Uncertain speach of pedal stops

[mashaffer]

I have not had the pleasure of playing very many pipe organs but I have been playing around with some virtual pipe organs and have noticed a common characteristic of many of the sample sets of smaller organs and also of larger ones of the Baroque style. That is what I would call an uncertain speech of many of the 16' pedal stops, especially flutes. The sound I am hearing is a long delay in the speaking of the pipe along with what amounts to almost a scoop or bend. Over the course of the first second or two after the pedal is pressed you hear first the air then an uncertain/variable pitch and gradual increase in volume as if the air is loath to start the pipe singing.

This is rather disconcerting when trying to play anything approaching a rapid pedal passage. I don't notice it so much on Diapasons and really not at all on reeds interestingly enough, nor on the 8' and higher pitches.

What is the cause of this behavior? Is it a lack of sufficient reservoir, flow resistance, other? Is this an intentional effect?

mike

[mashaffer]

Here you can hear the effect if you can ignore the blower noise. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cpGE5Sv-pM

mike

[douçaine]

Bear in mind that organists rarely played heel-toe in Baroque times, and therefore used minimal legato. Compounded with slow speaking pipes, in quick music, this pretty much only gives articulation to the sound, with little tone. This gives a tremendous accent comparatively to the long notes, where we can actually hear the low tone; the effect, when using full pedal with only stopped 16s, is wonderful. Such pieces as the "Wedge" Fugue take on a whole new light bearing this in mind (so long as you don't do the trills in the pedal, which sound positively hideous).
Furthermore, when the bass line needs a lot of clarity, the Baroque organists used the 16' reed, which was very free-toned and bright (never loud), and worked perfectly with the principals, in addition to 16' flutes. Comparatively, the sound of all the 16s on a modern organ, when everything speaks at more or less the same time, is sterile and much less exciting. Slow pedal stops are something modern organ builders try to avoid so badly, but while they are an acquired taste, the taste is not only authentic but practical for the repertoire in question.

[Guest]

This can be a common problem with 16' flues. On my organ the cure was to wind the 16' bourdon with a short wind line from the regulator so that the wind pressure in the chest does not drop as much when playing a pedal note. Of course with a digital sample, the sound is already fixed and can not be changed.

The solution when playing is to always add a quick speaking 8' stop to the pedal to cover up the delay in the 16' pipe speaking. Of course, all pedal stops tend to be slower than manual stops so that one must compensate a little for the delay.

[mashaffer]

OK, thanks for the tips. In situations where adding the 8' is too overpowering then I take it one would just need to anticipate the notes just a little bit to get it to sound at approximately the right time and just consider the "wooiiink" sound as part of the charm. :D In some cases I was able to use couplers to an otherwise unused manual to add a softer 8' than was available on the pedal which did seem to help.

In the later organs I take it that builders would manage the pressure as well as the diameter and length of supply lines in order to lessen the delay. I presume that such things should also help lessen the pitch anomalies as the pipes begin to sound or is that more controlled by the design of the pipe itself and its flue?

I appreciate the education.

mike