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Pupils completing work on donated pipe organ...

Started by KB7DQH, April 25, 2011, 08:33:52 PM

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KB7DQH

http://tribune-democrat.com/local/x69809902/Pupils-completing-work-on-donated-pipe-organ

QuoteSIDMAN — A number of pupils at the Forest Hills Middle School are putting the finishing touches on a donated pipe organ that they have been rebuilding since the beginning of the school term.

With the project, pupils are learning not only about music and how to build an organ, but also about physics, mechanics and the importance of teamwork, said teacher Patrick Kovalsky, project coordinator.

Three Grade 9 pupils – Jesse Wehner, Jessica Penatzer and Josiah Bailey – have successfully rebuilt the 268-pipe instrument, working under the direction of Kovalsky; Joseph Rulli, a teacher and organ builder; Kevin Lang, technology-education teacher; and Raymond Wotkowski, school principal.

Assisting in the project were Grade 8 pupils Eben Blaisdell, Joseph Donoughe, Kevin Wilson and Alexander Murphy.

All the pupils are in Kovalsky's gifted classes.

QuoteThe 1909-model organ chassis was donated by Irv Lawless and Associates of Greencastle, Franklin County, Kovalsky said. The chassis originally was installed at a church in Maryland, he said.

The pipes were salvaged from the Fisher Auditorium on the campus of IUP, he said.

The pipes had to be cut and revoiced, or restored to the proper tone, by the pupils, he said. That required the Grade 9 pupils to perform physics calculations to adjust the lengths of one set of pipes so that they would produce the correct sound, he said.

The Grade 8 pupils were preparing to work on another set of pipes when Eben came up with the idea of developing a spreadsheet application to automatically calculate the new lengths for the pipes, he said.

Because most of the materials for the organ were donated, the school district only had to invest a small amount of money, he said. The organ will be valued at $125,000 when completed, he said.

"We are very proud of our pupils and the educational experience at Forest Hills," Kovalsky said. "In my opinion, this is the model for what education should be – hands-on and academically based – and we will have a beautiful product in the end."

Rulli said last summer he learned that Irv Lawless was willing to donate the keyboard and windchest and that IUP was discarding the pipes.


He said the organ will be a learning tool for the science classes at Forest Hills.

In today's society, most products that people use are bought at stores. This project is teaching pupils how products are made and how to build them, he said.

Quote
Rulli said the organ is expected to be finished in about a month.

Jesse said recently they connected the keyboard to the pipes.

It sounds pretty good, said Jesse, who plays six instruments, including the piano.

"It's quite a learning experience," he said about the project.

Jessica said she learned much from the project, including woodworking skills because they had to build a frame for the keyboard and the windchest.

The windchest supplies pressurized air to the organ.

"It will really improve our music department," she said.

Josiah said the organ sounds pretty good.

The project was a good learning experience, said Josiah, who plays the trombone in the school band.

"We learned more about music and how sound travels and makes different pitches," he said.

To view photographs of the organ in various stages of construction, visit
http://www. jrorganbuilding.com     


Eric
KB7DQH

The objective is to reach human immortality—that is, to create things which are necessary to mankind, necessary to the purpose of the existence of mankind, and which have become the fruit that drives the creation of a higher state of mankind than ever existed before."

KB7DQH

After looking at http://www.jrorganbuilding.com/current-projects.html It becomes apparent that this "technically"  is a "new" instrument being constructed from much donated material from at least two organs...  but nevertheless an impressive project...  Movable no less...

I encourage all to have a look at the link above and see what these students have been working on...

Eric
KB7DQH
The objective is to reach human immortality—that is, to create things which are necessary to mankind, necessary to the purpose of the existence of mankind, and which have become the fruit that drives the creation of a higher state of mankind than ever existed before."

KB7DQH

And another news article about this project ;) 8)

http://www.dailyamerican.com/ourtown/news/johnstown/da-ot-forest-hills-students-rebuild-centuryold-organ-20110509,0,3701197.story

QuoteStudents began work at the start of the school year, challenged with constructing a design compact and mobile enough to be used and transported throughout the school.

"This is alive.  It's a living, breathing work of art," said Rulli, who estimated the instrument's value at $125,000 once completed.

The teachers, though, are more interested in the project's educational value.

"One of the things we like is the multidisciplinary aspects of it," said Kovalsky, a gifted support teacher.  "There's math, science, physics, music, technology, research and art."   

Working in 40-minute periods, the students were responsible for engineering the design, fabricating the parts and turning a pile of discarded parts into a playable five-rank organ with 183 keys and 268 pipes.

Students are also conducting independent research projects connected to the organ, such as studying acoustical physics, biological adhesives and the instrument's origins in ancient Greece.

"You have eighth- and ninth-grade students doing something like this.  That's amazing.  That's true education," Kovalsky said.

Ninth-grader Josiah Bailey agreed.

"It has taught me some life lessons," Bailey said.  "The hard work that went into making everything, the teamwork and some extreme problem solving."

Wehner, too, said he learned much more than a few new songs throughout the process.

"There's definitely a lot of science involved with this," he said.  "It's a never-ending process."

The two, along with classmate Jessica Penatzer, will eventually use the experience as the basis for their senior project, a high school graduation requirement.

Much work, however, is yet to be done, as the students have yet to tend to the cosmetic details of the organ.  Other plans include enclosing the organ in a decorative cabinet and installing a final rack of pipes. 

Rulli said he hopes to have the organ ready for its public debut at the school's chorus concert May 23.  The organ will later be used by the school for everything from science demonstrations to music education.

Even then, Rulli said, there will still be work to be done.

"In the organ building business, we don't use the word 'finished' very much."
{/quote]

Eric
KB7DQH
The objective is to reach human immortality—that is, to create things which are necessary to mankind, necessary to the purpose of the existence of mankind, and which have become the fruit that drives the creation of a higher state of mankind than ever existed before."