Organ builder’s career is not just a pipe dream
With a tap here and there, one of Oklahoma’s few organ builders is able to tune an instrument more complex than any other at local churches just in time for Easter.
Roger Banks, 77, of Edmond, has been building and tuning organs across the world since 1964, even though it was not his plan.
At first, he wanted to be a civil engineer. Instead, he earned a degree in piano from Oklahoma City University, falling in love with the instrument after helping tune his uncle’s organ.
“It is definitely the most complex instrument,” Banks said.
Having a Wurlitzer Organ in his house, his uncle was also one of the top salesmen with the Reuter Organ Company. For five years, Banks also worked for the Reuter Organ Company.
“It is something I really enjoy doing,” Banks said. “But, trying to find a wife was a bit of a problem.”
However, that part of his life would all come together in Boston when Betsy, a young organist, walked into Old South Church and offered to help Banks, who was on a long-term job.
“I got real lucky,” Banks said. “My thought was, she sure can play, and you know what, she is awfully good looking.”
They had dinner the same night, and Banks married Betsy, now 69, a short time later. He even promised her an organ in their house, which he delivered on. The two have been together now for 48 years.
Although both are retired, Roger Banks continues to tune organs across the state and region, and has a long-term project at First Presbyterian Church in Oklahoma City.
He used to have clients in New Mexico, Texas and elsewhere, but he recently began to slow down for health concerns. He still works about 40 to 50 hours a week.
“What we have is a lot of wood with a lot holes in them,” Banks said. “Everything is handmade.”
Most of the pipes are made of tin and lead, with a few being made of wood. Each pipe slips into a wood pegboard with holes on the bottom where the air comes from.
When one of the many keys is pressed on the organ console, air is pushed through the pipes from a large fan in the basement.
First Presbyterian’s organ has been there since 1964 and has 5,297 pipes. Banks remembers when it was built.
He has been working on the organ for three years, tuning the pipes while standing on a narrow walkway with pipes surrounding him in the organ chamber.
Two people usually are required to tune an organ, with one hitting a sliding collar on top of the pipe, which changes the pitch. And the other individual, usually the church organist, pushing keys on the organ.
“When this organ is going full blast, believe me, you know it is being played,” Banks said. “You have to hear it to experience it.”
Organs aren’t new in churches. Some organs built around the 1600s continue to be played even today.
Although there is a decline in those who play the organ, Banks hopes people support local organ concerts and radio programs like “Pipedreams” and “With Heart and Voice.”
The University of Oklahoma also has the American Organ Institute, which is training the next generation of organ players and builders.