Our Visit to the Estey Organ Museum 

Thank you Rodney for posting and sharing your visit with us all.

I bought an Estey Parlour organ locally this winter. Its serial number indicated a date of 1883 (older than the Eiffel Tower) and I absolutely love it. (Older than my Grandpa's birth as well in 1885).

Fantastic tour! So great to see that those historical buildings have been preserved and are being used today.

Big thanks for sharing your visit to the museum and for your wonderful artistry!

Thank you for this precious impression of the Estey organ museum

My dad worked there - 1954 to 1960!

I tuned and repaired an Estey 7-rank Theatre Pipe organ originally installed in the Princess Theatre in Bloomington, Indiana. It was moved to an Indiana University television studio before I arrived on campus in the 60's. I had no idea the extent of Estey.

Thanks for posting this! I went there recently because of it! Really enjoyed that Pipe Organ! The Reeds were also interesting

This video was a treat from start to finish. It was lots of fun to see the old buildings and the wonderful range of organs; and the informative commentary by the museum host was first rate. As always, I enjoyed your playing, but by far the best part of this video was your infectious enthusiasm, your delight and sense of wonder and excitement - visible everywhere - as you enjoyed and played these old organs. This museum is now on my list of must-see places to take my family. Thanks so much!

such a delightful and excellent video...Thanks, so much, Rodney!!

Great job as usual Rodney! I visited Brattleboro last summer and really enjoyed visiting the Estey Organ Museum and a few other Estey organs around town. Thanks for making this video and helping to spread the word.

Fascinating and interesting at the same time! I like very much your organs and their wonderfull music! Watching this video I felt like a kid in a candy store! Thank you very much for sharing this excelent video!

The action was great! The response was fast and and worked very well. Whoever restored that pipe organ did a wonderful job - they set the windchests far apart from each other so anyone could walk between them and look, listen and feel the wind.

Thanks Dib! I was very excited at the opportunity to visit it, as you can tell by my giggling like a little girl ;)

I love seeing your smile when he's explaining the jigsaw. That's the smile on my face this whole video! Thank you for making this awesome educational video. It's amazing to see people so intrigued about organs :)

Simply AWESOME! Love the pipe reed organs, wish I could hear someone play my Cornish like you do!

am enjoying watching this again...maybe....just maybe I'll convince my hubby that we need to go look and see...especially in the fall..my hope and prayers are to drive our RV there!...Can't wait to see your latest trip! I'm afraid I'll be tempted to buy one!

A sad but inevitable demise. And then came Yamaha, Roland ... and many others. This museum is something else to add to my bucket list. Thanks, Rodney.

WONDERFUL Rodney! Wow, has the look of everything changed so much since I last saw those buildings in the 80's. WOW! I would NEVER have believed the comeback that street has made and how well those buildings look today. Thank goodness all wasn't knocked-down in the name of "progress" and some Plywood marvel(?) build in its place with genuine Flakeboard of course so as to be "up to code." So happy for you and your family that you could take this trip. :-) Craig

Thanks, I have ridden past there many times, but never had the opportunity to visit the museum. I have played both an Estey reed organ an electric model. The Reed organ was a most humbling experience.

Amazing. We had an Estey Opus 1921 in our home in the 1970's.

Thanks! The videos taken are just a small portion of the many fine details that are still there. I could have spent a day there looking over everything!

Great Video! You looked like a kid in a candy store for the first time! It is obvious that you had a fun time in the museum.

Nice job and so nice to see the lingering footage over some items unlike most videos today. Thanks!

thanks for posting this! I would love to see/hear complete pieces on each organ with a brief description about it, that would be fantastic! the sound of that reed organ at 3:09 wow!

AMAZING that so much of the factory buildings survive, including much of the equipment and everything! Remarkable! Is an eventual goal to get one of every model Estey organ that they built? I think that would be a worthy goal! (That would probably be a couple thousand organs). Do they have enough room? Is any part of the factory set up to be a concert hall type venue, with a medium-size stage, and good seating? (...maybe even a rotunda-type theatre?) I think this could be a great idea... to have outside musicians come in and give concerts using some of the instruments in the museum, which could be brought on and off of the stage as needed... I think that could bring in more people and help keep the museum afloat!

Rodney, THANKS!!! Really enjoyed your trip to the Estey factory. My old organ is an Estey so it was very nice to see where it came from. Camera work was really steady and I assume it was your wife who is really becoming "the videographer". Thanks again to you both!

Very nice production. I enjoyed this!

Finally made a visit after years of trying. Its has very limited hours, and not really on the way to anywhere. I loved the fact that you are encouraged to play everything and anything, from the tiny pocket organs, to the massive pipe organ. My son really loved that crank-organ at 4:30. I pulled over a chair and cranked for about 30 minutes for him! There is a pressure meter on the side, so you can take breaks... short breaks.

Thanks for posting the video. I don't know much about organs other than my grandmother had one made by the Estey Co. I have been searching for more information about it and I think this museum might be a great starting point!

FANTASTIC INSTRUMENTS !

Thanks so much for the video Rodney. It's great to see the instruments and it's nice to know that the buildings still stand. I did enjoy the 'Teddy Bears Picnic' too. :)

Thanks Mike! Lori does pretty good with my little camera. I was thinking the same thing as I was by the elevator by the shipping dock, thinking of all the organs that passed by there, and all the people involved with it.

Very cool :) thanks for shooting and uploading this.

Fantastic. I think you had a lot of fun. I still can't understand why the production of reedorgans was stoped. Thank you for sharing this amaizing video whit us.

Great video and Organ Museum!

What a wonderful site, I love to see original industrial buildings, if the original product is still there even better, and to see and here organs where they were made , it's all too much, so thanks Rodney, I look forward to your next visit, on YT of course. If you've not been offered a position as the PR man, they are mad at Estey, lol, thanks a million! :))

Thanks for the comment. I always consider a reed organ being a completely different instrument from a pipe organ, like comparing a piano to an accordion - there is no similar feature to compare other than it has white and black keys. I don’t think they are inferior, but different. In fact I think they are much more expressive than a pipe organ since you can control the bellows (as long as a blower was not installed). But as you say, they are hearty and can work for generations.

love it when you broke out into BWV 577 "Fugue a la Gigue". very nice!!

I`ve repaired a few of those models in my time lovely tone

I have an Estey mahogany case two manual, pedal church reed organ with the crank on the side, original bench and music rack. I also have a Chickering square grand piano, Gothic carved design all around the case which has mother of pearl inlay Chickering name above the keyboard along with two oval oil victorian paintings, it's fabulous!

Great experience! Will return again!

Thanks! The "kid in a candy store" or "child in a sweet shop" sums it up for me :-)

Thanks so much for divulging this to the RU-vid community! I wonder if they built harmoniums as well? OHS and AGO conventions could have a field day here.

Thanks for the briefing on how Estey & Co. made harmonia for a century. Would they had some three-manual-and-pedal models with ranks up to 1' pitch on selected divisions; the 1-1/3' and 1' reeds would have stood in nicely for the Mixtur IV of a pipe organ. Wonder how much of Estey's former clientele Allen, over in Pennsylvania, landed with the then-new digital models upon Estey closing shop?

A wonderful museum!

Thanks, that was so cool!

Thank you! The trip to the museum was a lot of fun. Just wait to see how excited I will be when we visit the museum in the Netherlands! :)

Really fun video. Extra credit points for the Teddy Bears' Picnic on reed organ!

Sometimes I get a little over enthusiastic, but it really was a lot of fun for me. The camera did not do any justice for the sound of these organs, as you can see by the video I was very suprised by the sound, especially the pipe top! Thanks so much for commenting!

The invention of the electrostatic reed organ by the Everett Organ Co. in 1929 found another great use for precision hand crafted reeds. Although the reeds were not used acoustically, or even amplified acoustically. Instead they were induced with a high voltage electrostatic charge & used electronically for their harmonic content. See article- ' Wurlitzer 4600 Series Organs NSHOS ' for a very informative description of the electrostatic reed organ. Ken Griffin played the 4600 on many records.

Thank God for having the rare opportunity to visit Estey Museum through your camcorder! Thank you, dear Rodney :-)

Wow!! I can only echo everything said by "fishingbooks." What a great documentary: if only all the factories had had the good sense to film their businesses at the time, what a treasure-trove that would be. Anyway, we have you instead, and we should be grateful for that. Well done once again; where to next, I wonder?

I played an Estey pipe organ for a couple of years at the First Baptist Church in Ogdensburg NY. The pipes were behind a screen. The console was quite a distance from the pipework. I think it was pneumatic action.

Brilliant!

Amazing! Someone actually brought in an old Estey pump organ into my recycling plant today.

Fantastic video! I've always loved the sound of the pump organ (or harmonium as they're more commonly known in the UK). Sadly these wonderful instruments are not very popular over here, as they are often in need of repair and the more ornate ones take up a lot of space. Hopefully more people will realise what an amazing instrument the harmonium is and start giving them a new home - after all, with their typical pedal operation they're very environmentally friendly and good exercise :-)

Neat, the reed organ is kind of a lost art. There are a few artists who sill use them in modern recordings, and it's really cool. The workmanship on these vintage pieces is always impressive. Everyone wanted to be the best, and not the cheapest.

Fascinating!

Fantastic! I will have to go there next time I am in the Boston area.

back in 1915 or so, there were two very unique organs installed from this company. 1 was at the Waldof Astoria and the 2nd was at the Villa Lewaro in Irvington, NY. Madame C. J. Walker's home.

Thanks for the information!

Yes! the 2 manual and 3 manual with pedal cranked by hand. Very nice.

Hello Rodney. I've recently come across your videos and am very impressed with your knowledge and talent. I was recently gifted a Reed organ from wife. It is a New Haven Organ Co., New Haven Conn. parlor or salon organ, I think, as it doesn't have and doesn't appear to have ever had a hutch. So far I've not found any info on this company. I've not checked for a serial number yet it to look inside as of yet. It does play but not optimally but doesn't appear to be in bad shape and the cabinet is beautiful for a small piece. Thanks again.

I didn't even know this place existed still. Maybe I need to plan a vacation soon and go visit it.

Thank you!

I recommend it! And while you are at it, drive a few hundred more miles west and visit Ontario Canada :)

¡Qué maravilla de lugar!

A wonderful video! The larger instruments had truly impressive sound (for reed organs). And you, sir, are a fine organist. The Lemmens and the Bach "Gigue" Fugue are no "parish organist" pieces!

What is the name of the song you played at 3:12 - 3:34? I am looking for this song for so long!

Maternal Grandmother was organist for a church and bought a Estey salon organ with a lovely top used in 1922. I have it now but, have no heirs. Is there a way to donate it?

Yup, Lori is getting pretty good with the camera, it was great to not have to worry about video while I was looking at the organs.

Thanks!

There is an Estey Pipe Organ in the Oakland Scottish Rite Temple. Unfortunately it's a mess.

From 4:36 - 4:47 you are playing an Estey Style T reed organ. The Estey Style T case differs from the Estey Style G case. The Estey Style T case is narrower - 5 ft. 7 in. and was furnished without upper facade pipe top unless otherwise ordered. The Estey Style G case is wider - 6 ft. 8 in. and was furnished with upper façade pipe top only. Otherwise, the Estey Style T and the Estey Style G has the same action including the same sets of reeds.

I loved your video... I am student of organ in a Church "Christian Congregation in Brazil". I want to know this museum. Thanks.

I have a single manual Estey organ which i was able to get in an antiques shop for just £40! the vox humana stop is faulty and produces a loud machine-like noise but it's almost perfect.

There is currently a Stevens Piano & Organ Co. organ ( that looks like a piano) on Columbus Ohio on clist for $50 that needs saved! It's maker apparently learned his craft at Estey.

excellent!!!

But would i be able to try the organs if visiting the museum?

It is good that there is some sense in this world yet where the 'red tape' from some bureaucrat decides that it is not suitable for the public to go anywhere near. We get a lot of that around here, where those buildings would have been demolished years ago since nobody would be able to afford to re-engineer them… The buildings are very impressive, even with building #5 half burned down a few years ago - a real marvel of old technology that Brattleboro should be proud of!

Dieses Harmonium [Chapel Organ] verfügt über einen herrlichen Klang!

What is the song being played at the beginning of the video

I have played the sister to the big pneumatic instrument at the end...it's at Trinitarian Parish of Castine, ME, and a delightful instrument.

ps: The name "Greene" is (as I remember) an old English way of spelling. In fact, there was an English Composer with the name "Maurice Greene" in the 1700's. Among other things, he composed a number of works for Organ. I played one of his "Voluntaries" in a recital once in Granby CT. at South Congregational Church. "C" :-)

Estes used to make practice organs with free reeds and electric blowers -- with two 5-octave manuals and a full, 2-1/2-octave radiating pedalboard. I knew one professional organist, now deceased, who had one in his home. Whatever happened to them?

I was extremely jealous at 2:00 because of how slow you can pump to make big chords, where on mine you have to pump your soul out to play, I need to do some bellows repairs :D

It's insane to think that my organ was at that very place!

What was the first piece he playing on the pipe organ

@UCIzs2sMcM_Fztt8xPFX4sSg Some of these Reed Organs at the time transpose up a half step from Concert Pitch meaning that they're in the Key of C Sharp.

How did the pneumatic action action on the pipe organ feel?

lol... :) I have enough going on to take on more PR jobs, but this was an easy little project - I just had to be myself! I'm working on another video at another site that we visited too - it was a real reed organ vacation!

Whats the song you played at the beginning and end?

What were the pieces played? does anyone know...?

Salivating over the double manual pipe top organ at 9:21

Does the elevator work? From what I can see, I would guess no.

You had mentioned that Estey also made electronic organs? What happened to the company and why did it close in 1960 if they had produced electronic organs? I believe the name Estey was used again for electronic organs many years ago by an another manufacture for Fletcher Music Centers.

We have restored quite a few reed-organs down the years. Their sound is inferior to that to the pipe-organ and though you can renovate them to the point of bieng in new condition, I always feel the end result is not worth the effort. Financially speaking, they are a non-starter (to recondition.) On the other hand, nothing lasts (as a piece of mechanism) like a reed-organ and you have to admire the work that went into them. Very interesting. Many thanks for the upload.

Does anyone know the best place where can get a reed organ in the UK?

Hello my friend very good video.