A common story of many an American organ builder's career is that they apprenticed in America and subsequently traveled to Europe where they experienced the work of the old masters in Groningen, Arlesheim, Upsala, or some small village in Friesland. Having embraced these historic ideals, they returned to America to establish themselves as builders of modern tracker organs.
Martin Pasi's pursuit of the art of organ building is a similar adventure in reverse. He was born the fifth of six children on December 21, 1953 in Bregenz, Austria, on Lake Constance. Martin trained at Rieger Orgelbau in Schwarzach, just six miles from his home, then discovered the fervor and passion of historic organ building in America. Ultimately he fulfilled his dream of becoming an organ builder near Tacoma, Washington, where he builds organs that are very much in the spirit of the old masters.
After completing a business course in high school, Martin worked in a local office long enough to discover that the world of commerce was not for him. His father, Kassian Pasi, had been a wood worker and to Martin, working with his hands made more sense than filling out forms. Rieger Orgelbau was near his home and he applied for an apprenticeship. (See sidebar on European training for organ builders.) His first year at Rieger was spent in the woodworking department building organ cases. At the end of that time, he completed a case on his own. In his second year, he was assigned to the console division, then in general assembly. As an apprentice in that department, Martin began to travel with pipe voicers to do field installations of new organs.
It was his good fortune to assist a voicer who was impressed with his skill and his ear. This led to an assignment in the voicing department for the remainder of his apprenticeship. Work in voicing took him to Australia, Africa, the U.S., and many places in Europe. On one occasion he was sent to voice an organ in Liberia--the organ blower was not installed correctly, and had burned out! To complete the voicing, the organ had to be pumped by hand.
On a trip to Cleveland, Ohio, Martin visited Charles Ruggles' organ shop to borrow some tools. By chance he met Charles' sister Barbara and the rest is an organbuilder's fairy tale. They were married and traveled coast to coast voicing for Rieger. With his fate sealed by marriage, he joined the Karl Wilhelm shop and moved to St. Hilaire, Quebec.
In his new home, Martin discovered vastly different aspects of North American and European organ building. Acoustics (or a lack thereof) were apparent; however, one of the real benefits that Martin discovered in his new homeland was that churches are heated. A winter installation or rebuilding project in a frosty European cathedral can be a real trial and it was a relief to work in comfortable surroundings during the winter! The reader can imagine how quickly pipes heat to the voicer's touch when they are far below room temperature--and how many times they have to be cut before the pitch stabilizes.
Martin's initial curiosity about historic organs began when he met Susan Tattershall, who was working in Rieger's restoration department. In 1986, while working on the west coast, he met David Dahl and Paul Fritts at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington. There, he discovered the energy and commitment to the historic style of organ building that is the hallmark of David Dahl, Paul Fritts, and Ralph Richards. He joined the firm of Fritts & Richards as a pipe maker and participated in the construction of several major pipe organs in Washington, including Gethsemany Lutheran Church in Seattle, the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, and the University of Washington in Seattle.
By 1990, Martin was able to open his own shop with fellow organ builder Halbert Gober, whom he had met some years previously at Karl Wilhelm's shop in Quebec. They were joined by Markus Morscher, a master woodworker that Martin had known in Austria. They had the good fortune to buy a surplus elementary school, complete with classrooms, offices and gymnasium. The school had been closed, so Martin went directly to the school board with a proposal to put an organ shop there. This small school building became an organ shop with all the "extras," including a complete pipe making facility, capable of turning out hammered lead pipes. Eventually, Halbert Gober returned to Canada to open a shop of his own in Toronto, Ontario, where, like Martin, he makes hand crafted organs.
Throughout his organ building career, Martin Pasi has encouraged young organ builders to come to his shop for additional experience in the "journey" phase of their European training. A number of aspiring organ builders have spent a year as a journeyman in Martin's shop before returning to Europe for their "Master's" study.
It is especially notable that Martin looks at pipe making as the most integral and to some extent, mystical element of the organ building process. Since the success of pipe making springs from the pouring of the metal, much care has to be taken from the very beginning. Even the choice of a casting day is somewhat folkloric. Some say the stars have to be in order and certain astrological signs should agree. Martin finds no fault with these considerations.
His drawings show strong respect for the pipes as the foundation of the organ. The facade usually comprises many pipes, including the principal rank which is the heart of the organ. He feels that every aspect of pipe making affects the ultimate beauty of the organ and that personality of the organ is formed from the casting day onwards. He says that he builds organs the only way he knows how--from the pipes outward.
He makes his pipes the same way they were made in the fifteenth century. This process starts with the first sweep of molten metal down the length of the casting bench. He describes the process with a characteristic understatement:
"Casting to thickness is not that hard, really. You have to have a steady hand as you guide the liquid metal down the canvas. It's a matter of how fast or slow you go."
Martin points out that most organ factories plane pipe metal to thickness. But control of the casting process allows him to pour the metal directly to thickness and hammer it for stiffness and its best tonal qualities. The metal that is destined for the top of each pipe is scraped so that the upper rim of the pipe will be thin for cone tuning. Relatively few organ builders master the art of casting metal to exact thicknesses required for a full range of organ pipes, without resorting to a planer.
Martin's pipes are made of metal that is mostly lead, with a very small percentage of antimony and other metals. This gives the lead a stiffness that it would not have if it were absolutely pure. In his shop, scales and patterns are calibrated in traditional ways, but he is no stranger to the computer. He keeps careful records of historic organ scales that will be applicable to his organs. This is evident in the wide variety of reed stops which he has made. But there is also a strong sense of uniformity in his organs. There is a sound that is present in every one which must surely come from his homeland. It is a pure and deep fundamental tone like the baryton horn that Martin played during his school years near the shores of Lake Constance.
Opus List
Opus 1 Table Regal 8' (Residence, Dr. Craig Cramer)
Opus 2 2 manuals and pedal. 18 stops, Coral Isles Church, Tavernier, Florida. (Completed Summer of 1992)
Opus 3 2 manuals and pedal, 9 stops, Jannine Cansler residence, Portland Oregon. (Completed June of 1993)
Opus 4 2 manuals and pedal, 29 stops, Trinity Lutheran Church, Lynnwood, Washington. (Completed February 1995)
Opus 5 2 manuals and pedal, 24 stops, Lola Wolf residence, Kirkland, Washington. (Completed July of 1996)
Opus 6 1 manual, Sitka, Alaska. (Restoration of Kessler organ from Estonia, 1844)
Opus 7 2 manuals and pedal, 27 stops, First Church of Christ Scientist, La Mesa, California. (Completed February of 1997)
Opus 8 3 stop continuo organ, St. Mark's Cathedral, Seattle, Washington. (Completed 1996)
Opus 9 2 manuals and pedal, 7 stops, St. Augustine's in the Woods Freeland, Washington. (Completed November of 1997)
Opus 10 2 manuals and pedal, 30 stops, West Vancouver United Church Vancouver, British Columbia. (Completed Spring of 1998)
In Progress
Opus 11 2 manuals and pedal, 32 stops with 32' in pedal for St. Augustine Catholic Church, Spokane, Washington. (Completion in May, 1999)
Opus 12 2 manuals and pedal 12 stops, residence organ for Mr. Richard Kirkland in Pasadena, California. (Completion in Fall of 1999)
Opus 13 2 manuals and pedal, 29 stops, Bedford Presbyterian Church, Bedford, New York. (Completion in Fall of 2000)
Opus 14 3 manuals and pedal, 54 stops (dual temperament), St. Cecilia RC Cathedral, Omaha, Nebraska. (Completion in Fall of 2002)
A Thumbnail Sketch of European Training in Organ Building
Briefly, here are the steps involved in a European training program in Organ Building:
Sign up a 4 year "apprentice" contract with a major organ building firm.
Enroll in the "Instrumentenmacherschule" in Ludwigsburg, Germany (or its equivalent). Attend a three month period of instruction each year.
Pass exam for "journeyman papers" (Gesellenbrief) for organ building.
Spend 3 "traveling" years as journeyman organ builder. The organ builder is on his own, participating in recognized organ builder's shops.
Attend Instrumentenmacherschule for one additional year. The applicant is expected to build an organ entirely on his own and complete course work that includes "business theory."
