Organ building

Organ building is the profession of designing, building, restoring and maintaining pipe organs.

The organ builder usually receives a commission to design an organ with a particular disposition of stops, manuals, and actions, creates a design to best respond to spatial, technical and acoustic considerations, and then constructs the instrument. The profession requires specific knowledge of such matters as the scale length of organ pipes and also familiarity with the various materials used (including woods, metals, felt, and leather) and an understanding of statics, aerodynamics, mechanics and electronics. However, although in theory the builder is responsible for all facets of construction, in practice organ building workshops include specialists in pipes, actions, and cabinets, and tasks such as manufacture of pipes, metal casting, and making rarely used components are often delegated to outside firms.