Detroit — Life as the pipe organ of Most Holy Trinity Parish, Detroit, certainly has its perks.

You’ve been in existence since 1867, you’ve seen generation after generation of weddings and funerals, and yet, with careful attention and a healthy dusting every so often, you’ve lived your live thus far quite contentedly — albeit rather loudly.

“Pipe organs are breathing instruments; they suck air in and blow air out,” explained Gregory Garber, music director and organist of Holy Trinity.

Garber admitted he wouldn’t quite say organs are “living,” though the breathing aspect of the instrument makes a decent argument.

Holy Trinity’s organ was built in 1867 in Michigan by German immigrant Andreas Moeller, whom Garber said is only known to have built two other organs in his lifetime. Little else is known about Moeller, except that his sons took care of the organs after his death.

Garber said Holy Trinity’s organ is generally believed to be the oldest Michigan-built organ that has never moved from its original location and is still in use.

According to the 2012 book, “Detroit’s Historic Places of Worship,” the organ is also believed to be the oldest in the city of Detroit.

Holy Trinity’s organ is a tracker organ, which means instead of using the more modern electric current system to push air through its pipes, it utilizes a system of levers and wooden strips, called trackers, to connect the keyboards to valves under the pipes.

“Most organs nowadays have an electric current that moves the wind through the pipes. There’s no electricity in this organ,” said Garber, adding that the pipework itself “is in excellent condition.”

The organ has both wooden and metal pipes, and the keys on its two keyboards are also made of wood, not ivory. The two manual keyboards are called the “Great” (for the upper keyboard) and the “Swell” (for the lower keyboard). The keyboard for the organist’s feet is called the “Pedal.”

Garber acknowledges affection for the organ, which he has played for Holy Trinity since December 2004.

He said he doesn’t mind electric organs, “but hey, this is what Bach did,” referencing the composer he calls his hero — and whose silhouette is on a china plate perched on a corner of the organ.

Garber also shared a few fun facts about pipe organs with The Michigan Catholic.

Wooden pipes produce a soft, hushing sound called the “chiff” at the initiation of their main sound, which is natural for tracker organs — but can be artificially made on electric organs, he said.

The set of wooden knobs on either side of the keyboards are called “stops,” and when pulled out, produce a certain arrangement of wind through a specific set of pipes. The phrase “pulling out all the stops,” Garber said, comes from this concept.

Garber emphasized the significance of a church’s organ, which he said is often overlooked in favor of other instruments.

“Churches now trying to sell their pipe organs breaks my heart,” he said.

But for Holy Trinity, the 1867 tracker organ remains to stand guard over the many and diverse congregants of what Garber calls “the melting pot church of Detroit.”

For this organ is “not the largest, it’s close to the oldest, but it’s one of the nicest,” said Garber.