Pipe organ parts

[talss]

Hello :-),

I wonder how did the people at the 16th century made it to make air to be blown through the pipes with no electronics,

do anybody know? I can't find anything on google\wikipedia...

Thanks :-D

[toodles]

Re: Pipe organ parts



Men or boys used to pump bellows to fill an air resevoir. Big organs required several men/boys to pump. If located near a river, water wheels could be used & harnessed to perform the work. I suppose that, perhaps, even steam engines were put to the task when then came into existance.

Toodles.

[soubasse32]

Re: Pipe organ parts



Here is a diagram from theSmithsonianmagazine, depicting an entirely mechanical organ (both mechanical key action and stop action). Thisishow organs operated up until the Industrial Age. The only modern appliance in the diagram is the electric blower. Before electricity organs had bellows that were hand pumped, or pumped by water motors.

Many organs built today still have mechanical (tracker) key action, and some have mechanical stop action; however larger instruments will tend to havean electric combination action in order to facilitate rapid stop changes.

[talss]

Re: Pipe organ parts



Thanks a lot!

Maybe somewhen I'll get to see a real organ and see how it works :)

Another question: when you play only one note(one key) so it means that only one pipe makes sound?

[soubasse32]

Re: Pipe organ parts



Apipe organ can be represented by a grid:

You can use Boolean logic to determine how many pipes will play when intersections within the array become active.

More simply, let's say that numbers 1 through6 in thechart aboverepresent different stops on the organ, such as a Diapason, Flute, Oboe, etc. These are activated by the stop action.

The letters A through F represent some of the individual notes on a keyboard. These are activated by the key action.

Ifyou play the single note "F" and have one stop drawn (perhaps number "4" in the chart above) then only onepipe will sound. Ifyou draw all six stops and continue playing the "F", six pipes will sound.

There are some exceptions,such as compound stops. These have multiple pipes per note, and the number of pipes per note is represented by a Roman numeral:Scharf IV, Fourniture VI. Often these stops are classed as 'mixture' stops.

[talss]

Re: Pipe organ parts



I've never seen or used any real pipe organ,

the stops of "flute" "oboe" etc... they make the organ sound like a flute\oboe?

[soubasse32]

Re: Pipe organ parts



Some stops (called 'imitative') can sound quite a bit like the orchestral counterpart.

The Encyclopedia of Organ Stops (http://www.organstops.org) is a very interesting website which describes almost every organ stop; this is the pagethat lists only those stops with sound clips - you can listen to as many as you like, and draw your own conclusions about how imitative some of them are.

[talss]

Re: Pipe organ parts



Another silly question..

I don't understand what the 16' 8' 4' 2' mean...can you explain please?

Thanks :-)

[soubasse32]

Re: Pipe organ parts



These refer to the pitch. When you draw an 8' stop and play middle C on the organ, it will sound at 'normal' pitch. 8' stops are referred to as 'unison' stops.

The normal, unison pitch for the manual keyboards is 8' whereas for the Pedal it is 16' pitch.

A 4' stopsounds an octave higher than an 8' stop; a 16' stopsounds an octave lower.

An excellentonline resource for informationabout organs is this website, by Dr. James H. Cook.

[thevanderploegs]

Re: Pipe organ parts



The 16' 8' 4' 2' etc also refers to the 'nominal' speaking length of the longest pipe in the rank (ie: the lowest 'c' on the keyboard). I say 'nominal' because the exact length can vary according a host of variables the give different pipes their distinct voice. Speaking length is from the mouth (the hole on the front of most pipes that you see) to the top of the pipe.

Regards,
Gary