![]() If it is far from the pipes, there may be a time delay between the pressing of a key and the sound heard by the player. Since the console can be attached to the rest of the instrument by a cable, it is often movable. Usually the pipes are in chambers,cases, or otherwise mounted in the room and the console is put in a convenient place. This means that the console can be separated from the pipes with no effect on the key pressure. In electric action instruments the pressure of the key activates a circuit to an electro-magnet which opens the pipe valve. Today, many builders make mechanical action instruments. Until electricity was discovered, all organs used trackers to connect the keys to the pipes. The best thing about mechanical action is that the player can feel the opening of the pipe valves and can make different kinds of attacks and releases by pressing and releasing the key slowly or quickly. Usually the keyboards and pipes are all built in a case with the pipes directly above and in front of the player. Obviously the keyboards must be close to the pipe valves or the action may be hard to play. covered, all organs used trackers to connect the keys to the pipes. In a mechanical action instrument long rods or “trackers” pull down the valves under the pipes. The connection between the key and the pipe valve, called the “action” of the organ, can be achieved by mechanical or electrical means. (The history of the organ has always been about an ongoing attempt to control wind.) Continuous tone is the organ’s most important characteristic. This is different from the piano, whose tone has a natural decay. Both the attack and the release of the tone are controlled by the player. The wind enters the pipe, causing a tone that is constant in pitch and volume until the key is released. When a key is pressed, it opens a valve under a pipe or pipes. Today the organ is still a wind instrument controlled by one or more keyboards. One got to rest during the sermon, but then would be wakened by a bell rung by the organist when it was time to start pumping again The job of a calcant, or bellows-pumper, was quite taxing. These instruments had many pipes and required several huge bellows to provide their wind. Large organs were built in churches from at least 1100. From the beginning pipe organs were made in all different sizes. It was handy to have a family member willing to do this boring job. To play most early pipe organs, one needed an assistant to pump the bellows. According to paintings and stained glass windows, portatives were particularly popular with angels. They were called portatives because they could be carried around by a strap over the player’s shoulder. Some of the earliest organs could be pumped and played by the same person. The pipes were placed into holes on a box called a wind chest.Ī bellows was attached to provide the wind. The pipe organ was invented when someone decided to play a set of pan pipes with a keyboard instead of blowing into each pipe. Pipes were made of hollow stems in different sizes and strapped together to make an instrument called the Pan Pipes. Yankee Annual CompetitionĬopyright © 1994 American Guild of Organists. AGO/Marilyn Mason Award in Organ Composition.AGO/ECS Publishing Award in Choral Composition.Renew Membership/Update Personal Information.Church Music Institute Special Discount.AGO Affiliate Membership for RCO Members.Subscribe to The American Organist (TAO).Treasurer/Councillor for Finance & Development.Secretary/Councillor for Communications.Vice President/Councillor for Competitions & New Music.
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