Welcome to the website of the Kelvin Smith Residence Organ. This project began in about 1993 with the purchase of a 10 rank Moller organ and its installation in the garage of our home. When the opportunity arose (about 1996), we built a home designed for the organ, in Paris Idaho, and have continued work on it as time and money have allowed. 34 ranks currently play from a 4 manual drawknob console, and some 40 other are in storage or in various stages of installation.

The above picture shows the new facade of the organ as of February 2008. Three ranks of pipes are incorporated into the facade. 25 notes of the 16' Principal (which plays on pedal and great) are used, including the three center pipes and all the pipes in the wings. 16 pipes of the Pedal 8' Octave occupy the lower middle section, and ten notes of the great 8' Diapason are in the upper diagonal flats. All 51 of the facade pipes play.

The recent project on the organ has been the installation of a new windchest for the great division. This was a custom designed electric slider chest built by Organ Supply Industries of Erie, Pennsylvania. This and the rebuilding of the facade had to be done together as the old facade had to be removed to get the new windchest in. Pictures of this along with more information can be seen here

The organ is housed in a room specially built for it, with over 500 square feet of space for the pipe chambers, 600 square feet of open listening space. The ceiling is 30 high at the peak. The room is about 52,000 cubic feet in volume. There are about two seconds of reverberation. The room is acoustically designed to serve as a "soundboard" for the organ. The tones produced by organ pipes need a space with hard surfaces to reflect and mix the sounds.

The specification includes a wide variety of colorful and mild flutes and strings as well as a hefty chorus of diapasons and reeds with an emphasis on round tones and plenty of fundamental.

Here are some recordings from since the rebuild:

J. S. Bach: Herzlich tut mich verlangen
(Great: Bourdon 8' and Twelfth 2 2/3'; Positiv: Nason Flute; Pedal: Subbass 16, Bourdon 8)

J. S. Bach: Vater Unser im HImmelreich
(Great: Bourdon 8' and Waldflute 4'; Pedal: Subbass 16, Bourdon 8)

J. S. Bach: Wir glauben all an einen Gott
(Great: Diapasons 8-4-2, Mixture; Pedal: Principal 16, Subbass 16, Octave 8, Choral Bass 4, Tuba 16)

J. S. Bach: Prelude and Fugue in C Minor
(Prelude
Great: Diapasons 8-4-2, Mixture;
Pedal: Principal 16, Subbass 16, Octave 8, Choral Bass 4, Tuba 16;
Swell: Geigen Diapason 8, Octave 4, Flageolet 2
Fugue
Great: Diapasons 8-4-2;
Pedal: Principal 16, Subbass 16, Octave 8, Choral Bass 4;
Swell: Geigen Diapason 8, Octave 4, Flageolet 2
The mixture and tuba are added near the end, and most all stops for the last few chords. )

Specification

*Pipes marked with an asterisk were once in the Salt Lake Tabernacle Organ