[Low-Tech] Musical Instruments: Water & Pipe Organ?

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

Greetings, all!
I realise that e.g. church organs were probably not sold on the open market, but a price in GURP$ for the purposes of calculating crafting time/effort/etc. would be just as useful.

The requirement for a large volume of a pressurized fluid mean that prior to the invention of electric pumps, these are pieces of architecture - you need a big somewhat airtight room pumped up by large bellows, water towers or something like that. Though if you are installing a new organ, you may be able to use the wind chest for the old one.

Church organs usually involved several master craftsmen (the architect, instrument maker, and the smith who did the pipes were not usually the same person), the construction and metalworking labor forces, and months of work. If you didn't have too many people on the pipes, it might be several years before they are all delivered and installed. If you aren't in a hurry and don't demand too much quality you might get away with under $100,000.