In certain situations, our designers feel that space or finances are insufficient to build an all-pipe instrument that will properly fulfill all of the requirements of the room. For situations such as these, Wicks can create a custom combination organ. Combination organs make use of both wind-blown pipes and digitally produced stops to create an entire instrument. With the majority of the organ’s sound produced by pipes, we can then add additional stops, the little extras that make an organ more versatile and interesting, to complete the tonal palette. Stops such as celestes, color reeds, or 16 foot and 32 foot stops are frequently cut from specifications to save space or money. With digital augmentation, these stops can be included. Problematic or expensive reed ranks can be duplicated digitally. We have developed a system that keeps digital voices directly in tune with pipe voices to ensure the two are always together. Whenever the organ is turned on, the digital ranks are automatically and constantly in tune with the pipes.

We will only install digital voices if we feel the stops are an accurate, useful representation of true pipe sounds. Years of experience in this area have led us to find the best methods for choices of digital stops, digital voicing, sound system design, and speaker choice and placement. The finished product is only successful if the pipe sounds and the digital sounds are capable of blending into a cohesive ensemble, just as our all-pipe instruments do. Unlike some combination builders, we don’t duplicate pipe ranks with redundant digital stops. Every stop is individual, unique, and useful.