Sometimes when I see a specification of an organ, a diaphone stop is with all the flues. It is not a very common stop here in the UK, but the only British organs I know have diaphones as really huge reeds. But on theatre organs, they're down as flues, and the diaphone at Atlantic City is with the flue stops but made of reed pipes.........I think.
That was a cheeky reply. I have thought of the diaphone as a *hybrid stop*. Looking at the diaphone sound wave on an oscilloscope it has a really squarish shape, as opposed to the saw-tooth wave of, say, a Bombarde 32'.
Hybrid in this instance: A pairing of a flue with a reed.
The metal diaphone on my organ fills out the bottom 16' octave of the diapason. It is actually a reed, but is somewhat mellow sounding. When combined with the 8' diapason, the combination has a diapason sound. When combined with the 8' trumpet, the combination has a tuba sound. So, it can take on the character of either a reed or a flue depending on the combination used and the playing style.
There is a distinct discontinuity in the sound when moving from B to tenor C on the pedal board with only the diaphone drawn. With normal combinations, the sound discontinuity is not a problem. The diaphone does definitely add a solid sound to the 16' octave that otherwise would not be present with only the bourdon.
The diaphone takes on the character of both a flue and a reed as Soubasse32 indicates.
The diaphone is built similar to a reed except that instead of a brass reed tongue it has a round metal beater (reed?) which acts against a leather covered shallot. It gives a smoother tone than a metal striking reed, at least mine does. The tuning holds well and tends to track the flues with temperature changes.
As you say, the diaphone is usually considered in a class by itself. However, it tends to require the same treatment as a reed in that the length of the tube and the beater resonance must match for effective operation. Changing the relationship between the length and the beater resonance does not change the tone quality as much as the volume. However, there is not much adjustment range. Either it works or it will not resonate and instead of a tone it gives a rushing air sound.
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