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This article, written by my organ teacher, Dr. Evelyn Lim, reveals a lot about the Pipe Organ which most people know close to nothing about. It has been greatly undermined by those who don't really know what a real organ is... And so, now, the reality....

Welcome to the world of the King of the Instruments - the Pipe Organ, one of the oldest and most versatile musical instruments!

The organ has since the 13th century, made its mark in the Christian Church. It is an essential instrument used in worship to intone chants, accompany choirs and lead congregational singing. Because it can produce an extremely wide range of dynamics and musical colour, the organ shines as a solo and as well as an ensemble instrument.

The Pipe Organ: an instrument consisting of rows of individual pipes which are made to sound by pressurized air directed from blowers, and admitted to the pipes by means of valves operated from a keyboard. This means, you need to have wind, pipes and a keyboard to call an instrument a real pipe organ!

Dispelling The Myth
Myth: the electric organ (eg. Electone etc, found in homes and commercial music schools) is a mordern version of the old-fashioned pipe organ. Fact: what we commonly and mistakenly identify as an organ here is really an electric keyboard with pedals. It exists primarily for entertainment. It usually comes with automatic functions such as chords and percussion at the touch of a button. The choice of sounds avalable makes this instrument unstuitable for effective hymn accompaniment. Besides, the quality of sound is vastly inferior to that of a pipe organ.

Pipe and Digital
The cost of labour and raw material (wood, tin, copper etc) of a decent pipe organ is high. It takes over a year for an organ to be constructed, shipped and installed into a specific church. However it has a life span of 100 years or more, if properly maintained. There are many organs in Europe from the 1600's that are still being played today! Each one is a unique work of art.

Due to the astronomical cost, many churches have turned to the digital organ (not the electric organ mentioned earlier) as a substitute. The digital organ does not depend on wind or pipes to produce sounds. Rather, it consists of digital sound samples taken from the real pipe organ. In essence, it is a complex, computerized instrument which simulates pipe organ sounds. However, it easily becomes obsolete as new technology develops.

The pipe organs available in Singapore are found in Victoria Concert Hall, Orchard Road Presbyterian Church, Kampong Kapor Methodist and Cathedral of the Good Shepherd.