Many organists who gave organ recitals liked Henry Willis’s organs because they had lots of different sounds which helped to make the organ sound like an orchestra. He made organs for churches where the architects were getting rid of the central screen so that the organ could be heard better in the main part of the church (the nave). He used ideas that had been created by the French organ builder Cavaillé-Coll and by Barker. He made several inventions himself, including the thumb piston, which made it possible for an organist to change the combination of stops without taking his hands off the keyboard.