Swell Pedal Placement

[myorgan]

The other day I began wondering how the order of Swell pedals was decided, and is it consistent between organs?

Obviously, if there is only one Swell pedal for an organ, whether it affects the Great and/or Pedals or not, it is the only pedal. However, how/when did it get decided that the order of the pedals (right to left) would be Swell, Great/Pedal, Choir, Solo, etc.? Recently, I was made aware of an organ that did not have a "standard" order of the pedals, and wondered how that came to be, or why one would make that decision. I know some Allen organs (non-pipe) combine the Swell/Choir, while others combine the Choir/Great/Pedals, but I'm wondering if that combination comes from a pipe organ precedent or some other standard.

Michael

[quantum]

To further Michael's inquiry, can someone provide insight into any regional conventions with regard to swell pedal placement. For example, watching videos and playing with VPO's of European instruments, the Rollschweller is often to the left of the swell pedal. Where I live, most instruments use an AGO layout with the crescendo pedal being to the right of the swell pedal. Also with the AGO layout, one can reasonably expect the swell pedal to be positioned between the E and F pedal keys, and any additional expression pedals to be placed on either side of it - this makes it a much easier task of locating the swell pedal without looking when playing on an unfamiliar instrument.

[andijah]

In Germany, the association of organ builders has published a "norm" about the layout and measurements of organ consoles. But there is no obligation to follow the suggestions of this publication and it only applies to new organs anyway. So, for any organ older than 20 or 25 years, you can basically find any kind of layout and combination of stops, although as you mentioned, if there's a crescendo pedal, then it's probably to the left of the swell pedal which is often found on the right side.

[toodles]

AGO for the USA specifies the layout if a builder chooses to follow it.

As for the Allen digital organs that deviated from AGO, this was a limitation of the early digital technology as implemented. MOS1 and 2 had 2 outputs per computer, which Allen chose to be flute & main; expression was done in the analog domain, so they used a single expression on single computer organs; when they added a 2nd computer, rather than separate the expression on 2 manual organs, they chose to provide greater ensemble. On some 2 computer organs (like the 632) they opted for divided expression, but the technology limited them to the unusual pedal arrangement.

Likewise, the Rodgers 32B had the unusual arrangement of swell and pedal on the swell shoe, and great./choir on the choir shoe. It was not because it was an advantage except for cost savings, as the Swell and Pedal shared the same voicing filters.

[voet]

Here are the AGO specifications for what they collectively refer to as "crescendo shoes"

Heel end of playing surface of shoe to overhang sharp keys [of the pedalboard] by 1 1/4 inch maximum forward position, or be placed 3/4 inch maximum distance back of them. These dimensions are for the shoes in closed position.

Swell shoe to be located directly in front of the E-F gap.
Choir or Positiv shoe to left of swell. Solo shoe to right of swell.
Register-crescendo shoe invariably to the right of all others, and slightly raised.
Great shoe in small two-manual organs, where great is enclosed, to replace choir or Positiv shoe at left of swell shoe.

[myorgan]

On pipe organs, though, wouldn't the location of the pipes make a difference (i.e. if Choir & Swell are in the same box)? In that case, the purpose of the shoe is to open a particular swell box rather than remain tied to a division I would think.

Michael

[voet]

myorgan commented:

On pipe organs, though, wouldn't the location of the pipes make a difference (i.e. if Choir & Swell are in the same box)? In that case, the purpose of the shoe is to open a particular swell box rather than remain tied to a division I would think. -Michael

In my experience it is more common for the Great to be enclosed with the Choir if the Great has some enclosed stops. Of course, there are also some examples of completely enclosed Great divisions, especially in the early part of the 20th century. Most often I have seen separately enclosed divisions with separate swell shoes. Some organs have a switch that allow all swell boxes to be controlled with one swell shoe when desired.

[Piperdane]

On a III/30 Möller pipe that I play once a year, the expression shoes are arranged thus: Choir - Swell - Great - Crescendo. The Choir and Great chambers are on one side of the altar, the Swell chamber on the opposite side. I usually 'park' the Great expression wide open and use that division as unenclosed. There is an All Swells to Swell coupler which does have its advantages.

The problem with that particular installation is that choir pews are directly below the Choir and Great divisions ... and it's those two divisions that are used solely to accompany any choral works performed for church services or other concerts. I gave to then revert to using the All Swells to Swell coupler as other wise it would require both feet to control the expression of the Choir and Great divisions.
The Swell chamber is about 50 feet away and cannot be used for choral/solo accompaniment. I would have preferred that the Choir and Great expressions were side by side, but that would mean deviating from the AGO norm of the Swell expression location that we here in the US are most accustomed to.

A better solution in that church would have been to have the Great and Choir under the same expression.