Does air have mass?  You bet it does! Cold air is heavier than warm air.  Hot air balloons use this principle to be able to rise above the ground: hot air rises.  It rises because the heavier, colder air falls and displaces it at the lower levels (except on days when we have temperature inversions so common to Utah).  If we are feeding a labial organ pipe cold air, when the pipe had been tuned at room temperature, we are feeding it heavier air.  Heavier equates to harder to move... thus, slower to react.  Warmer air is more easily moved because it is less heavy, which means our "air reed" or "wind reed" is going to oscillate faster—causing a sharper pipe.  

The thing to remember is that the weight of the air (wind) is a bigger factor in the pitch of the pipe than the length of the pipe because it is the air (wind) that makes the vibrations, not the pipe itself!  Yes, the body of the pipe will go into "sympathetic vibrations" that will affect the overall tone of the pipe, and the materials used in the pipe's construction are going to react to the overall timbre, with different materials absorbing or dampening certain overtones to a degree, but the sound all originates in a vibrating (oscillating) column of air.  Tiny whirlwinds or "vortices" of air form at the mouth.  (I said form at the mouth, not foam at the mouth... although I've heard a few "Roar Flukes" that probably foam at the mouth—like the ones on the organ at Orem Cascade Stake).

Keep in mind, however, that we are talking about flue pipes: (that is to say, labial pipes, or pipes with mouths).  In Reed (lingual) pipes it is not the wind that produces the sound, but a vibrating brass reed.  True, the weight of the wind is going to have an effect on the pitch, as will the length of the resonator, but it is the brass reed that actually produces the sound!  And that brass reed is gonna wanna shrink (shorten) when it gets cold!  So a cold room is not going to affect Flue pipes and Reed pipes the same way!  These 2 types of pipes are likely to wanna drift off pitch in opposite directions from each other when the temperature of the room (and of the wind being fed into the pipes) fluctuates!  See why the Reeds seem to go out of tune with the rest of the organ differently than the flue pipes do?  And guess what?  Valvular pipes, such as the Diaphone, do not react to temperature fluctuations the same way as labial or lingual pipes!  See why we wanna keep the temperature as constant as possible? 

So now you should understand why a cold room generally produces a mostly-flat sound from a pipe organ ('cuz most of the pipes are gonna be labial— or flue— pipes).  The Reed pipes?  Anybody's guess.  The heavier cold air is gonna wanna make the pipe go flat, but the shorter tongue (reed) and shorter resonator are gonna wanna do just the opposite!

Information about "tonal finishing" and "regulation"

Tonal finishing involves going through the organ note by note, pipe by pipe, and making the final adjustments to each and every pipe to ensure that it speaks with the desired timbre-- matches the other pipes in the rank for proper tone quality—  and also "regulation." To achieve all this, adjustments are made to lip positions and height, languid position, ears, etc., to attain the desired timbre and volume.  The size of the room, presence of draperies and/or carpeting, and objects within the room that sound waves bounce off of— or that absorb sound-- are all taken into consideration when doing this final voicing.  

Regulation means adjusting the pipe's volume properly, with respect to the surrounding pipes, so that no one pipe sticks out as being too loud or too soft to fit in with the rest of the rank.  As we ascend the scale, each successive pipe going up the scale should be just ever-so-slightly louder than the previous pipe, without a sudden "jump" in volume.  This "crescendo" must be gradual and even.  When properly regulated, the melody note will always prevail, as it is slightly louder than the accompanying notes.  (At least that's the way Merv Brown explained it to me when I was working with him).  All of this is a critical part of tonal finishing.

With most pipes (of standard construction), this act of regulating a pipe involves either opening up or closing down the toe hole a tiny amount in order to adjust the amount of wind that enters the pipe, and therefore, how loud the pipe plays.  If the pipe is too soft, the organ technician will increase the size of the opening at the toe just a very minute amount, to allow more wind to enter the pipe, and thereby increase the volume.  Or if the pipe needs softening, he will carefully work the soft metal (lead) around the toe hole to slightly reduce the overall size of the opening, and thus restrict the amount of wind that enters the pipe.  

However, on Wicks organs of that particular time period, the company had adopted a voicing style that involved using lower wind pressures and "open toe" pipes, (or as some organ technicians call it: "toeless" pipes), with wind regulation done strictly at the mouth of the pipe instead of at the toe.  This could be quite tricky, as pipe mouths can be very tempermental, and sometimes a few thousandths of an inch one way or another can make a big difference in whether the pipe even speaks at all!  But without adjustable toe openings, regulation on Wicks organs was accomplished by pushing the lower lip inward towards the languid to reduce wind across the mouth of the pipe, or pulling the lower lip outward, farther away from the languid, to allow more wind across the mouth of the pipe.  The idea was to create a style of voicing that was common during the Baroque era, with low wind pressures.  (But Mr. J.S. Bach didn't have the luxury of having a 5 horsepower electric blower to supply wind for his organ, either).  Many organ builders claim that higher wind pressures make a pipe less susceptible to cyphers (where a piece of debris gets stuck in the valve and prevents the pallet-- that is to say, the valve-- from closing completely, allowing the pipe to sound when it is not supposed to-- often at a weaker strength, and consequently, somewhat flat also, making it difficult to identify right away.  Merv Brown believed that higher wind pressures help to blow any debris out of the way before it can jam the valve and prevent it from totally closing.  

Yet another of the less-desirable side effects of low wind pressure is that it also results in more chiff— sometimes more than what many organists feel is in good taste.  A little chiff adds character to the sound of a pipe, but too much chiff can be more of a distraction. More information about wind pressure will be provided in a future article. 

Tidbits about Mixtures

By Blaine Olson

We’ve all heard in numerous organ workshops that Mixtures are never to be used without a fairly full chorus under them— but that is not necessarily true!  The Antiphonal Organ of the Salt Lake Tabernacle includes an 8’ Diapason, 4’ Principal, and 2' Mixture III, (without an independent 2 2/3’ or 2’ stop in that section of the organ).  But here two tidbits among organ secrets for you to consider:

To Brighten Existing Reed

What should you do if you are using an 8’ Trumpet or similar rank, and find that it needs a little more “oomph” for what you are doing?  Many organists have reported success in boosting their Trumpet simply by adding the right Mixture to the mix, even if it's just the Trumpet and the Mixture.  This works best with Mixtures that start at 1 1/3' pitch.  The 2 2/3' may or may not be helpful.  Most Mixtures are rich in the elements of pitch that are strongest in the Trumpet family, including the 1 1/3’ pitch series, which is vital.  As always, try it first to make sure the addition of a Mixture or a 1 1/3’ pitch to your Reed actually helps boost the Reed without interfering with it.  Betcha didn’t know a Mixture can sometimes be used with something other than a Diapason chorus beneath it!

Create Reed Effect in Chorus Registration

What if there are no reeds available on your instrument?  If you want to create the illusion that a Reed is present, your best bet is to use the 1 3/5' Tierce as part of your registration, assuming the mutation is voiced such that an illusion is even possible. This makes the 1 3/5' pitch extremely valuable in a small organ without a reed.  Adding a 1 3/5' mutation stop to a full chorus registration may give the illusion that a reed exists. Of course, you’ll always want to experiment first to be sure the addition of the mutation stop blends well with the registration.

A Look at Stop Name Prefixes

I use the term "prefix" here to refer to a word which better defines what the stop is.  Technically, they're not always true prefixes, but descriptive modifiers, and sometimes even follow the basic name of the stop, such as Echo Bourdon or Bourdon Echo—both of which describe a Bourdon that is voiced on the soft side.

These descriptive words may give us a clue as to how loud or assertive the stop is;  for example, "Echo Bourdon" tells us that the stop is softer than might be expected from a standard Bourdon.  Stentor Diapason tells us this particular Diapason is much, much louder than a normal Diapason.  Gross Gamba does not mean that the Gamba is rude or uncivilized ("gross"),  but that it is larger in scale (and likely much louder) than a "standard" Gamba.  Holz Gedeckt does not mean a stopped Flute with little openings or perforations (holes).  The prefix Holz indicates that it is made of wood, as opposed to the Gedeckt Pommer, which is a metal Gedeckt.

List of Prefix Meanings

Organ stops may be named after their shape (such a Trichterregal, which is a type of Regal that is funnel shaped); the word thrichter means funnel...   or the stops may be named after the function they provide, as with Compensating Mixture, which is a Pedal Mixture designed to make up for weaknesses in loudness, range, or timbre...  or stops may be named after the material which the pipes are made of, such as Holzgedeckt (wood Gedeckt).  

Here is a list of some of the more common terms used in stop names, along with their meanings and some examples:

Contra:  used to denote a 16' or 32' pitch.  Contra Bourdon, Contre Trumpet, Contra Bombarde

Cor,  Corno, or Horn:  indicates that the pipe has a "horn-like" tone quality, and that the lowest 6 to 8 harmonics are nearly equal in strength.  Nachthorn, Cor Anglais, Corno d'Amore, Corno Dolce

D' Amour or d' Amore:  indicates a soft, delicate solo quality.  Corno d' Amore (Cor d' Amour)

Doppel:  indicates that the pipes have two mouths.  (Dopple= double).  Doppel Flute, Dopple Rohrgedeckt

Double:  indicates sub-unison pitch, as with Double Diapason 16'.

Echo:  Softer than the "standard."  Echo Salicional, Echo Bourdon 

Grand:  the stop is of large scale and powerful intonation.  Grand Fourniture IX

Gross:  indicates the stop is at sub-unison pitch  --or-- is large scale (at unison).  Gross Gamba

Harmonic:  indicates that the pipes are double (sometimes triple) physical length, yet speak at the pitch indicated on the stop tablet or drawknob.  Harmonic pipes are so designed to increase power in the lower train of harmonics without adding brilliance to the upper train of harmonics.  Harmonic Trumpet, Harmonic Flute, Trompette Harmonique

Hohl:  the pipes have a "hollow-sounding" timbre.  Hohlflote, Hohlpfeife

Holz:  the pipes (or at least the resonators) are made of wood, which gives a more resonant timbre than metal.  Holz Gedeckt, Holz Prinzipal, Holz Regal

Klein:  indicates that the stop has a gentle (usually soft) tone quality.  It may also indicate a smaller-than-normal scale, resulting in a gentler tone, or perhaps the 4' stop designation of a stop normally found at 8' pitch.  Klein Erzahler, Kleingedeckt

Lieblich:  indicates a smooth, solo-like tone (usually soft).  Lieblich Gedeckt

Magna:  has a loud, commanding tone.  Tuba Magna

Major:  used to differentiate the stronger stop among more than one stop with the same same.  Tuba Major

Minor:  indicates the less-powerful of 2 stops with the same name.  Tuba Minor

Mirabilis:  indicates a very powerful (very loud) tone.  Tuba Mirabilis, Flauto Mirabilis

Orchestral:  indicates an imitative tone color.  Orchestral Oboe, Viol d'Orchestre

Phonon:  indicates a loud, rounded tone (not brightness).  This type of stop might be found in a Solo or Bombarde organ.  Diapason Phonon

Profunda:  indicates sub-unison or sub-sub-unison pitch.  

Sonora:  indicates a loud, assertive stop, not necessarily bright.  (Think Sonorous).   Tuba Sonora

Sordo:  the word literally means "deaf," and indicates a very soft stop.  (See Echo).  

Spitz:  signifies that the pipes are conical (tapered) in shape, tapering from wide at the mouth to "pointy" at the top.  Spitzprinzipal, Spitzflote.

Stentor:  indicates a very loud stop.  Stentor Diapason

Sub:  indicates that the pipes speak at one octave below unison.  (16' on the Manuals or 32' on the Pedals).  Sub Bass

Super:  pipes speak one octave above the octave:  2' Manual pitch or 4' Pedal pitch.  Super Octave

Zart:  indicates a sound even softer than Echo.  Zartflöte

Zauber:  pipes are both stoppered and harmonic.  Zauber Flöte

Can you identify which of these is a Rohrflute? 

By Blaine Olson

If you guessed the first wooden pipe, the one on the far left, you would be absolutely correct! The ink has faded over the years (the 2 wooden pipes are about 115 years old), but close examination just below the mouth reveals the letters ROHR. The "chimney" we've come to expect in a "Rohrflute" is provided via a hole drilled thru the "handle" of the stopper into the inner abyss of the pipe.

But... the pipe next to it has a similar hole. What about it?  It's an F.D.A. What's an F.D.A? Flute d'Amour (or Flauto d'Amore, if you prefer that spelling). A wooden Flute d'Amour may be a delicately-voiced wooden Rohrflute. In his Dictionary of Pipe Organ Stops, Irwin explains that, "Rohrs on the wooden examples{of Flute d'Amour}... help to give strength in the lower part of the harmonic train."

Okay, but you say, "What about the Hoyt metal pipe on the far right? I'm certain that is a Rohrflute."  Actually, it is clearly stamped Chimney Flute. Okay, so it's a Rohrflute as well. But guess what! So are the 2 spotted metal pipes! I took one of the pipes apart to show how, on this particular variety of Rohrflute, the chimney (the little soda straw) extends down into the pipe, rather than protruding up out of the pipe. There is a tiny difference in sound between pipes with internal chimneys and those with external ones, but most people would never know the difference. The internal rohrs make the pipe a lot less vulnerable to damage, as the external chimneys are very, very delicate and easily bumped and damaged. 

I have one rank of each type in my home organ, and I personally prefer the sweet singing of the rank with internal chimneys over the other. However, it is important to note that there are other differences, too, that account for this: The rank with the external chimneys on my organ is on a much lower wind pressure (2 1/8" of wind), with open toes (toeless, as some people like to call it). The rank with the internal chimneys is on 4.5" of wind, with standard toes. The skill of the voicer has much to do with the end results.

A Very, Very Nervous Organist

By Blaine Olson

I thought we needed a good congregational shot at Stonewood, as well as a straight-on view of the display. While I was there, a very, very nervous organist approached me as I was taking the pictures and asked if she had done something wrong. (She had closed the rolltop and had forgotten to turn off the organ first, and thought she was in trouble for doing that). I told her who I was and what I was doing, and she asked, “So, is this website something that’s going to help us?” 

“Would you like some help understanding the organ?” I asked.

“Yes, I really need help.” 

I got the impression that she was relatively new to the world of organs and micro organs like at Stonewood. I took a few minutes to calm her down and reassure her, and explained to her how she can use the website to her advantage. I told her where to find more information, and she seemed very relieved to know that there are people who are willing to help her. Her car was parked right next to mine, and she waved to me with an enthusiastic wave and happy grin on her face as I went out to get in my car to go to the next venue. I’ve been talking up the website wherever I go, and people seem very receptive about it. 

What is a Resultant?  How can I effectively  make a synthetic 32’ Pedal stop?

By Blaine Olson

How it works:

Most organists are already aware that they can create a synthetic 32’ sound in the Pedal simply by playing a low note with the left foot plus the note one fifth above it with the right foot at the same time, using a 16' stop.  Let's call the frequency of the note played by the left foot "fA" and the frequency of the fifth above it we'll call "fB".  As the 2 sound waves from these notes mix in the atmosphere, the resulting sound will contain the frequencies of  fA,  fB,  fA + fB,  and fB - fA.  If fA represents the lowest note on the pedalboard (CCC at 16' pitch), then the fifth above that (fB) would be GGG.  CCC  has a frequency of about 32.7 Hertz (cycles per second) on the equal-tempered scale if the organ is tuned to "a=440".  GGG has a frequency of about 49.05 Hz.  The sum of these two pitches would be a frequency of about 81.75 Hz., and corresponds to the 5th harmonic of the 32' CCCC!  But even more importantly, our other resultant component, the frequency of the note we are playing in the right foot, minus the frequency of the note we are playing in the left foot (fB minus fA) is 16.35 Hz.  Guess what the frequency of a 32' CCCC is!  Yep!  16.35 cycles per second!  So by mixing a 16' note and the note a fifth above it, we have actually created an additional note whose frequency is half that of what is being played by the left foot, a 32' pitch!  This is what is called a Resultant.  It may also be called something like “Acoustic Bass” or “Harmonic Bass” on some organs.  A 64’ Resultant is made the same way, and may be called “Gravissima," and is said to be even more successful than a 32' Resultant because the elements involved in making it are even farther outside of the "efficient zone" of human hearing.  

Problems with the "two-footed method" of synthesizing a 32' stop:

The problem with this two-footed method of synthesizing a 32’ stop is that there are usually several other pitches included in our Pedal registration just when we want that 32’ rumble, and we are probably also coupling the manual voices to the Pedal as well.  All of those other pitches (8’ pitches, 4’ pitches, upperwork, mixtures and mutations) that we have coupled to the Pedal are going to sound their own fifths as well when we attempt a two-footed 32’ Resultant in this manner, usually resulting in a most unpleasant hodgepodge of acoustic assault.  To avoid this mess, we would have to cancel any couplers and all Pedal stops above 16’ pitch, and use only 16' registration.  Not very practical.  To get around this, we can avoid playing that fifth with the right foot, and instead add a 10 2/3' stop, which would give us the "fifth" that we need, without the disadvantage of having every voice in our selected registration automatically add in its own "fifth" !!!

The pipes for the 10 2/3' Quint can be borrowed from the same rank as the 16' pipes we are using, or they may be a separate rank, so long as they are in fairly close proximity to the 16' pipes.  Some Resultants may use 3 ranks in their composition, 2 at 16' pitch and one at 10 2/3' pitch.  When we have a 10 2/3' stop and our choice of multiple 16' stops, we can pick and choose how we want our Resultant to sound:  The louder the 16' component, the more penetrating the Resultant will be.  Larger-scaled Diapasons and Flutes, whether stopped or open, make the best components for a good Resultant.  Reeds and brilliant Strings do not work well for Resultants because they lack the strong fundamental which is the very backbone of the Resultant, but most Violones are just fine, the Violone being a Diapason/String hybrid.  Valvular pipes (like the Diaphone) do not work well for Resultants.

Special teaching moment: Chiff

By Blaine Olsen

Recently, five different people have asked me about chiff:  What is it?  What causes it?  Is it good, or bad?  Can it be eliminated?

Chiff is the term used to describe the initial “spitting“ sound that a pipe makes before it settles into a steady tone.  It is a natural phenomenon inherent to flue pipes (pipes with mouths).  When wind enters an organ pipe, it takes a fraction of a second (in most cases) for the pipe to actually settle in to a steady tone. The transients and “puff of air” that precede the steady tone is what we call “chiff.”

The word “chiff” is a classic example of onomatopoeia. You may remember from your high school English classes that onomatopoeia is a word which is meant to mimic the sound it represents, such as the “clip-clop” of horses hooves on pavement, or the sound of water “swishing” around the wader’s legs, or the “hissing” of the snake in your sleeping bag. In the case of organ pipes, that initial transient sound made by the pipe seems to suggest the “ch” sound;  hence, the word “chiff” came into being. While the word is not found in very many dictionaries, it has actually been in existence in the pipe organ world for a very long time.

Tabernacle organist Dr. Frank W. Asper told his organ students that when the Salt Lake Tabernacle organ underwent it’s 1948 rebuild by the Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ company, one of the ideas that was being floated around was to eliminate as much chiff as possible from the new organ, giving the organ a Romantic style of voicing (which is characterized by very little chiff and many imitative [orchestral] voices). However, Dr. Asper and Dr. Alexander Schreiner requested that at least some chiff remain, as to eliminate too much chiff would make it difficult to play Baroque music with any degree of realism. In the Romantic style of organ voicing, chiff is minimized as much as possible.  The Tabernacle organ was to be voiced in the American Classic style, which is sort of a compromise between Baroque and Romantic, thus allowing either of these styles of music to be played… and it allows for moderate (but not heavy) chiff.  (By the way, the Conference Center organ is voiced in the American Symphonic style).

A little chiff adds character to the sound of a pipe, and may even give an illusion of brightness to the pipe, although there are no actual harmonics added to the timbre. However, when chiff is too heavy it can be a bit of a distraction.  But if chiff is totally eliminated, the resulting sound will seem lifeless… like an electronically produced tone.