In Helsinki, Finland, the emphatic sound of an organ brings in the new year, with waves of air being pushed through a sprawling entanglement of pipes and wind lines.
The complexity of which, it is clear, has been enabled by 3D printing technology.
Those pipes and lines collectively measure up to 260 metres and boast 124 sound registers divided among several different sets of pipes. The largest in Finland and Scandinavia, they came to pass after a two-year project which brought together UPM Biocomposites, a Spanish 3D printing service bureau and Austrian organ builder Rieger Orgelbau. Now housed in Helsinki’s Music Centre, the organ was debuted on January 1st, 2024 during an Olivier Latry concert.
Before the pipes were transported and assembled in Helsinki Musical Centre, they were 3D printed using a Large Scale Additive Manufacturing extrusion process and UPM’s Formi 3D biocomposite material. The Formi material was selected because of its use of cellulose fibres which, at once, delivered dimensional stability in the printing process, high layer to layer adhesion, and acoustic dampening characteristics.
Helsinki Music Centre Foundation/Sakari Röyskö
“Cellulose fibres are, of course, wood-based and they have very good acoustic dampening performance,” Ralf Ponicki, Director of UPM’s Formi 3D business, told TCT. “Next to good printability, solid mechanical performance, the matte and silky appearance of this material, we have these additional acoustic performances when it comes to dampening. That is setting this material apart from standard fossil unfilled materials.”
The UPM Formi material not only provided a boost to the mechanics of the Rieger organ pipes but also to the aesthetics. While true that the complex geometries of the pipes would not have been possible with any other manufacturing process, the UPM Formi’s capacity to facilitate overhangs of 70 degrees meant those working on the development of the pipes were handed a huge design freedom.
“It is hard to realise such a design with any other process than 3D printing,” Ponicki said. “However, you need a material that allows you to realise this complex geometry. If you move from a straight cylinder to a more complex 3D structure where the cylinder is moving to the right, to the left, you create overhangs. Then, you need a material that has very strong adhesion layer to layer but still provides this solidity, so the pipe is not collapsing.”
