Voicing & Revoicing.
Developing and enhancing the tonal qualities of new and existing instruments. Thoughtful voicing involves shaping
emotionally-rich sounds by adjusting organ pipes using specialized tools. Our expert team skillfully balances
tonal elements and historical context, ensuring superior, cohesive sound in both new and existing instruments.
Freshly washed pipework, drying and awaiting final restoration.
Voicing.
In the world of organs, voicing is the act of modifying the qualities of a sound by manipulating the physical properties of an organ pipe. The qualities we can modify for a given pipe include amplitude (louder or softer), timbre or color (brighter, darker, rounder, changing the vowel - as if one were singing), and onset of speech (faster or slower, allowing the windsheet to move inside/outside the pipe in the first moment it’s played).
These infinitesimal changes to the pipe allow listeners to experience sounds that portray an emotion or feeling. It might be pleasant, such as comfort, happiness, or solace. It might equally be something rather darker, like uncertainty, intensity, or the unknown. Often, organs sound like the people who voiced them - just as the emotional state of an artist can be palpable in a work of visual art, the sum of the craftspeople and voicers can be felt and heard in a completed instrument.
Voicing.
A Greenleaf Organs, we use dozens of specialized tools to voice every pipe. In a moderately sized instrument, that amounts to an average of five or ten actions for each of the thousands of pipes. Our goal is to ensure a cohesive, colorful, versatile instrument by shaping the way a rank of pipes increases in volume as the notes ascend, how the timbre balances other ranks in the division of the organ, and how that functions in the broad conceptualization of the instrument - all within the specific acoustical properties of the physical space of the organ’s location.
There are four basic categories of organ pipes: principals (the quintessential ‘organ’ sound), flutes, strings, and reeds. The voicer’s job is to understand the tonal concept, the space the organ will inhabit, the history of organ repertoire in every style, and which combinations must be in balance with one another - making small changes to the pipes so that they are equally beautiful when that stop is played in a solo line and when it is used in a larger ensemble.
Image shows ten years of dirt and debris washed away, preparing pipes for new life.
Revoicing.
Revoicing involves making many of the same decisions as voicing on pipework that has already been playing in an instrument. Sometimes that means the instrument is being moved, requiring special consideration for the acoustical properties of the new space relative to the previous one. At other times, we’re revoicing an instrument so that it can better serve its original installation space.
Both cases require a careful analysis of the physical space, the way the instrument is to be used, and how each rank will function in the scope of the whole instrument. Revoicing, as opposed to building new pipework, is about maximizing the previously untapped potential in a rank of pipes - making them sound, at the least, better than new, and at best, exactly as a new rank would sound if we could control every aspect of its construction. Often, we encounter challenges of pipe construction like insufficient metal thickness, or inappropriate scale or mouth width. The team at Greenleaf have developed an exceptional skill in overcoming these challenges, largely because we aren’t afraid to take the necessary, often considerable, time and effort to do it.
Image shows us readying new ‘Haskell’ pipes for voicing that were destined for a residence organ with an 8 foot high ceiling.
Restorative Voicing.
At Greenleaf, we think it’s vital to honor the work of our predecessors and to preserve examples of their work for future generations. Everything we do is built upon the engineering development and artistic trajectory of the artisans that came before us, and restorative voicing presents an opportunity for careful stewardship of historic work. It requires an intimate understanding of the style and artistic goals of these organbuilders, as well as the broader musical-cultural context in which they crafted their instruments.
When we undertake a project that involves restorative voicing, we take particular care to use techniques and materials that would have been used in the original construction of the pipework, matching metal alloys and treatments where pipes must be replaced due to irreparable damage, and taking every possible step to restore extant pipes to their original condition. As we voice, rather than working within our ‘house’ style, we carefully match the style of the original instrument. Often, an organ has been altered throughout history, and we must turn to other examples of work by the same builder in a particular period of their work, as well as written documentation of their style and methods.
Restorative voicing can often take more time than the voicing of new pipework, depending upon the condition of the pipework and the extent of any alterations that have been made to the instrument over time. As with all restoration efforts, as much time is spent in research as is spent physically engaged in the restoration effort - sometimes even more.
Image shows sample 'Cs' on the windchest, reading for testing and initial voicing.