Pipe Organ Database

From The Kingston Whig-Standard (September 13, 1940): "Replacing an instrument which was in use for half a century, the magnificent organ now being installed in St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church incorporates every new development in modern organ construction ... Skilled organ makers are now working day and night under the direction of Franklin Legge, head of the company which made the instrument ... 'This is an electo-pneumatic pipe organ and embodies everything new in pipe organ design,' explained Mr. Legge. 'There is a five-horespower blower for the pipes and an electric generator for current used in the organ itself. The instrument is completely expressive.' Tonal effects are achieved by means of 'swell boxes' back of the pipes in the organ. There are three of these 'expression chambers', which can be acoustically controlled and also an inner echo expression box within the main chamber. This small chamber gives greater expression to some of the delicate stops. The four-manual organ has 40 stops, which represent the number of tonal instruments in the organ. A touch on one of the keys causes an electrical contact which produces the note. The old organ was a direct action instrument. Mr. Legge explained that the manuals, or keyboards, were directly attached to the instrument itself. The manuals on the Legge organ are some distance from the elaborate organ machinery. There is a full set of accessories and adjustable pistons on the organ. Under construction since the middle of July, the instrument represents hundreds of hours of skilled craftsmanship. Men have been three weeks installing the organ. To give some idea of the intricate machinery within the organ, Mr. Legge said there were more than one hundred thousand electrical circuits in the instrument. The youthful-looking maker has been manufacturing organs in Toronto for 25 years. Last year he installed two organs in churches in the West Indies and when this job is completed, he will install an instrument in a South American church."