The organ of San Pedro Quiatoni, with the date 1729 inscribed on the central façade pipe, is closely related to the organs in Tlacochahuaya and Zautla.  The entire row of front pipes is painted with faces (mascarones) and floral decoration which are nearly identical to those of the undated stationary organ in Tlacochahuaya. This indicates that the Tlacochahuaya organ could have been built around the same time. The disposition of the Quiatoni organ was originally like that of the table organs in Zautla and Yucuxaco, as well as in Tlacochahuaya. However, it was modified sometime during the 18th century to approximate the revisions in Tlacochahuaya which strengthened and enhanced the organ’s sound. Or else the Tlacochahuaya organ imitated the changes made in Quiatoni. Who knows which one came first? In both organs the drum stop was canceled and in its place, a left-hand 4´ reed (bajoncillo) (13 notes C-g) was installed. It seems possible that the modifications were made on both organs around the same time by the same organ builder.  The treble 8´ half of the reed (clarín) was eventually installed on the stationary Tlacochahuaya organ in its proper place on the facade, but this was impossible in Quiatoni, a table organ with doors. In 1735 an octave was added to the 4´ stopped flute (tapadillo) in Tlacochahuaya to convert it to an 8´ bardón and deepen the tonal base. The same adjustment appears in Quiatoni, but it is undated.  

The organ builder Pedro Nibra worked in Quiatoni in 1873, seven years after finishing the Jalatlaco organ and around 140 years after the dated modification in Tlacochahuaya in 1735. He seems to have made a new keyboard, renovated the bellows, and would have adjusted the mechanics and tuned the pipes. The interior bajoncillo reed stop and the extended bardón were already in place, having been installed during the 18th century. Such an adjustment would have been an anachronism in the 19th since by then the organ’s sound was being softened rather than brightened. The clarín on Nibra’s 1866 Jalatlaco organ was canceled in 1880 and other organs followed suit into the 20th century (Zaachila, Soledad, Teposcolula). The Quiatoni organ was originally located on the church floor with the bellows on a table behind. When it was moved up to the new choir loft, the bellows were positioned on the right side, because they could no longer fit behind the organ. 

The case decoration reveals a small face wearing a helmet, similar to the archangels in Zautla, peeking out from the overpainting on the left door. This detail allows us to imagine the original look of the organ. Another face is barely visible on the right door as well. Swirling acanthus designs similar to those of Zautla decorate the back panel. Maltese crosses are inscribed on the central façade pipe and the first pallet of the chest. The doors were repainted with grotesque faces and the rest of the case with strange, unfamiliar designs. The former baroque decoration may have deteriorated, but it was probably painted over deliberately (and fortunately not scraped off) after the Reform Period of the 1850s, a time when religious images were suppressed.  During the IOHIO’s first visit to the organ in 2001, the roof of the church was undergoing a renovation. The organ’s case was stored sideways in a makeshift storage unit (much of the paint flaked off) and the pipes in wooden boxes. In 2003 the organ builder Susan Tattershall supervised the raising of the organ to the new choir loft.