Organ maker (Orgelmaker)
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An organ maker is a craftsman who designs, builds, maintains and voices various organs, such as church organs, barrel organs, concert organs and kistorgels. The profession of organ maker can be regarded as a real craft in which experience and knowledge play an important role. The design, construction and tuning of organs involves specialist work that can only be learned by gaining a lot of practical experience at an organ building company. There are different types of organs, but all organs are made up of metal, lead, different types of wood and other natural materials, such as leather, wool and cow bone for the keys. Contrary to what many people think, the profession of organ builder in the Netherlands is not extinct because there is still sufficient demand with regard to the construction of new organs and the renovation of existing organs. The demand for organ builders is generally not limited to the Netherlands because there is a demand for good organ builders all over the world. There are different types of organs, which can be divided into the church organ, the house organ, the theater organ, the concert organ and the dance organ. The dance organ was generally found in ballrooms and in dance halls. In addition, we know the barrel organ, which can often be found in inner cities or, for example, at fairs. The servant of a barrel organ is called an organ man. A barrel organ is an automatically playing pipe organ, which can also consist of other instruments, such as percussion instruments. An organ maker is therefore a musical instrument maker, who specializes in designing, making and maintaining organs. Being able to tune and intonation organs are also important activities of an organ maker.
An organ maker is therefore a craftsman and musical instrument maker, who specializes in making, maintaining and tuning organs. Other important activities of an organ maker are being able to restore and renovate existing organs. Organs are sensitive musical instruments, which, like other musical instruments, need to be maintained regularly. As described earlier, the profession of organ maker is relatively common in the Netherlands. This is the case because there are relatively many organs within the Netherlands. Organs do not only occur in churches because organs can also be found within large concert halls and on the street as the well-known barrel organ. Especially, the organs within churches and concert halls can be quite large. As an organ maker, you will generally have to deal with organists, who are responsible for playing organs within churches and concert halls. Because organs are in many cases impressive musical instruments, one also speaks of organ building art.
BUILDING ORGANS
The name organ building art applies because organ makers do not only look at the design of an organ. A good organ maker will also take into account the existing architecture, within which an organ is placed. In addition, an organ maker must take into account the acoustics of the spacious and location of an organ within the room. Another important point of attention is the climate in which an organ is placed. This is important to prevent damage or decay related to the organ. As an organ maker, you will therefore also have to have sufficient knowledge of building physics. The profession of organ maker is a broad profession that consists of several professional disciplines. Think, for example, of machining woodworking, wood carving, making and casting pipes and assembling all the different parts. The profession of organ maker can therefore be divided into different professional disciplines. It is not the case that an organ maker performs all the work. In most cases, an organ maker is specialized within certain disciplines within organ building. Organ makers do not make glockenspiels that are played by a carillonneur.
WHAT DOES AN ORGAN MAKER DO:
- Building new organs;
- Maintaining various organs;
- Designing new organs;
- Restoring various organs;
- Tuning and voicing organs.
WHAT DOES AN ORGAN MAKER DO:
TRAINING TO BECOME AN ORGAN MAKER
There are no real recognized courses in the Netherlands at ordinary schools to become an organ maker other than the training to become a musical instrument maker. But this training is not specifically aimed at designing, maintaining or building organs. The Association of Organ Builders provides more information regarding appropriate training for people who wish to master the craft of organ maker. The profession of organ maker is a profession at MBO level and will in most cases be learned by doing a lot of internship with an organ builder. In general, a journeyman organ maker will follow a practice-oriented vocational training, in which you will work under the guidance of an experienced organ maker, who in that case can be regarded as your teacher. Furthermore, it is not possible to name a specific course because organ makers can work within different professional disciplines. Accounting is also important as an entrepreneur.
COMPANIES WHERE AN ORGAN MAKER CAN BE EMPLOYED
An organ maker is in most cases employed by specialized organ building companies that perform various activities, such as designing organs, building organs and restoring organs. As described earlier, the profession of organ maker must be seen quite broadly because most organ building companies use different craftsmen. Organ building can therefore relate to various activities.
COMPETENCES ORGAN MAKER
The most important competence of an organ maker is the professional knowledge because otherwise you cannot work as an organ maker. In addition, an organ maker must have sufficient passion because you are responsible for making and maintaining special musical instruments. As an organ maker, it must also be possible to qualify as an all-round mechanic and technician. This is the case because as an organ maker, you can work in a broad way. Communication can also be regarded as an important competence because in most cases you will work together with different colleagues. Generally important words are energy, accuracy, craftsmanship, creativity, sense of responsibility, independence, design and collaboration.
LABOUR MARKET PERSPECTIVE AND CAREER OPPORTUNITIES AS AN ORGAN MAKER
The labour market perspective of an organ maker is generally not very large because it concerns very specific activities. In addition, an organ maker must be regarded as an all-round craftsman or craftsman in order to be eligible for the profession of organ maker. In other words, work experience is important in most cases. Not everyone can just become an organ maker. The career opportunities of an organ maker are not easy to indicate because this is also strongly dependent on the level of education and your own competencies.
TERMS OF EMPLOYMENT AND SALARY ORGAN MAKER
An organ maker will in most cases fall under the collective labour agreement organ building, in which the employment conditions are regulated depending on the employer. An organ maker will generally earn a salary between 2500 and 3000 euros gross per month depending on age, education and further responsibilities.
The content on this page has been automatically translated from the Dutch language. For this reason, texts and videos on this page may contain small errors.
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