The Mormon Tabernacle Choir is an iconic symbol of out faith. So is the Tabernacle organ. Take a look at your hymnal, and there it is – instantly recognizable. A long time ago, I had a close-up encounter with this famous instrument.
When I was a boy, I had the privilege of singing in General Conference in a Primary Children’s Choir. We sang in both the Friday Primary Session, and the Saturday Morning session. (Yes, there used to be Friday sessions of Conference.)
We practiced frequently, and on one of the days leading up to the Conference, we finally got to rehearse in the Tabernacle itself. It was exciting. We took our assigned places in those very seats in front of the grand organ. I found myself sitting in one of the back rows, very near to the enormous pipes. One of the boys voiced what all of us were thinking:
“Are those pipes gonna be really loud? Will we be able to hear anything?”
That’s when I learned something surprising:
The giant, golden pipes of the Tabernacle organ don’t do anything. They just stand there and look pretty. They are just for show.
Of all the golden pipes that make up the facade of the organ, it turns out that only ten of them actually make any sound. The largest golden pipes are mute – and they aren’t even gold. They are made out of wood. Pine, to be precise. (Sorry to spill the beans.)
Having been excited to hear these giant pipes blow, I was a little disillusioned, and was somewhat irritated that we had been duped. I wondered if the front was just for show, then where did the music come from?
Fortunately, I was able to find out. During a break, we were taken on a little tour behind the facade. We were all surprised to see that there are rows and rows of pipes back there. 206 rows. 11,623 pipes. over eleven THOUSAND pipes! It was mind-boggling.
And they aren’t fancy. At all. Many are square-shaped and made from wood. The metal pipes are made out of tin, zinc, and lead. Nothing golden here.
The longest pipe is 32 feet long. The shortest, 3/4 of an inch.
Lessons learned by this primary boy?
1) A primary boy can exercise remarkable self-control if the TV cameras are on.
2) Just because something may look impressive doesn’t mean it actually is.
3) The real work doesn’t get done by the flashy and fancy out in front. It gets done by a huge variety of regular instruments, all doing their part, and working together to make it happen.
Have a wonderful Conference this weekend!
Check back often – I will be resuming Conference updates this year, as I will be watching from the comfort of my own home.
Feast!
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MMM, the original organ built in the 1860s was built by British-born Joseph Ridges. He was converted to the Church (while in Australia) by his friend, Luke Syphus, my great-great-grandfather. Luke’s wife Christiana was an organist and Brother Ridges built her an organ which she played regularly. When the first tabernacle was built (without the domed roof), Brigham Young needed an organ and found out about Brother Ridges’ talent. He asked him build one. Christiana’s organ was given to the tabernacle until the new organ could be built. He then supervised the building of the one you know and love. Luke, a sawyer by trade, helped him search out the right kind of pine for the pipes. It was found on Pine Valley Mountain in Washington County, UT, just north of St. George. Kinda cool, don’tcha think?
Very cool! Props to your ancestors.
As a teenager, I had the opportunity to play the organ in the tabernacle. I was at a mission reunion with my parents years (and years and years) ago. Alexander Schreiner was giving us a tour. While sitting in the choir seats, he asked if anyone wanted to play the organ. I timidly raised my hand, approached the organ, and sat down. Following his instruction, I reached out with one finger and played a note. ONE note! Brother Schreiner immediately stopped me and asked if I had all the hymns memorized. What? Is that even possible? He told me that after I had memorized all the hymns, I was welcome to come back and play the organ. He was such a great man! And what a wonderful memory! I never did get around to memorizing all the hymns. So I guess you could call me the big fake tabernacle organ player. 😉
I love it, every little piece plays its part and is integral to the end result which is beautiful music. Also that the flashiest and what appear to be the amazing gilded pieces don’t really do much at all, they are for show. Says a lot, what an amazing metaphor MMM! The music is one of my favorite parts of conference, when I was little I used to watch it on TV and love when the camera panned past the choir while they were singing. There were several people from my ward in the choir at that time so it was even more exciting to see them on tv. What a fortunate boy you were to be able to sing in that choir and get a tour of the inner workings of the organ, thanks for sharing this!
So the pipes really were functional at one time, but have been retired? In that case, it’s nice that they’ve been kept on display.
My understanding is that the big ones weren’t ever functional.
I actually think the pipes behind the facade are more impressive than the facade. I am a saxophone player, and love the science behind acoustics. All those different pipes, all made out of different materials, and in different shapes have different pitches and timbers. In short, the “normal” instruments behind the facade are absolutely amazing, as each pipe was made to do one job, and make one sound at one pitch. Think of all the work the organ specialist has to do to maintain and tune the organ.
Then, to have that relatively little set of keyboards to do all the work of running the pipes is nothing short of amazing.
Don’t think that facade of pipes doesn’t do anything. That facade creates the lag we are all familiar with as sound fights to get out from behind the wooden fake pipes. Once the sound escapes it then is deflected, almost immediately, off the back wall before it goes out to the audience, and shapes the reverb we all hear. The wooden pipes also absorb the bass, adding to the power of the organ, and spreading the bass more evenly throughout the tabernacle.
Then, if you put your ears up to the “pipe holes” in the facade you would hear overtones. They aren’t as loud, obviously, but again, add to the overall timber and strength of the organ.
Lastly, the facade helps the choir to hear each other. If you didn’t have the facade, you’d have the entire force of the pipes at your back, and you’d never hear your neighbor, much less the rest of the choir. I’m sure it also saves choir members from hearing loss as well.
Read this too:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormon_tabernacle_organ
Fascinating stuff – thanks!
This is awesome! Science and music, two of my favorite subjects. Love it! Thanks for sharing!
I got to PLAY that organ a few weeks ago thanks to Richard Elliott. It was a pretty cool experience…probably once in a lifetime for me. We went backstage and saw the pipes. You should see the monster in the basement that blows the air for all of those pipes!!
Congrats! I read that the organ used to be powered by water from City Creek. Would have loved to see that!
Seriously, only ten of them do anything?? Incredible!
I really love this story. Its a great analogy for the fact that there has to be good works going on behind the scenes to produce good fruit. The two in conflict cannot co-exist. I have a talk coming up…i think i might use this. Please.
Of course!
This reminded me of the first time I entered the tabernacle and realized how “small” the chandeliers were. The camera always made them look huge, so I was surprised that they really were not. Having the right perspective makes a big difference.
I love your post! Thanks for bringing a different perspective to something we probably all take for granted….
I found this little tidbit on the Mormon Tabernacle Choir website:
“Some of the famous gilded cylindrical pipes in the organ’s facade are made of wood staves fashioned of native Utah pine, retained from the original pioneer organ built in the 1860s.”
I’m crushed.
But such a good lesson, don’t ya think?
I know this is a little off topic, but the pipes always make me think of Freddy the talking flute from HR Pufnstuf.
Have a great conference weekend.