Juan Brombaugh

John Burlin Brombaugh (nacido el 1 de marzo de 1937) es un constructor estadounidense de órganos de tubos conocido por sus órganos de tubos con mecanismo de tracción de inspiración histórica .

Nacido en Dayton, Ohio , Brombaugh (emparentado con las familias Brumbaugh ) escuchó por primera vez un órgano Hammond cuando estaba en cuarto grado y quedó "fascinado" por la combinación de órgano y electrónica, ^{[ 1 ]} una combinación que marcaría su carrera. Brombaugh tiene títulos en Ingeniería Eléctrica de la Universidad de Cincinnati (EE, 1960) y de la Universidad de Cornell (MS-EE, 1963) con especialización en el campo de la acústica , en particular la acústica musical .

Tras graduarse en la universidad, Brombaugh trabajó como ingeniero de desarrollo para la Baldwin Piano Company . Su tarea consistía en desarrollar un método para producir el sonido electrónico de los tubos del órgano y diseñar un sistema de reverberación artificial. Para lo primero, estudió exhaustivamente la construcción de los tubos del órgano, mientras que para lo segundo incorporó ideas pioneras del órgano Hammond. ^{[ 2 ]} Brombaugh también obtuvo siete patentes con la Baldwin Organ Company. ^{[ 3 ]}

Como amante de la música clásica de toda la vida, especialmente tras escuchar grabaciones de órganos europeos antiguos —por ejemplo, The Art of the Organ de E. Power Biggs y la interpretación de la música de J.S. Bach por Helmut Walcha en el órgano Schnitger de Cappel— , se convirtió en aprendiz de los dos principales constructores estadounidenses de órganos de tubos con acción mecánica , Fritz Noack (1964-1966) y Charles Fisk (1966-1967), y luego trabajó como oficial (Geselle) en la empresa Rudolph von Beckerath en Hamburgo entre 1967 y 1968 para completar su formación, especialmente en la fabricación de tubos de lengüeta . Durante su estancia en Hamburgo, Brombaugh aprovechó cada oportunidad para estudiar los numerosos órganos históricos del noroeste de Alemania y los Países Bajos vecinos .

En junio de 1968, fundó su propia empresa, John Brombaugh & Co., en las tierras de cultivo al oeste de Germantown, Ohio , su ciudad natal. Esta empresa unipersonal se convirtió posteriormente en una sociedad que incluía a George Taylor, John Boody, Herman Greunke y otros. En 1977, la sociedad se disolvió amistosamente cuando Brombaugh trasladó su empresa a Eugene, Oregón, bajo el nuevo nombre de John Brombaugh & Associates, Inc., que continuó hasta completar su último instrumento en el verano de 2005. Construyó 66 órganos ubicados en 23 estados de EE. UU., Canadá , Suecia y Japón , y fue maestro de muchos jóvenes constructores prometedores, entre ellos Bruce Shull, Michael Bigelow, Charles Ruggles, Paul Fritts , Munetaka Yokota, Bruce Fowkes, Trent Buhr, Karl Nelson, David Petty y Aaron Reichert. Una beca de la Fundación Ford en la primavera de 1971 permitió a Brombaugh realizar un estudio exhaustivo de unos 100 órganos históricos en Alemania, los Países Bajos, Francia , Suiza , Austria e Italia , y desde entonces ha continuado sus estudios siempre que le ha sido posible.

La mayoría de los órganos de Brombaugh están afinados en un " temperamento Well ". Esto les permite interpretar música compuesta en cualquier tonalidad , pero, en comparación con el temperamento igual , favorece las tonalidades centrales utilizadas en la mayor parte de la literatura organística de todos los periodos. Desde su introducción en 1978, el temperamento "Bach" de Herbert Anton Kellner ^{[ 4 ]} se ha convertido en la afinación estándar de Brombaugh, aunque varios de sus órganos están afinados en 1/4 Syntonic comma Meantone, donde su principal intención es la interpretación históricamente orientada de la literatura organística anterior a la de Johann Sebastian Bach. Muchos de sus pequeños positivos fácilmente móviles tienen capacidades de transposición para facilitar su ejecución en diferentes tonos ; estos (excepto su Op. 2 que fue construido durante su aprendizaje con Noack) son sus únicos instrumentos afinados en temperamento igual.

Although he has been interested in recovering and using many of the lost concepts from the ancient organ-builders (e.g., the use of only mechanical key action), he also considers himself a builder of this time who is amenable to the use of the best current construction methods and the use of ideas necessary for the convenience required by organists of our time. For example, his Opus 35 – an organ of 3,250 pipes, 3 manuals, and pedal with 46 stops that was dedicated on Pentecost 2001 at the First Presbyterian Church in Springfield, Illinois – is a synthesis of historical and modern techniques.

Among John Brombaugh's contributions to modern organ-building are:

• The first use in modern times of an unequal temperament for tuning a large pipe organ in North America on his Op. 4 at First Lutheran Church, Lorain, Ohio, that was dedicated by David Boe^[5] in June 1970. The temperament used was Andreas Werckmeister's IIIrd temperament, Werckmeister's first inventive departure from the ancient Pythagorean or Meantone tunings. This temperament has since been used on many new organs worldwide.^[6]
• General absence of plywood in the construction of his instruments, especially in the casework, and by the earliest return in 20th century organ-building (beginning in 1968) to using only solid wood for the windchest tableboards.
• Consistent use of fine architectural concepts and details for his case designs, such as those described by the renowned Renaissance artisan, Andrea Palladio, and those found in instruments made by the late Gothic builders. He has also been interested in developing designs with suitable modern styles where appropriate, not only to making historically governed copies.
• The first use of hammered pipe metal in modern times in the United States, also done for his Op. 4 for Lorain, Ohio.
• Beginning in 1970 with his Op. 4 for Lorain, Ohio, consistent use of wedge bellows^[7] in all of his work to provide a slightly unstable winding that gives the organ a more musical character or "life". A few of Brombaugh's instruments have the mechanism needed so the organ's wind can be produced by foot pumping its bellows – the norm before electricity (or other energy sources) took over this rather boring job.
• Beginning in 1970, development and use of an electronic "tuning machine" having a CRT display that can be set for any temperament and a reference pitch variable over a 4:5 ratio; the device provides an accuracy of 1/5 cent or 0.1 Hz and also has a filter settable to observe the various harmonics individually so all pipes of compound stops (such as the Mixtures and Cornets) may be very accurately tuned.
• The first use worldwide of the high lead content pipe metal alloy such as was found in the work of Hendrik Niehoff in 16th century northwestern Europe in Brombaugh's Op. 19 at Central Lutheran Church in Eugene, Oregon.
• Among the first uses of Meantone tuning in a major new organ in the United States, (along with Charles Fisk's organ at Houghton Memorial Chapel at Wellesley College and Gene Bedient's organ at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois) for his Op. 25 organ for Fairchild Chapel at Oberlin College that was dedicated in September 1981 by Harald Vogel. Meantone organs in North America remain very rare.
• The general use of "vocale" voicing of the pipes to achieve the tonal beauty so common to the organs in and prior to Bach's lifetime.
• First installation in Continental Europe since the 1930s of a new pipe organ built in the United States – the Meantone organ for the Hagakyrkan in Gothenburg, Sweden, dedicated by Harald Vogel on March 8, 1992.
• First use of the Ruckpositive in a major concert hall organ by using two Ruckpositive divisions to the left and right so the organist is not hidden from view of the audience, in the Toyota City, Japan, Op. 37 instrument inaugurated by Harald Vogel on November 11, 2003.

• Montgomery County, Ohio, Brombaugh won the design prize awarded to Montgomery County high school students; his home design was built for 1955 Home Show at the county fairgrounds.
• Ford Foundation, 1971, awarded for financial support to study historic organs in Europe.
• University of Cincinnati, College of Engineering Distinguished Alumni Award (1981)^[8]
• Oregon Governor's Arts Award (1996)^[9]
• University of Oregon's Distinguished Service Award (2006)^[10]
• Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Honorary Doctorate (2022)^[11]

Owen, Barbara (2001). "Brombaugh, John". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Vol. 4 (2 ed.). New York: Grove's Dictionaries. ISBN 1-56159-239-0.

• Brombaugh Organs Home Page
• The Netherlandish School of Organ Building and its North American Legacy, the Westfield Center conference in Eugene, Oregon, April 2010, celebrating Brombaugh's influence on modern organbuilding
• How It All Got Started by David Boe, for a conference at the Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NY, October 2006, describing the state of the Pipe Organ in America in our time
• University of Cincinnati alumni magazine article with notes on Brombaugh's work, particularly on the historic Niehoff-Dropa (1551, 1714) organ at the Johanniskirche, Lüneburg, Germany and a photo of his Op. 37 in Toyota City, Japan
• The Development of America's Master Organ Builder, doctoral thesis by Homer Ashton Ferguson
• Information on many Brombaugh organs including Notes from the Builder on his Op. 19 at Central Lutheran Church in Eugene, Oregon
• "Pipe Organ Builder – John Brombaugh", a synopsis of an article in The Lutheran (June 1998)
• Herbert Anton Kellner's "Bach" temperament, an explanation from English Harpsichord Magazine and Early Keyboard Instrument Review (EHM), April 1978, pp. 32–36