The Estey Philharmonic Organ
by Casey Pratt

Reprinted from Vol. XXI, No. 2, Summer 2002 of the *ROS Quarterly*, journal of the Reed Organ Society, Inc., and used with permission of the editor. COPYRIGHTED with ALL OTHER RIGHTS RESERVED. 

       Since my discovery that some reed organs had greater capacity for music than others, I have sought out larger and larger instruments. I came to find out that some manufacturers had continued to develop (whether they were improving them musically is up to the listener) reed organs by introducing larger reeds, and attempt to overcome the reputation of reed organs as domestic and feminine artifacts.

Thanks to Prof. Whiting’s efforts, the researcher is armed with a fair chronology of the Estey Organ Company’s output.[1]  Illustrations are listed on the photopage of the case, the internals and the reeds.

       Estey proclaimed the introduction of the Philharmonic Organ in their 1886 catalog[2]. This model had four rows of reeds plus Sub-Bass and sold for $500. The smaller Philharmonic Chapel Organ[3] was $290. 

        Their catalog of 1890[4] offered two styles of Philharmonic organ. Style 110 with 4 sets of reeds was priced at $600, and the larger 112 was $700. That same year  the 2 manual and pedal practice organ sold for $600.

        What enabled Estey to charge that much for a single manual organ? The difference in these two organs goes far beyond price and case styles or even the number of reeds. What did, in fact, set the Philharmonic Organ apart from lesser models were the reeds contained within. I believe that Mason & Hamlin were the first makers to produce in quantity a reed organ where the reeds were not contained in rows directly beneath the width of the keys. The M&H Liszt  reeds required another mechanism interposed between the key and the tracker pin to translate the downward movement of the key across to where the valves lay. Estey’s response to the Liszt Organ was the Philharmonic organ, but patents held by M&H required Estey to develop their own exclusive methods of overcoming the obstacles of enlarged reeds. 

       Oversize reeds need more air, so the enlarged bellows and cases were necessitated.  The typical Philharmonic Organ case is 65 inches wide, (without candle stands - 56”)  and 28 inches deep. Different case heights were produced; a very low-top model 45 inches tall was made for chapel use, and the taller and more ornate V -style case was used where the organ was place against a wall. 

       Whereas M&H used a very neat set of wooden levers that fanned out and brought the large reed cells under the keys,  Estey used a device much like a wire octave coupler to spread the key effort off center and reach the tracker pins. This spreader board is stacked above the coupler tables, raising by 3/4”  the height of the keys from the floor. Along with tall reed cells, the use of stacked ranks of reeds accounts for another  1¼” of height. The result is a very tall action, crowding one’s knees under the keyboard.

       The use of the spreader board  meant that the bass and treble ranks are physically separated by a blank space in the reed boards of about 3 inches.  Estey took advantage of the extra room by deploying the five ranks of reeds (in the style 112) so as to use the 3” gap to permit a much larger sub-bass to be used than had ever been used before.

       The action of the style 112 Philharmonic Organ is 54” wide, just fitting within the cabinet.  From the open back panel all one sees is a vast lay of pine swell shades. The swells all lie flat as shutter slats, until they are opened. There are three swell panels behind the spreader board, and one in the front.   

        The Philharmonic Organ uses a single chest design, with two separate reed boards, front and rear. Each reed board contains two or three ranks of reeds. Under each reed board is a set of pallet valves. The front and rear pallet valves are independently adjusted with buttons on threaded metal shafts. The adjustment must be done, however, with the action removed. The foundation ranks are all in the bottom rows of reed cells, with the solo ranks being stacked above.  The Philharmonic uses the jumbo reeds for the 16’ Bourdon/Basset,  the 8’ Diapason/Melodia, and the 4’ Viola/Flute ranks. The Regal set is made with the Philharmonic-scale reeds. The Choral set uses stamped-rivet reeds. For clarity,  I have provided photographs to show the relative sizes of the reeds. Estey’s terminology is vexing to enthusiasts. In the 1880’s it probably seemed a good marketing ploy to have a Philharmonic Church Organ, a Philharmonic Organ, and a Harmonic Organ, but today, unless you have at with a screwdriver, you may not be able to determine with certainty  what is contained inside. Philharmonic Reeds, as hawked in Estey’s literature, are wider-tongued than their common reeds. But it  was only in the Philharmonic Organ that wide-scale reeds were used, fitted to extra-wide frames.  The wide framed reeds took advantage of their increased mass to render a fuller sound, free from the sideways flexing that would impart unwelcome upper harmonics. The wider and taller reed cells and the voluminous area under the swells further rounded out the sound. 

       The 112 -style organ pictured has 318 reeds. 183 of these are the jumbo reeds. Another 74 are basically normal-scale reeds with broad tongues. The 48 Harp Aeolienne reeds are narrow-tongued with rivet-less construction, in low, narrow cells.  Large pedal reeds with 7/8” frames are used in the sub-bass. 

       The Choral is located at the rear of the action, close to the sound openings on the back of the case. The cells are typically tall, and shallow. The relative depth of reed cells allows some variety of tone.  Shallow for a reedier timbre, and deeper for rounder sound. In the case of the Choral, the cells are very shallow, so that the heel of the reed is on line with the mute leather. I believe this is why rivet-less reeds were used; that was the only way a good seal could be assured. Otherwise the rivet would have been interfering with the mute leather.

       The Regal reeds are above the Flute in the front row. Their rivets are stamped with a cross-hatching, denoting that they are “Philharmonic Scale”, meaning that they are the widest tongues available in a standard-width frame. They have been voiced very bright indeed. They are able to sing out over the full organ, and add considerable zest to the registration. They are also tuned as a celeste.  It is important to note that they share a pallet with the Diapason, which is the other half of the Vox Jubilante. I have observed that when both reeds of a celeste share a pallet, the effect is very pleasing, much moreso that when they use disparate valves.

       The jumbo reeds found in this organ are beautifully made and finished. They speak on very light wind, and really sing when pushed to their limit. They were very easy and gratifying to tune. In fact the tuning job was much easier than I anticipated. The huge area of swells, which I initially saw as a serious impediment to tuning, are segmented for partial removal as needed. The mutes over the 16’ Basset/Bourdon are quickly removed with a few screws.  The lowest seven or so of the 16’ rank, which ends on the 32’F, have weighted tongues, the additional material being another brass strip riveted to the tip of each tongue. This laminated construction detail enabled the voicing curve to be fully realized unto the bottom note. Try that with reeds milled from solid 1/8” thick brass. Too often the tip will snap!  Of course, the reed cells are extremely tall, and wider than in ordinary organs. And the sound shows it. There is a certain fullness and yet distinctness of each note. In fact, when I was tuning and finishing the style 112 organ in my home, I realized that the sound was too much for the room; a condition that has been remedied by its installation in a room of about 15,000 cubic feet, with plaster walls on brick, and a hardwood floor. The sound now blooms in this large space. I imagine that it would sound better still in a room of churchly proportions.

       The Diapason and Flute rows are made available with soft stops. In the bass ends, these take the form of secondary flaps that are attached to the mutes. When the stop is open half, these flaps remain seated on the sound board, forming a chamber open on the ends. The tone is thoroughly subdued, yet the pitch does not suffer. The treble soft stops are accomplished with a strip of wood attached to the sound board just in front of the reeds. When the mute opens half, the leather facing just meet this strip,  forming a chamber. Fully open, the leather clears the strip, and the reeds sing out at full volume. The strip may have some effect on the sound of the full stop; were it not there, surely the harmonic structure would be altered somewhat.

       The only compromise on the tonal design was the Harp AEolienne; The reeds are at opposite ends of the bass end. One rank is above the Viola reeds, the other in the rear above the Bourdon. The very best AEolian harps share not only a common mute, but  the same valves. This apparently allows the tones to interact and blend. Here, not only are they physically apart, but they are available as separate ranks from the stopboard. The louder set is called the Cornettino. The softer (and flat) one is the Cornet Echo. What were they thinking?

       Two of the swell sections are available to be opened with stops; the Flute’s swell, and the Diapason’s. The vox humana fan is in a position where the Diapason, Choral, and Basset are affected. 

       The huge Sub Bass is operated through backfalls attached to the keys. Thankfully, it is not affected by the coupler. The Bass chest towers above all else in the action. Wind is directed from it through a wide, thin trunk. Heavy irons fasten the otherwise off-balance structure to the rest of the organ. In this way, when a bass note is struck, the resonance is transmitted to the stopboard, the keys, and the fingers of the player!

       The large chambers formed by the swells contribute to the powerful but mellow sound. The soft stops are valuable, because they reduce the volume enough so that it can be played during interludes.   

       The restoration of this style 112 included recovering the bellows. I was very surprised to see a set of Estey bellows finished in clear varnish instead of black shellac. I was also amazed at some of the details: The lifters (feeders) are made with floating raised panels, like a cabinet door. The joints of these assemblies are sealed with leather strips on the inside. Each lifter has three flap valves! The flap valves are tacked on at the top, and hang free at the bottom, except that they are retained by a wide staple inserted into the lifter board, and prevented from escaping this staple by a strip of pine weighted with several lead slugs, and silenced by a thick chunk of felt. The flaps freely billow open when they have to, and the weights make them return to a taut state at the end of their cycle. This allows the large amount of exhausted air to freely exit the lifters. Were the flap valves simply tacked on,  the return spring would need to be heavier, increasing the effort required to pump.

      The reed valves and their guide pins were cleaned. The upper action was cleaned,  a couple of mutes were re-covered, and the reeds cleaned. The keys were polished and leveled (adjusting buttons provided!), and the spreader board and both coupler tables had their felt bushings replaced. The case was stripped and French polished, and the fabric behind the eight fretsawed sound grilles was replaced with a matching soft yellow cloth. Unfortunately, parts for the hand-pumping system were missing, so that feature couldn’t be restored.

      The reeds were tuned to A=440. I think it is impossible to stress enough the importance of tuning to the ultimate usefulness of a reed organ. I believe that the harmonic structure of the tone of reed instruments aggravates a poor tuning, making the full organ sound little better than a mournful wail. If the organ is brought to a respectable state of tune, it can be a useful instrument. If, however the instrument is brought to mechanical and tonal perfection, it can be considered a virtual artist’s palette. Sadly, the general public is more wont to encounter reed organs of the first two classes; the penultimate expressions of this genre of instrument being great exceptions. 

       There are a few shortcomings to Philharmonic Organs, such as the non-standard keyboard height and low knee-space.[5] There are a few oddities, like the proliferation of 2’ bass stops in my example. There are questions about the tonal balance (the 4’ flute should be more assertive) and it could benefit from a treble 2’ stop (but what organ couldn’t ?)  Yet the startling ability of this organ to rattle windows and shake the floor hints at its potential.

      I wonder if the even-larger style 114, which boasted a second treble 16’ (Clarionet) and a Wald Flute 2’, was the same scale of action, or was it found impossible to wind that many large reeds with foot power alone?   I would be happy to hear of any experiences from fellows who have worked on larger Philharmonics. 

      The Philharmonic Organ managed to deliver a lot of versatility and sound in an easily-transported package. Although the instrument weighs in excess of 300lbs, it is still smaller and lighter than any single-manual Vocalion or Phonorium. Estey continued to make reed organs though the fifties, but no reference to Philharmonic Organs or similar-sized actions appears in their literature after 1914.[6]  They had phased out the large-scale actions in favor of  actions such as the 98 and 83. The 98 action has the same number and dispositions of reeds as the 112 Philharmonic, but uses a smaller action, and contains normal-width reeds. The 83 action uses an upper and lower reed chest, and has six sets of reeds, in normal width frames. Each of these organs is a fine, reliable and serviceable organ, but they lack the full-bodied sonority that only the big reeds can offer.   

Stop list Estey Philharmonic Organ, style 112: