The first conservation effort was to record the instrument as it sounds today. At the present time, the organ is kept operational by triage, and so it was imperative to document the way it sounds now, before any further deterioration (1).
With Brett Milan of Milan Digital Audio in Illinois, we recently digitally recorded each pipe of the organ. Brett creates sample libraries for the Hauptwerk computer program and other software samplers. When he is finished editing the recordings, there will be a not only a sound picture of the organ in 2004, but also what it could sound like, if restored.
I performed a recital on the instrument in March of 2002. Click here to hear the program. I also improvised some sketches for my Mocean project on it.
(1) The organ is not in imminent danger at this time, though there was a Rodgers pedalboard stored in the choir loft, presumably bought to replace the flat pedal board.
