Pipe Organ

A pipe organ is a musical instrument that uses pressurized air running through different pipes to create sound. Since organ pipes only have one tone, they are organized into "ranks," where they are among other organ pipes with similar sounds, but in different tones. These ranks are controlled at a console via multiple manuals (keyboards) and foot pedals.

Though the pipe organ is a very complex instrument, it has only been that way for the past few centuries. In fact, the pipe organ is one of the oldest instruments in existence; stretching back to about the 3rd Century, BC. The earliest forms of the pipe organ was very similar to a "portative organ", which is basically a very small pipe organ. This came into existence around Ancient Greece and in Ancient Rome.

Prior to using actual bellows to provide wind, a hydraulic system was used, where water pressure was maintained to provide an adequate amount of air pressure to the organ pipes. This system was invented by Greek Engineer Ctesibius of Alexandria, who is known today as the inventor of the pipe organ.

It wasn't until around sixth century AD when the pipe organ started to take the shape we commonly see them as today. Not only did non-hydraulic bellows come around, but so did the portative organ. During the Middle Ages, the pipe organ developed an organized set of keys and other features. During this time, the organ was mostly used to play more secular music.

It wasn't until 1361 that the pipe organ was a permanent instrument. The first permanent pipe organ was built in Halberstadt, Germany. It consisted of three manuals (keyboards), consisting of an organized set of keys. However, organs at that time didn't have stops (the knobs which control the connection between the manuals and pipes), so the manuals were organized by pitch and sound. This was improved upon in about 1450, when organs started to have a more controlled system.

The organ saw it's "golden era" around the Baroque period of music, where the organ (which was dubbed "The King of the Instruments" by Mozart and Guillaume de Machaut) experienced more capabilities. Pipes were made to imitate the sounds of other instruments, and organs finally had stop controls to accommodate the wide range of sounds that the organ could now produce. Not only that, but the pipe organ started to express certain aesthetic features, often reflecting different nationalities.

The organ saw even more development in the Romantic period, where the organ's capabilities became increasingly broad. The organ continued to improve.

The latest major technological improvement in the pipe organ is converting it's mechanics from an exclusively mechanical system (organs such as these are known as "tracker organs") to an electro-pneumatic system. Today, some pipe organs are manufactured that are entirely digital.

However, the "King of the Instruments" isn't nearly as popular as it is today. It remains a dying art, where it is now mostly associated with church music.

- Bellows: The bellows of a pipe organ is the mechanism that pumps air into the wind chest (explained below). Traditionally, bellows were pumped by hand, but they are now most commonly electrically powered. Back in Ancient Rome, however, an organ's bellows were hydraulically powered.

-Wind Chest: The wind chest is a chamber usually seen on a pipe organ, where air from the bellows is stored and pressurized, making a readily supply of air for the pipes.

- Manual: The keyboard of a pipe organ. They are the same as a typical piano keyboard, except a typical organ manual has 64 keys, and typically starts with a "C."

- Pedal Board: A 32-note set of pedals below the pipe organ, where the organist plays the bass notes with his feet.

- Stops: The stops on an organ come in the form either of draw knobs or tabs. Regardless of their form, there is always a set of stops for each manual and the pedal board. The stops will determine which rank (explained further on in the glossary) of organ pipes will connect with each manual. Organist commonly combine many different stops to create unique sounds.

- Rank: A "rank" is a set of 64 pipes (sometimes less), which make one particular sound, but come in a variety of pitches.

- Flue Pipes: Flue Pipes cover the woodwind sounds of the organ, ranging from clarinets to flutes.

- Reed Pipes: Reed pipes cover the brass sounds of the organ, ranging from trumpets to tubas.

- Diaphone Pipes: The least commonly seen organ pipe, which is basically a combination of a flue and reed pipe.

- Tracker Organ: Any organ whose mechanical movements are powered without the aid of electricity, pneumatics of both.

- Electro-Pneumatic Organ: An organ which uses electro-pneumatics to power the mechanical movements in the organ.