Makin Organs

21/08/2026

Special late Summer offer for Makin Rydal 2-25T at home
Step inside the world of Makin and hear how you can take advantage of our wonderful late summer offer for a fully loaded Makin Rydal organ at home. Packed with optional extras and at a sensation price the Rydal will meet and exceed your needs as a home practice English designed instrument.

Come and visit us in Shaw (OL2 7DE) or Mixbury (NN13 5RN) to play one yourself and hear the Makin difference with voicing by Professor Ian Tracey.

Or get in touch:
https://www.makinorgans.co.uk/contact

03/07/2026

A splendid way to spend a Saturday evening in Walkden!

By Keith Harrington

Last Saturday's Ian Tracey recital at Walkden, conveniently scheduled early enough that we could all watch the England-Panama match afterwards, was a splendid affair. For those of you who have yet to meet him (where have you been?) in addition to playing very approachable music, Ian is a great raconteur and tells some wonderful stories about organs, organists and composers through the years. This recital's content was very much aimed at the general public with plenty of music that is both tuneful and approachable and showed the organ off at its best.

Ian started with the Antonio Soler Minuee from Concerto VI for two organs. It’s a super piece he often plays and gives the organist the chance to give both Great and Swell reeds an outing. It varies in volume from mf to ff and gives the impression that there is much more to come.

Bach’s Fantasia In G major has three movements which are all well known, my favourite being the Gravement which, with some practice, is very playable by itself with a nice pedal solo.

Following the Pescetti Sonata in C and Schumann’s four sketches for Pedal Piano came the Capriol Suite by Peter Warlock. This is a really nice piece of music we carry in stock. Peter Warlock was also known as Philip Heseltine (1894 - 1930). Ian told us all quite a sad story of his life and eventual su***de. Apparently he was the father of the art critic the late Brian Sewell (1931 - 2015).

Elmore's delightful Pavane from his Rhythmic Suite was followed by the hilarious Serenade by Bourgeois which he wrote in 11/8 and 13/8 time for his wedding procession. Finally, specially for Ben was the Dubois Toccata in G. His special request encore was Widor's Toccata.

For me it was simply wonderful to simply sit back and listen to the organ which Ian and I had voiced some weeks ago with very familiar music being played. I could listen to individual stops and combinations. The organ really does sit together well and I am delighted that this installation is so close to Shaw.

I certainly concur that the church is very lucky to have Ben, an ex-pupil of Ian’s, as organist, but the converse is true, Ben is very lucky to have such a supporting and friendly congregation.

Just a short drive home to sit down and worry for ages that England will win!

Thanks to Church Treasurer Jackie Meredith for the photo from left to right (Prof Ian Tracey, Ben Anguige & Dr Keith Harrington). According to the St Pauls Church Facebook account “What a wonderful evening we’ve had celebrating the new Makin Windermere organ at St Paul’s. It was a joy to hear Professor Ian Tracey play assisted by St Paul’s resident organist, Ben Anguige and Dr Keith Harrington from Makin Organs. A genuine Dream Team.

15/05/2026

Makin Windermere 3-53D installed at St Brelades, Jersey
In June 2025 the organist from St Brelades Kevin Dean made a day trip to Church Organ World in Shaw to see Matthew on a Saturday. It was early days, but with so many issues with the pipe organ it was evident that Kevin liked what he heard when he played the Makin Derwent 4-68 D. The true Makin English sound was ideal, but the three manual Windermere 3-53 D that would best suit the needs of the church.

Following the production of a survey report, over the next few months a plan was developed with the able help of Church Warden Frank Walker OBE, and after much discussion and consideration of a plethora of options the order was placed in October. One change in the standard specification that Kevin decided upon was for a Cor Anglais 16’ on the Choir to replace the Vox Humana 8’ in the standard specification. The church also wanted a very dark oak polish on the instrument.

Just prior to the installation Kevin returned to Shaw to play what soon would be his instrument and was astonished at the quality of the instrument ‘out of the box’ and as such unvoiced. He commented to Keith “Your organs are an absolute credit to you and everyone at St Brelade’s can't wait for the installation.” Keith very much looks forward to seeing him again in Jersey and in particular seeing his reaction to the finished instrument.

John and Steve Bell had the delight of a few days in Jersey this week installing this lovely organ, in a rich dark oak colour matching the adjacent pews. Whilst they were there they visited several other Copeman Hart and Makin instruments to ensure they are all in tip-top condition. After John and Steve had completed their work, Kevin commented “Thanks again and the guys were brilliant today by the way.”

In early June, Ian Tracey and Keith will go to St Brelades to complete the voicing of this instrument which, following voicing on a note by note, stop by stop basis will more than likely be the best digital instrument on the island. More on that later!

30/04/2026

20/03/2026

Makin Rydal 2-25T Installed in St Christopher Pott Shrigley
David Garton will be delighted to be able to play the new Makin Rydal 2-25T at this church near Macclesfield in Cheshire which was installed by the team from ChurchOrganWorld earlier this week. This instrument replaces an old Makin organ which had become a little temperamental and whilst it could be repaired, it was time to upgrade to the latest technology and to benefit from the wonderful new specification and sounds produced. The organ was voiced the organ on Thursday afternoon; the church are now all set for many years of service from this little beauty.

23/12/2025

🎄 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐳𝐳𝐨 — 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐞 🎄
What a wonderful way to celebrate Christmas!

Enjoy this aftermovie from Carols at the Palazzo, featuring Ian Tracey on the Makin organ and the beautiful voices of Kantos.

With festive music, audience sing-alongs and a warm atmosphere, it was a truly special Christmas moment in Manchester.

▶️ Watch the aftermovie and relive the joy of Christmas music.

23/12/2025

Kantos Chamber Choir sang a day of Christmas Carols accompanied by Professor Ian Tracey on the Makin Derwent organ at the Trafford Palazzo in Manchester.

We wish all our customers a Happy Christmas and a peaceful and prosperous new year.

Relive the festive atmosphere of Carols at the Palazzo, a special Christmas event held at the Trafford Palazzo.Throughout the day, Ian Tracey performed a sel...

15/12/2025

Makin Windermere organ for St Paul’s Walkden, Lancashire
Walkden is a town formally in the city of Salford, some seven miles outside of Manchester. For many years St Paul’s Church has had another brand’s first-generation digital instrument which has served them well for many years. However, it has come to the end of its days with repairs now being exceptionally difficult with a lack of both spare parts and an experienced engineer.

Following initial discussions between Dr Keith Harrington and their highly talented and experienced organist Ben Anguige it was clear that a Makin Windermere instrument would meet their ongoing needs for many years to come. Having discussed the option of a tabstop or drawstop instrument the PCC decided that a drawstop instrument would be preferable and the right investment to make to ensure they would continue to attract such a high-calibre organist in the future.

The financial details were soon ironed out with the Treasurer Jackie Meredith and we have started building their instrument with installation expected to be around Easter of 2026. The organ will be voiced by Professor Ian Tracey.

Keith commented “Working with Ben and Jackie has been an absolute pleasure. I can’t wait to have this organ installed.” He added “Voicing with Ian is always such great fun; I have learnt so much from him. Recent advances in the tools we have to voice the new range of instruments has meant that within a matter of hours we can transform an instrument that sounds very good out of the box to something that is simply sensational and more than justifies the investment that a customer makes with us.”

15/12/2025

Makin Windermere organ for St Brelades, Jersey
Dr Keith Harrington is delighted to announce that Makin are in the process of building a Windermere 3-53 drawstop organ for the picturesque church of St Brelades in Jersey. St Brelade is one of the twelve parishes of Jersey in the Channel Islands; it is around four miles west of the capital St Helier, convenient to both the port and airport.

Following a detailed analysis of the options available to them the organist Kevin Dean and treasurer Frank Walker concluded that a Makin instrument from ChurchOrganWorld was the best route forward for them providing as it does a truly authentic English sound with tremendous flexibility and versatility.

To ensure it would meet exacting needs, significant work was undertaken by the team, including to getting the best colour match for the console and tweaking the specification where, e.g. the ‘marmite’ Vox Humana 8’ stop on the Choir was exchanged for a stunning Cor Anglais 16’. Installation is likely to take place around Easter in 2026.

Makin instruments have been very popular for many years on Jersey. Keith commented “I think a tour of our Jersey installations is very much on the cards. I will be contacting customers a little closer to the time to see if they have any voicing tweaks which we can take care of on the same trip.”

10/12/2025

🎄 Carols at the Trafford Palazzo — This Saturday! 🎄
This Saturday, 13 December, we'll be at the Trafford Palazzo for a festive morning of Christmas music.

Join us for three live performances featuring Professor Ian Tracey on the Makin organ and the beautiful voices of Kantos.

A number of pieces will even include a sing-along, so feel free to raise your voice and join the celebration.

Performance times: 10:30 • 11:30 • 12:30
Admission: Free

If you’re in or around Manchester, come along and enjoy the warmth and joy of Christmas music played on a true English organ.