Apprenticeship training course
Organ builder (level 3)
Design, manufacture and assembly of the components required in a pipe organ.
- Qualification level
-
3
Equivalent to A level. - Typical duration
- 36 months
- Apprenticeship category
- Creative and design
- Maximum funding
-
£27,000
Maximum amount government will fund
for apprenticeship training. - Also known as
-
- Designer
- General Organ Builder
- Organ Builder
- Organ Tuner
- Pipe Maker
- Voicer
- Skills
-
Skills an apprentice will learn
- Maintain correct standards of health and safety for self and for others, using safe working practices such as when handling heavy components
- Prepare and maintain materials, tools and equipment appropriately and safely, always fitting guards to machines as required
- Identify and minimise hazards and risks in the working environment, e.g. casting and soldering, or when treating timber with volatile compounds
- Create and interpret technical specifications, drawings, and other written and verbal instructions (such as cutting lists, rollerboard layouts and soundboard plantings)
- Identify and respond to problems appropriately (including testing and adjustment); seek advice and guidance when appropriate
- Select and use the appropriate processes/techniques to undertake organ building tasks from inception to realisation
- Select and use correct materials as required by the specific task
- Select and use correct tools and equipment as required by the specific task
- Construct timber components such as soundboards and wind trunking
- Use leather to make pneumatic motors and hinges and gussets in bellows
- Connect and test low-voltage electrical equipment
- Make wooden pipework
- Make metal pipework
- Put pipes onto speech and tune them
- Lay bearings for tuning
- Put individual pipes and complete ranks back into tune
- Identify and resolve action faults in existing instruments
- Remove and dismantle components safely and systematically
- Re-assemble components and test that everything is working properly
- Select appropriate stain/polish for finishing woodwork
- Applies quality assurance checks throughout the organ building process
- Follows policies and procedures; has consistent attention to detail
- Communicate and work effectively with others as part of a team
Full information on Organ builder (level 3) is available from the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education.