Rodgers Instruments
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Rodgers Instruments LLC designs and manufacturers classical organs, using digital technology. Their range includes both pipe organs and electronic organs of all sizes, and also hybrid instruments combining both technologies. Rodgers was founded in 1958 by Rodgers W. Jenkins and Fred Tinker, employees of Tektronix, Inc., of Portland, Oregon. It was the first electronic organ builder to use solid-state oscillators. Although it did not introduce digital sampling in Church organs, it was, however, the first company to use a software-based system to reproduce pipe organ sounds. It is the only digital organ company in the United States that uses stereo sampling techniques of organ pipes.
Until recently, smaller models of electronic and hybrid organs were supplied as standard models off the shelf, while larger models and pure pipe organs were custom designed. Today, Rodgers' Trillium Masterpiece instruments are custom designed through Rodger's Organ Architect, while some models remain as standard designs. Following several purchases, they are now the largest manufacturer of pipe organs in the world.
Their primary factory is located in Hillsboro, Oregon with additional manufacturing done in Japan and Italy. Rodgers is now a subsidiary of the Roland Corporation since 1987.
Organist Virgil Fox first brought Rodgers organs into the limelight when he used a Rodgers Touring Organ, known as "Black Beauty" for his "Heavy Organ" concerts.
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