Wicks? 16' Pedal made from Reed organ reeds?

[ebie0967]

Hello All,

I remember many years ago, a small wicks unit organ in a practice room at Mount Union College in Alliance, Ohio which had a 16' pedal stop contained in a small box, maybe 12" square or so. In the box were 16' reed organ style reeds and which I believe were played pneumatically with pressure and produced a satisfactory sound for such a small unit.

My question... has anyone else ever heard/seen such a thing, and does anyone know how it worked or where one might be found/built?

Thank you!
Brian

[Westminster]

These were fairly common for Wicks' small one or two rank unit organs. IIRC Moller also did this on occasion, but less often encountered (at least in my experience - I don't think I've actually seen a Moller with reed organ 16' octave). I do remember seeing such on a Wicks many years ago in Western Massachusetts (Lenox maybe?). Not a bad solution for a small home or chapel organ.

[Havoc]

http://www.organstops.org/p/Physharmonika.html

[Menschenstimme]

I once had a 3-rank Wicks cabinet organ with one of these. It was labelled Bourdon 16 and the upper notes were from the stopped flute which was the main rank of the organ. The 16-foot octave sounded okay to the organist; but to anyone listening from any distance, something was missing.

[saudade]

I have a Wicks Sonatina 3r organ. It has the box of pedal reeds which work well in a small set up like the Sonatina. While they're not great sounding I prefer using them than not. It gives a bottom to the overall sound of the instrument. If you need some pictures I believe I have some.

[ebie0967]

I have a Wicks Sonatina 3r organ. It has the box of pedal reeds which work well in a small set up like the Sonatina. While they're not great sounding I prefer using them than not. It gives a bottom to the overall sound of the instrument. If you need some pictures I believe I have some.

Hi and thanks for your reply! I'd love to see any pictures you have of the unit.

Thanks again.

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http://www.organstops.org/p/Physharmonika.html

Interesting article. Thanks for sharing the link. I think it's what Wicks was shooting for.

[ebie0967]

http://www.organstops.org/p/Physharmonika.html

Thanks for the link. It seems like this was what Wicks was shooting for.

[douçaine]

Does any company build these units new anymore? I would love to augment a local organ with one.

[Havoc]

No idea. But there is a German organ builder that makes "ocarina" basses. Kind of based on Helmholtz resonators. That comes closest to a compact 16'.

[saudade]

wicks sonatina pedal 16' free reeds



Photographs of the reed box

[saudade]

The pipes will go out of tune with the reeds occasionally. Sort of a pain but I have to tune the lowest gedackts to stop the beating. Sometimes I shove my midi pedalboard under the organ and use digital pedal stops. Had hooked up the lowest oktave of gedackt 1-12 which sit outside the organ and disconnected the reeds but the pipes I bought are too large scale and don't get enough wind, plus I kicked a magnet on the outside windchest and broke it and don't know how to fix it

[ebie0967]

Thanks for posting the pics of the reed box, and for your description of how you've used it.