV was removed.

SWELL ORGAN CHANGE:
The top rank of the Mixture IV was removed.

NEW PEDAL ORGAN STOPLIST:
16' Prinzipal (32 pipes, unchanged)
16' Subbass (56 pipes, unchanged)
16' Lieblich Gedeckt (32 notes, unchanged)
8' Octave (32 pipes, new)
8' Spitzflöte (32 pipes, new)
4' Choralbass (32 pipes, new, very slightly tapered)
4' Klein Gedackt (32 notes, unchanged)
2' Flachflöte (32 pipes, new, tapered, voiced to pair with the 4' Choralbass)
2' Mixture III (96 pipes, unchanged except for removal of the top [4th] rank)
16' Gedackttrompete (32 pipes, new)
8' Trompette (20 pipes, unchanged)
4' Chalumeau (32 pipes, unchanged)
   Swell 8
   Great 8

Source: From the console and examination of the pipework as of 1980