Design Philosophy

Tonal Design

Goulding & Wood instruments are characterized by balance and sophistication in the tonal design and voicing.  We strive to cultivate a maximum amount of color and variety while maintaining a tight, cohesive ensemble.  Believing that congregational singing is the foundational concern of the organ, we build instruments with generous fundamental development to clearly delineate pitch.  Multiple stops at 8’ pitch, broad scaling and clean, incisive voicing combine to serve as a strong base of the organ’s sound.  Judicious use of upperwork completes the chorus, adding to the coloristic possibilities, while the power of the sound is always driven at the 16’ and 8’ range.  Mixtures supply brilliance without ever becoming overstated or overpowering.  In all, the objective is a gentle, pleasing sound that envelops the audience or congregation.

The premise for realizing this goal begins in a studious observation of the room acoustics.  Far too frequently, assessments of an acoustical environment are reduced to “live” or “dry,” yet the picture contains many more elements.  The interplay between low, mid-range and high frequencies, both in sustained pitch and in decay, shape a listener’s impression greatly.  All these considerations serve as an important backdrop in the evolution of the stop list.

Prior to beginning the voicing of any instrument, our tonal staff visits the job site and  studies the acoustic of the room.  By first-hand observation of the room’s properties, our voicer is able to conform the pipework to the acoustical needs of the room.  Construction parameters, such as scale, mouth width and languid depth, as well as voicing procedures are modified to correspond to the needs of the situation.  Rooms with modest or poor acoustic yet with reasonably good mid-range development will require a sparkle from mixtures and upperwork that would be out of place in a room rich in acoustic which emphasizes high-end frequencies.  By designing and voicing each instrument individually, we can ensure that the finished product will work within its unique situation.

Recognizing the importance of pipe construction in the voicing process, Goulding & Wood pays special attention to the quality of pipes for our instruments.  Principal and flute ranks from 4’ C and above are made to our detailed specifications by Jacques Stinkens Orgelpijpenmakers B. V. of Zeist, the Netherlands.  Strings, reeds, display pipes and zinc basses are built by A. R. Schopp’s Sons, Inc. of Alliance, Ohio.  Our long standing relationship with both houses affords us great latitude in designing pipe constructions to match precisely each unique job.  We do not build metal pipework since we are primarily a cabinetry shop, and we feel that the quality of work of both houses exceeds any other pipe builders.  Further, all pipework arrives at our shop completely unvoiced.  We are therefore not constricted in tailoring the musical character of the instrument to our own vision of the project.  Because we are a wood-working shop, we build all of our wood pipework, including large Subbass pipes and our full-length 32’ wooden resonator pedal reeds.  Our pipe builders take great care in producing pipes that are not only tonally pleasing but also attractive to the eye.  They also work in very close dialogue with our voicer, making small adjustments in scale, block construction and tuning lengths to his specifications. 

The musical personality of the congregation then dictates how the design is built.  A delicate balance is struck between the immediate needs of the musicians present, incorporating their vision for the ongoing development of the music program, and overarching needs of the congregation in a larger context.  A comprehensive design must be larger than any one person, thus we listen carefully to the desires of the present musicians while bringing these ideas into parity with broader design principles.

The sound of a Goulding & Wood organ is in many ways the signature element.  A lively, spontaneous sound that nonetheless includes a rich gravity of tone fills the room with a vibrant, singing sound.  Instrument dispositions begin with a skeletal core of balanced principal choruses in each division.  We believe strongly that each division requires a unique, independent plenum that participates in cohesive overall scheme.  The diapason choruses throughout the organ thus relate to each other without ever duplicating or becoming obtrusive to the complete ensemble.  Flute stops through the organ provide a great variety of colors, from blending stops to articulate solo voices.  All flutes produce pitch with clarity, avoiding any haziness in tuning.  Strings are broad and rich, especially suitable for accompanying voices.  Reeds range from blending plenum chorus stops to fiery 16’ 8’ and 4’ French battery reeds to elegant solo stops.  Just as no two principal choruses or 8’ flutes mimic one another within a given organ, reed stops, and especially the trumpet family,  display individuality based on the relationship they serve to the division that contains them.  In assembling this collection of voices, the goal is maximum diversity to enable the organ to enliven hymns and choral accompaniments and authentically fulfill the needs of a broad spectrum of solo literature.

Mechanical Design

Pipe organs incorporate extensive mechanical resources, and it is essential that they be as musically conceived and carefully built as the pipework that they support.  If the mechanics do not cooperate in achieving the same goal as the tonal design, the instrument will never reach success.  Complementing our primary focus of supporting worshiping congregations, our mechanical resources provide reliable, sustainable support that encourages the style of voicing we employ. 

Winding is always plenteous and stable.  We employ large blowers to raise wind pressure, and we regulate the flow with a series of reservoirs, schwimmers and concussion bellows.  The wind supply should never be taxed or interfere with the speech of the pipework.

Our design of pallet and slider wind chests marries the time-honored benefits of common key channels with the flexibility of remote key action.  Throughout modern organ building, the slider chest has been redesigned and refined by builders working in Europe and America.  The efficiency and simplicity inherent in this system have long been recognized for their contribution to the long term viability of an instrument.  Slider chests have few working parts to wear out, and when the time for major maintenance comes, access and scope of work are optimum for easy restoration.  One of the specific design considerations of our chest action was ease of long-term renewal, so that an institution will not be saddled with exorbitant costs typical of many rebuilding projects.

The tonal contribution of matrix layout is perhaps its greatest merit.  In a slider chest configuration, all pipes of a stop are lined up in a row.  The rows are aligned so all pipes of any one pitch are in a column.  Therefore the middle C pipe of a Trumpet would be in line with the middle C pipe of the 4' Principal.  The columns sit atop channels which fill with air when the corresponding note is played at the console.  Only the pipes whose slider is in the on position (as controlled by the draw knobs) will play.  When several registers are drawn, they all "breathe" together from a common wind supply.  This imparts a blend and focus to the sound, producing an ensemble reminiscent of an accomplished choir or orchestra.

The Goulding & Wood, Inc. slider and pallet wind chest benefits from all of these characteristics common to the finest examples of organ building throughout history.  With the exception of the electro-magnet that serves as a median between the console and the chest, the mechanical system is entirely wind-driven.  The pneumatic pull-downs use the chest wind pressure against itself to guarantee responsive action.  Further, the closed system alleviates the need for introducing large electro-mechanical motors to operate the pallets or stop actions.  The smooth, regular motion of the pneumatic motors create, in turn, a smooth pressurization of the tone channels.  Pipework is thus spared a jolting blast of air that can cause turbulence or even harsh articulation.

Key action is an important facet in organ design.  Direct, mechanical links enable organists to sensitively control the shading of the chest action.  However, this benefit is largely constricted to intimate pieces from the repertoire.  Both bombastic pieces, such as Widor's Toccata, and accompaniment, be it hymns, anthems or service music, require far less nuance in the subtle phrasing of individual notes.  On the other hand, service playing benefits from detached consoles, providing sight lines and the ability to watch directors, or even direct from the keyboard.  With tracker organs, keys that are removed from a direct mechanical linkage lose the sensitivity which is the hallmark of a good tracker action.  What remains is the cumbersome issues of mechanical couplers, lack of sub- and super- couplers and complications in laying out and maintaining the organ.  Electric key actions have been stigmatized by some of the unreliable and maintenance unfriendly systems developed in the first half of the twentieth century.  In actuality, reliability has much more to do with the quality of craftsmanship than the type of action.  Further, the use of digital controls and solid-state controls have produced electric action of unprecedented reliability, flexibility and projected longevity.

At Goulding & Wood, our focus has always been on instruments informed by the needs of liturgical musicians.  While we spend great energy ensuring our organs can play the rich repertoire masterfully, our fundamental concern is the ability of our instruments to accomplish all aspects of liturgical music - solo and accompanimental - with excellence.  We feel that the marriage of slider wind chests with reliable electronic key action provides the greatest tonal and practical benefits available to organists today.

Each instrument receives the exclusive attention of the entire team of craftsmen during the period of construction and installation.  Only one project is active at any given time, with the exception of a short amount of overlap at the end of the project for main chest construction on the subsequent instrument.  While our mechanical systems and tonal architecture have a consistency throughout our work, each design is unique.  We have no stock models and no formulas for stop lists, mechanical layouts or case designs.  The process of designing, building and installing an organ brings with it the opportunity to come into close association with representatives of the congregation.  We maintain a close communication throughout the course of the project, including sending many photographs of work in progress.  We welcome interested members of the congregation to visit our shop whenever possible, and we frequently host open houses when the organ is completed and tuned in the shop.  One of the greatest benefits from this highly personal approach is a sense of collaboration by which we continue to expand our understanding of the art of organ building as well as our circle of friends.

Casework and Console Appointments

Goulding & Wood organs participate actively in the liturgical and aesthetic properties of the church through their visual presence in the room.  Once thought superfluous or even injurious to the sound of the instrument, cases are much more than decorative add-ons; rather, the encasing of the organ focuses the sound while the round bodies of the display pipes blend the sound of individual pipes into a unified sonorous voice.  By the same token, the architecture of the room benefits from a collaboration with the organ as one of the largest elements.  Design approaches can begin from a premise of the organ as a piece of furniture set in the room or a premise of the organ as a member of the architectural structure.  Similarly, cases can either feature existing decorative elements, bringing the instrument into cohesion with the room, or they can tastefully stand apart from the room, enriching the stylistic range present.  With either approach, our case designers pay special attention to having the organ operate in close dialogue with the room, particularly in dictating the proportions of the display.  

Consoles serve both functional and decorative roles, and their design must fulfill both needs comprehensively.  From a practical perspective, our consoles provide organists with complete access to the instrument’s resources in a convenient, intuitive and ergonomic fashion.  Generous registrational assists, such as piston sequencers and numerous general and divisional pistons, allow for ease in navigating the sounds of the organ, yet we are careful not to clutter the console with useless gimmicks or contrivances.  A clean, elegant workspace encourages clean, elegant playing.  All consoles are meticulously crafted to the standard of the American Guild of Organists to further the ease and familiarity in playing.  Consoles also tend to be one of the more visually prominent pieces of furniture in the church, and we strive to make them worthy of close scrutiny.  Moldings on the console case, decorative wood music desks and interesting small details make the console a delight to the eye.  Increasing the pragmatic flexibility of the console, we provide mobility wherever useful, interchangeable wooden and clear music racks and fully-adjustable benches. Both consoles and cases are essential elements to the organ’s design, and they provide another avenue to support the musical and liturgical needs of the congregation the organ serves.

Click here to read more about our unique slider and pallet wind chests.

Click here to see pictures of our consoles and cases.