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Each Fratelli Ruffatti organ is a unique and fascinating creation. The tonal planning of each of our instruments takes into consideration the ideas and musical needs of the customer as well as the
space available and the acoustic environment. The primary objective of the aesthetic design is to blend with the existing architecture. Although most of our instruments utilize the traditional
mechanical action, we also produce instruments with highly developed and efficient electro-pneumatic and all-electric actions. We believe that a tradition is strong only as long as it
continues to develop. While we continue to refine the sounds of warm Italian principals and singing flutes, we have added a wide variety of European and American organ sounds previously
unknown in Italy, making our instruments truly international.
In this world of specialization and corporate diversification, it is possible to have parts from ten or twenty different manufacturers and suppliers within a single instrument. It is the Ruffatti
tradition, however, to manufacture every organ part possible in our own factory, from our windchests to our wooden drawknobs and stop tablets to
our flue and reed pipes. We take great care in selecting only first-quality materials for our instruments to ensure durability and efficient performance under the
most widely varying climatic conditions. We buy only organically cured leather from a tiny village in Southern Italy. We select our own African mahogany logs as they come off the ship and season the wood naturally in our shop for five years or more before use. We select the metal alloy best suited for each rank of pipes in each organ and pour our own pipe metals to specific formulas.
In some of our manufacturing processes, such as the metal pipe department, all work is done by hand, using centuries-old techniques. Other processes
rely on modern machinery, some of which has been invented by our own craftsmen, to perform highly specialized tasks. Visitors to our factory are amazed by the contrast: advanced technology partnered with an incredible care for handcrafted detail.
After manufacture and before shipping, each organ is completely assembled in the erecting room of our factory. We check every part of the instrument and
never leave any structural work to be completed at the installation site. We supervise the final installation of all organs ourselves, using both Italian and
local installers and finishers to totally finish the organ in its final acoustical environment. This preliminary factory assembly vastly reduces the labor hours
and cost needed for the final installation -- a significant savings in both time and money for the customer.
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