That was the sound of sports in a smoky old arena — now the Garden has it, without the smoke.

“People absolutely connect to it,” Bauman said. “This brings us back from all the popular stuff you listen to everywhere else you go. Once you hear this is a much richer tapestry of sound, people say, ‘Oh, I get it.’ A large part of the audience at games are adults, and the moms and dads heard this sound when they are kids.”

Castoldi is happy to report that the number of arenas with live organists is growing, to 22 at his last count. Four N.H.L. arenas now use theater organs, including the United Center in Chicago; the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul; and Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla., where the 24-year-old Lightning installed a pipe organ in 2010 for a more authentic hockey experience.

“There’s like a revival going on,” Castoldi said.

Castoldi does not play at every Knicks and Rangers home game, but, with the new organ in place, he has found himself playing at more games so far this season. He is also playing the new organ more often than he played the old keyboard, because, as Bauman said, it offers more bells and whistles.

“I’m playing better,” Castoldi said, smiling. “There’s more variety, just more fleshing out the songs.”

Seven minutes before the Rangers took the ice for a pregame warm-up against the Chicago Blackhawks last month, well before most of the crowd arrived, Castoldi got on the Roland and played “Christmas Time Is Here” and “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,” layering in the sound of bells to the tunes.

The Rangers came out to the sound of recorded, pulsating music, but when they retreated to their dressing room to prepare for the game, Castoldi got back on the organ and played “New York, New York,” which Layton, who died in 2004, loved to play on the Hammond organ at Yankee Stadium.

“I spent a lot of time at the Stadium stealing everything I could from the guy,” Castoldi said of Layton.