It has been a symbol in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for more than 160 years.

You see it on television and hear it on the radio every week. You find it whenever you reach for the faith’s hymnal. For decades, it loomed as the most prominent fixture at General Conference.

But to Joseph Nielsen, the Salt Lake Tabernacle’s famed pipe organ is more than a musical companion to a celebrated choir’s weekly performances, more than an embossed image on a songbook, more than a majestic monument to the pioneer past, more than an emblem of a global religion.

To Nielsen, it’s personal.

Some of his earliest memories are of his father, a guest organist during a visit, seated at the multitiered keyboards of the Tabernacle’s sonorous centerpiece.

Taking up the mantle from the previous master organ technician of 41 years, Robert Paul, Nielsen has played those very same pioneer pipes and maintained the organ’s entire system for the past three years.

In this job, Nielsen is living his, well, pipe dream, tending not only to the Tabernacle’s iconic instrument but also to all the organs across Temple Square.

“I call it the temple of tone,” Nielsen said. “When you’re in that temple, it’s a wonderful place to be because you’re listening to the universe, and you can get lost there.”

And getting physically lost is easy to do, too. Navigating the complex labyrinth of pipes takes a sharp mind and a sharper ear.

“I’m an organ builder,” he said. “What I find satisfying is that it’s a legacy, and that legacy is to continue the sound of this instrument to make sure that it lasts another … hundred years, so that other generations can hear its beauty.”

And, thanks to broadcasts such as General Conference and “Music & the Spoken Word,” the Tabernacle’s showcase instrument has been an inspiration to millions.

Eric Chaffey, the current assistant music director and organist for Murray’s Cottonwood Presbyterian Church, said his interest in the organ originated from the Tabernacle’s pipe organ.

“There was a fascination with the sound and the sight,” said Chaffey, who also is an organist in his Latter-day Saint congregation. “I can remember watching General Conference and being fascinated with the pipes.”

This led to Chaffey learning to take up the organ at age 15 and his first professional organ gig in 1990.

And even with his more than 40 years of experience under his belt, Chaffey still has a fascination with the pipes playing at Temple Square.

When the organ premiered

Considered one of the most complex pre-Industrial Revolution instruments, pipe organs consist of thousands of parts. The Tabernacle’s organ boasts more than 11,000 pipes alone, most of which lie behind the large wooden facade seen by the audience.

Built in the late 1860s by Joseph Harris Ridges, it debuted at the church’s 1867 October General Conference.

Since then, it has undergone several updates and expansions, with the most recent renovation beginning last May.

In the main stages of the renovation, more than 75,000 individual pieces were assessed, replaced or refurbished, including some of the organ’s “reservoirs.” These large rectangular boxes hold wind at a steady pressure and feed it to the pipes. The pioneers made them from leather, but the boxes had worn out and leaked air.

Other more specialized pieces were sent across the country for repairs, including some pouch boards. These boards contain small leather pouches that open and close valves, controlling the flow of air into the pipes. Each was repaired by hand.

Although the major renovation work is over, more remains to be done.

‘It does have a personality’

The organ is a living and breathing instrument, Nielsen explained, that needs constant care.

And this care falls to him.

“There’s a bunch of experiences I’ve had with the instrument because it does have a personality, both the pipes and also the winding,” he said. “As I listen to what’s going on … the instrument tells me what’s wrong. It’s almost like I’m the doctor listening to the lungs, and once I figure out what’s going on, the remedy is pretty clear.”

Behind the famous facade of the organ exists a labyrinth of pipes, wood beams and multiple floors. In this part of the instrument, Nielsen is in a constant state of flux — assessing, cleaning and tuning every piece of equipment so it can continue to produce its reverential reverberations.

He is especially attuned to prepping the various organs on Temple Square — in the Tabernacle, Assembly Hall, Conference Center and Joseph Smith Memorial Building — before major performances, including April’s upcoming General Conference.

“There’s about a two-week period that I have to engage that instrument in different ways,” he said. “Usually there’s like an initial tuning that I’ll do to make sure that everything is good for the concert, and then I’ll allow the organists to play.”

The day before any major performance, Nielsen said, he performs a final check.

As he carries the master technician torch, Nielsen hopes that future generations appreciate this sacred instrument.

“My biggest fear,” he said, “is that the knowledge that we have now will get lost for several generations until they rediscover what we already know.”

So seeing young people pocket their phones and soak in the sonorous sounds of a pipe organ is music to his ears.

Note to readers • Dylan Eubank is a Report for America corps member covering faith in Utah County for The Salt Lake Tribune.