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96-403: The British Institute of Organ Studies ( BIOS ) is a British organisation and registered charity which aims to promote study and appreciation of all aspects of the pipe organ . Further, it acts as a lobbying body to raise awareness of organ issues with appropriate statutory bodies. Membership is open to all. The aims of BIOS are BIOS publishes a quarterly Reporter newsletter and magazine and

192-419: A fipple , like that of a recorder , whereas reed pipes produce sound via a beating reed , like that of a clarinet or saxophone. Pipes are arranged by timbre and pitch into ranks. A rank is a set of pipes of the same timbre but multiple pitches (one for each note on the keyboard), which is mounted (usually vertically) onto a windchest . The stop mechanism admits air to each rank. For a given pipe to sound,

288-432: A 4′ Octave. When both of these stops are selected and a key (for example, c′) is pressed, two pipes of the same rank will sound: the pipe normally corresponding to the key played (c′), and the pipe one octave above that (c′′). Because the 8′ rank does not have enough pipes to sound the top octave of the keyboard at 4′ pitch, it is common for an extra octave of pipes used only for the borrowed 4′ stop to be added. In this case,

384-402: A chamber generally called the swell box . At least one side of the box is constructed from horizontal or vertical palettes known as swell shades , which operate in a similar way to Venetian blinds ; their position can be adjusted from the console. When the swell shades are open, more sound is heard than when they are closed. Sometimes the shades are exposed, but they are often concealed behind

480-741: A gift to Pepin the Short , King of the Franks , in 757. Pepin's son Charlemagne requested a similar organ for his chapel in Aachen in 812, beginning the pipe organ's establishment in Western European church music. In England, "The first organ of which any detailed record exists was built in Winchester Cathedral in the 10th century. It was a huge machine with 400 pipes, which needed two men to play it and 70 men to blow it, and its sound could be heard throughout

576-409: A key is depressed. The stop action causes a rank of pipes to be engaged (i.e. playable by the keys) while a stop is in its "on" position. An action may be mechanical, pneumatic, or electrical (or some combination of these, such as electro-pneumatic). The key action is independent of the stop action, allowing an organ to combine a mechanical key action with an electric stop action. A key action in which

672-417: A large range of timbres, organ stops exist at different pitch levels. A stop that sounds at unison pitch when a key is depressed is called an 8′ (pronounced "eight-foot") pitch. This refers to the speaking length of the lowest-sounding pipe in that rank, which is approximately eight feet (2.4 m). For the same reason, a stop that sounds an octave higher is at 4′ pitch, and one that sounds two octaves higher

768-473: A lighter touch, and more flexibility in the location of the console, within a roughly 50-foot (15-m) limit. This type of construction was used in the late 19th century and early 20th century, and has had only rare application since the 1920s. A more recent development is the electric action, which uses low voltage DC to control the key and/or stop mechanisms. Electricity may control the action indirectly by activating air pressure valves (pneumatics), in which case

864-841: A military expedition down the Rhone valley. He received the submission of eastern Septimania (i.e., Nîmes , Maguelone , Beziers and Agde ) after securing count Ansemund's allegiance. The Frankish king went on to invest Narbonne , the main Umayyad stronghold in Septimania, but could not capture it from the Iberian Muslims until seven years later in 759 , when they were driven out to Hispania. However, Aquitaine remained under Waiofar 's Gascon-Aquitanian rule and beyond Frankish reach. Duke Waiofar appears to have confiscated Church lands, maybe distributing them among his troops. In 760, after conquering

960-427: A payment in 1332 from the clergy of Notre Dame to an organist to perform on the feasts St. Louis and St. Michael. The Notre Dame School also shows how organs could have been used within the increased use of polyphony, which would have allowed for the use of more instrumental voices within the music. According to documentation from the 9th century by Walafrid Strabo, the organ was also used for music during other parts of

1056-511: A pedalboard with thirty or thirty-two notes (two and a half octaves, from C to f′ or g′). A coupler allows the stops of one division to be played from the keyboard of another division. For example, a coupler labelled "Swell to Great" allows the stops drawn in the Swell division to be played on the Great manual. This coupler is a unison coupler, because it causes the pipes of the Swell division to sound at

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1152-466: A row of facade-pipes or a grill. The most common method of controlling the louvers is the balanced swell pedal . This device is usually placed above the centre of the pedalboard and is configured to rotate away from the organist from a near-vertical position (in which the shades are closed) to a near-horizontal position (in which the shades are open). An organ may also have a similar-looking crescendo pedal , found alongside any expression pedals. Pressing

1248-403: A single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks , each of which has a common timbre , volume, and construction throughout the keyboard compass . Most organs have many ranks of pipes of differing pitch, timbre, and volume that the player can employ singly or in combination through the use of controls called stops . A pipe organ has one or more keyboards (called manuals ) played by

1344-419: A stop labelled "Open Diapason 8′ " is a single-rank diapason stop sounding at 8′ pitch. A stop labelled "Mixture V" is a five-rank mixture. Sometimes, a single rank of pipes may be able to be controlled by several stops, allowing the rank to be played at multiple pitches or on multiple manuals. Such a rank is said to be unified or borrowed . For example, an 8′ Diapason rank may also be made available as

1440-508: A warmer, richer sound than was common in the 18th century. Organs began to be built in concert halls (such as the organ at the Palais du Trocadéro in Paris), and composers such as Camille Saint-Saëns and Gustav Mahler used the organ in their orchestral works. The development of pneumatic and electro-pneumatic key actions in the late 19th century made it possible to locate the console independently of

1536-463: A water U-tube manometer , which gives the pressure as the difference in water levels in the two legs of the manometer. The difference in water level is proportional to the difference in pressure between the wind and the atmosphere. The 0.10 psi above would register as 2.75 inches of water (70  mmAq ). An Italian organ from the Renaissance period may be on only 2.2 inches (56 mm), while (in

1632-691: A way that the divisions of the organ were visibly discernible. Twentieth-century musicologists have retroactively labelled this the Werkprinzip . In France, as in Italy, Spain and Portugal, organs were primarily designed to play alternatim verses rather than accompany congregational singing . The French Classical Organ became remarkably consistent throughout France over the course of the Baroque era, more so than any other style of organ building in history, and standardized registrations developed. This type of instrument

1728-596: A yearly Journal . Both contain articles on organ history, the Journal hoping to attract mature studies, the Reporter offering a place for exposure of interim or conjectural work. BIOS is also responsible for the National Pipe Organ Register (NPOR), which aims to catalogue all British pipe organs in a database. The database is available for searching free of charge on the internet. The National Pipe Organ Register

1824-438: Is at 2′ pitch. Likewise, a stop that sounds an octave lower than unison pitch is at 16′ pitch, and one that sounds two octaves lower is at 32′ pitch. Stops of different pitch levels are designed to be played simultaneously. The label on a stop knob or rocker tab indicates the stop's name and its pitch in feet. Stops that control multiple ranks display a Roman numeral indicating the number of ranks present, instead of pitch. Thus,

1920-459: Is credited with inventing the organ in the 3rd century BC. He devised an instrument called the hydraulis , which delivered a wind supply maintained through water pressure to a set of pipes. The hydraulis was played in the arenas of the Roman Empire . The pumps and water regulators of the hydraulis were replaced by an inflated leather bag in the 2nd century AD, and true bellows began to appear in

2016-652: Is one of the oldest instruments still used in European classical music that has commonly been credited as having derived from Greece. Its earliest predecessors were built in ancient Greece in the 3rd century BC. The word organ is derived from the Ancient Greek ὄργανον ( órganon ), a generic term for an instrument or a tool, via the Latin organum , an instrument similar to a portative organ used in ancient Roman circus games. The Greek engineer Ctesibius of Alexandria

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2112-494: Is used to connect the console to the windchest, electric actions allow the console to be separated at any practical distance from the rest of the organ, and to be movable. Electric stop actions can be controlled at the console by stop knobs, by pivoted tilting tablets, or rocker tabs. These are simple switches, like wall switches for room lights. Some may include electromagnets for automatic setting or resetting when combinations are selected. Computers have made it possible to connect

2208-599: The urghun (organ) as one of the typical instruments of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire . It was often used in the Hippodrome in the imperial capital of Constantinople . A Syrian visitor describes a pipe organ powered by two servants pumping "bellows like a blacksmith's" played while guests ate at the emperor's Christmas dinner in Constantinople in 911. The first Western European pipe organ with "great leaden pipes"

2304-648: The ducatus Romanus . After a meeting with Pope Stephen II at Ponthion, Pepin forced the Lombard king to return the seized property from the Church. He confirmed the papacy in possession of Ravenna and the Pentapolis , the so-called Donation of Pepin , whereby the Papal States were established, and the temporal reign of the papacy officially began. At about 752, he turned his attention to Septimania. The new king headed south in

2400-735: The Abbey Church of St. Denis , near Paris . Succeeding his father as the Mayor of the Palace in 741, Pepin reigned over Francia jointly with his elder brother, Carloman . Pepin ruled in Neustria , Burgundy , and Provence , while his older brother Carloman established himself in Austrasia , Alemannia , and Thuringia . The brothers were active in suppressing revolts led by the Bavarians , Aquitanians , Saxons , and

2496-652: The Alemanni in the early years of their reign. In 743, they ended the Frankish Interregnum  [ fr ] by choosing Childeric III , who was to be the last Merovingian monarch , as figurehead King of the Franks. Being well disposed towards the Christian Church and Papacy on account of their ecclesiastical upbringing, Pepin and Carloman continued their father's work in supporting Saint Boniface in reforming

2592-613: The Germanic tribes was left to his successors. Pepin died in 768 from unknown causes and was succeeded by his sons Charlemagne and Carloman . Although Pepin was one of the most powerful and successful rulers of his time, his reign is largely overshadowed by that of his more famous son, Charlemagne. Pepin's father Charles Martel died in 741. He divided the rule of the Frankish kingdom between Pepin and his elder brother, Carloman , his surviving sons by his first wife: Carloman became Mayor of

2688-591: The Lombards in Italy . In the midsummer of 754, Stephen II anointed Pepin afresh, together with his two sons, Charles and Carloman. The ceremony took place in the Abbey Church of St. Denis , and the Pope formally forbade the Franks ever to elect as king anyone who was not of the sacred race of Pepin. He also bestowed upon Pepin and his sons the title of Patrician of Rome . Pepin was able to secure several cities, which he then gave to

2784-580: The Organ Reform Movement . In the late 20th century, organ builders began to incorporate digital components into their key, stop, and combination actions. Besides making these mechanisms simpler and more reliable, this also makes it possible to record and play back an organist's performance using the MIDI protocol. In addition, some organ builders have incorporated digital (electronic) stops into their pipe organs. The electronic organ developed throughout

2880-696: The Roussillon from the Muslims and denouncing Waiofar's actions, Pepin moved his troops over to Toulouse and Albi , ravaged with fire and sword most of Aquitaine , and, in retaliation, counts loyal to Waiofar ravaged Burgundy. Pepin, in turn, besieged the Aquitanian-held towns and strongholds of Bourbon , Clermont , Chantelle , Bourges and Thouars , defended by Waiofar's Gascon troops, who were overcome, captured and deported into northern France with their children and wives. In 763, Pepin advanced further into

2976-682: The Royal College of Music in London but returned to Emmanuel College in Cambridge in 2013. Editing continues to be done by a team of volunteer editors, now managed by Andrew Macintosh of the Royal College of Organists . The project is guided by members of the Council of the British Institute of Organ Studies. BIOS issues Historic Organ Certificates as follows: A Certificate of Recognition identifies

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3072-566: The heavy cavalry his father had begun. He maintained the standing army that his father had found necessary to protect the realm and form the core of its whole army in wartime. He not only contained the Spanish Muslims as his father had but drove them out of what is now France and, as important, he managed to subdue the Aquitanians and the Gascons after three generations of on-off clashes, opening

3168-545: The musical scale . The greater the length of the pipe, the lower its resulting pitch will be. The timbre and volume of the sound produced by a pipe depends on the volume of air delivered to the pipe and the manner in which it is constructed and voiced, the latter adjusted by the builder to produce the desired tone and volume. Hence a pipe's volume cannot be readily changed while playing. Organ pipes are divided into flue pipes and reed pipes according to their design and timbre. Flue pipes produce sound by forcing air through

3264-599: The siege of Narbonne in 759 , and proceeded to subjugate the southern realms by repeatedly defeating Waiofar and his Gascon troops, after which the Gascon and Aquitanian lords saw no option but to pledge loyalty to the Franks. Pepin was, however, troubled by the relentless revolts of the Saxons and the Bavarians. He campaigned tirelessly in Germania as well, but the final subjugation of

3360-602: The 12th century there is evidence for permanently installed organs existing in religious settings such as the Abbey of Fécamp and other locations throughout Europe. Several innovations occurred to organs in the Middle Ages, such as the creation of the portative and the positive organ. The portative organs were small and created for secular use and made of light weight delicate materials that would have been easy for one individual to transport and play on their own. The portative organ

3456-587: The 13th century, the portatives represented in the miniatures of illuminated manuscripts appear to have real keyboards with balanced keys, as in the Cantigas de Santa Maria . It is difficult to directly determine when larger organs were first installed in Europe. An early detailed eyewitness account from Wulfstan of Winchester gives an idea of what organs were like prior to the 13th century, after which more records of large church organs exist. In his account, he describes

3552-418: The 20th century. Some pipe organs were replaced by digital organs because of their lower purchase price, smaller physical size, and minimal maintenance requirements. In the early 1970s, Rodgers Instruments pioneered the hybrid organ, an electronic instrument that incorporates real pipes; other builders such as Allen Organs and Johannus Orgelbouw have since built hybrid organs. Allen Organs first introduced

3648-510: The Basilica of St Denis in 754, bestowing upon him the additional title of Patricius Romanorum (Patrician of the Romans). This was the first recorded crowning of a civil ruler by a Pope. As life expectancies were short in those days, and Pepin wanted family continuity, the Pope also anointed Pepin's sons, Charles (eventually known as Charlemagne), who was 12, and Carloman, who was 3. The significance of

3744-663: The Blockwerk remained grouped together under a single stop control; these stops developed into mixtures . During the Renaissance and Baroque periods, the organ's tonal colors became more varied. Organ builders fashioned stops that imitated various instruments, such as the krummhorn and the viola da gamba . Builders such as Arp Schnitger , Jasper Johannsen, Zacharias Hildebrandt and Gottfried Silbermann constructed instruments that were in themselves artistic, displaying both exquisite craftsmanship and beautiful sound. These organs featured well-balanced mechanical key actions, giving

3840-605: The Eastern Roman Empire in the 6th or 7th century AD. Some 400 pieces of a hydraulis from the year 228 AD were revealed during the 1931 archaeological excavations in the former Roman town Aquincum , province of Pannonia (present day Budapest ), which was used as a music instrument by the Aquincum fire dormitory; a modern replica produces an enjoyable sound. The 9th century Persian geographer Ibn Khurradadhbih (d. 913), in his lexicographical discussion of instruments, cited

3936-400: The Frankish church and evangelizing the Saxons. After Carloman, an intensely pious man, retired to religious life in 747, Pepin became the sole ruler of the Franks. He suppressed a revolt led by his half-brother Grifo and succeeded in becoming the undisputed master of all Francia. Giving up pretense, Pepin then forced Childeric into a monastery and had himself proclaimed King of the Franks with

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4032-553: The French manner with grander reeds and mixtures, though still without pedal keyboards. The Echo division began to be enclosed in the early 18th century, and in 1712, Abraham Jordan claimed his "swelling organ" at St Magnus-the-Martyr to be a new invention. The swell box and the independent pedal division appeared in English organs beginning in the 18th century. During the Romantic period,

4128-464: The Merovingian Childeric to the throne (743). Then, in 747, Carloman resolved to enter a monastery after years of consideration. This left Francia in the hands of Pepin as sole mayor of the palace and dux et princeps Francorum . At the time of Carloman's retirement, Grifo escaped his imprisonment and fled to Duke Odilo of Bavaria , who was married to Hiltrude, Pepin's sister. Pepin put down

4224-482: The Palace of Austrasia, Pepin became Mayor of the Palace of Neustria. Grifo , Charles's son by his second wife, Swanahild (also known as Swanhilde), demanded a share in the inheritance, but he was besieged in Laon , forced to surrender and imprisoned in a monastery by his two half-brothers. In the Frankish realm, the kingdom's unity was essentially connected with the king's person. So Carloman, to secure this unity, raised

4320-507: The Pope as part of the Donation of Pepin . This formed the legal basis for the Papal States in the Middle Ages. The Byzantine Greeks , keen to make good relations with the growing power of the Frankish Empire, gave Pepin the title of Patricius . In wars of expansion for the Frankish realm , Pepin conquered Septimania from the Umayyad and Andalusian Muslims and defeated them at

4416-862: The Principale were 8', the "Vigesimanona" was ½'). The highest ranks "broke back", their smallest pipes replaced by pipes pitched an octave lower to produce a kind of composite treble mixture. In England, many pipe organs were destroyed or removed from churches during the English Reformation of the 16th century and the Commonwealth period. Some were relocated to private homes. At the Restoration , organ builders such as Renatus Harris and "Father" Bernard Smith brought new organ-building ideas from continental Europe. English organs evolved from small one- or two-manual instruments into three or more divisions disposed in

4512-554: The Swell super octave, which adds the octave above what is played on the Swell to itself), or act as a coupler to another keyboard (for example, the Swell super-octave to Great, which adds to the Great manual the ranks of the Swell division an octave above what is played). In addition, larger organs may use unison off couplers, which prevent the stops pulled in a particular division from sounding at their normal pitch. These can be used in combination with octave couplers to create innovative aural effects, and can also be used to rearrange

4608-419: The action is electro-pneumatic . In such actions, an electromagnet attracts a small pilot valve which lets wind go to a bellows (the "pneumatic" component) which opens the pallet. When electricity operates the action directly without the assistance of pneumatics, it is commonly referred to as direct electric action . In this type, the electromagnet's armature carries a disc pallet. When electrical wiring alone

4704-525: The anointment ceremony is visible in that the Pope newly adopted it and was unheard of in Rome. This, together with granting the title of Patrician of the Romans, which was connected to the role of Defensor Civitatis (protector of oppressed citizens), meant that Pepin was now designated as the defender of the Church. Pepin's first major act as king was to go to war against the Lombard king Aistulf , who had expanded into

4800-473: The church service—the prelude and postlude the main examples—and not just for the effect of polyphony with the choir. Other possible instances of this were short interludes played on the organ either in between parts of the church service or during choral songs, but they were not played at the same time as the choir was singing. This shows that by this point in time organs were fully used within church services and not just in secular settings. Organs from earlier in

4896-564: The city." Beginning in the 12th century, the organ began to evolve into a complex instrument capable of producing different timbres . By the 17th century, most of the sounds available on the modern classical organ had been developed. At that time, the pipe organ was the most complex human-made device —a distinction it retained until it was displaced by the telephone exchange in the late 19th century. Pipe organs are installed in churches, synagogues, concert halls, schools, mansions, other public buildings and in private properties. They are used in

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4992-485: The console and windchests using narrow data cables instead of the much larger bundles of simple electric cables. Embedded computers in the console and near the windchests communicate with each other via various complex multiplexing syntaxes, comparable to MIDI. The wind system consists of the parts that produce, store, and deliver wind to the pipes. Pipe organ wind pressures are on the order of 0.10 psi (0.69 kPa). Organ builders traditionally measure organ wind using

5088-505: The crescendo pedal forward cumulatively activates the stops of the organ, starting with the softest and ending with the loudest; pressing it backward reverses this process. Pepin the Short Pepin was the son of the Frankish prince Charles Martel and his wife Rotrude . Pepin's upbringing was distinguished by the ecclesiastical education he had received from the Christian monks of

5184-452: The drum, chimes , celesta , and harp have also been imitated in organ building. The controls available to the organist, including the keyboards , couplers , expression pedals , stops, and registration aids are accessed from the console. The console is either built into the organ case or detached from it. Keyboards played by the hands are known as manuals (from the Latin mănus , meaning "hand"). The keyboard played by

5280-497: The electronic organ in 1937 and in 1971 created the first digital organ using CMOS technology borrowed from NASA which created the digital pipe organ using sound recorded from actual speaking pipes and incorporating the sounds electronically within the memory of the digital organ thus having real pipe organ sound without the actual organ pipes. A pipe organ contains one or more sets of pipes, a wind system, and one or more keyboards. The pipes produce sound when pressurized air produced by

5376-421: The extreme) solo stops in some large 20th-century organs may require up to 50 inches (1,300 mm). In isolated, extreme cases, some stops have been voiced on 100 inches (2,500 mm). With the exception of water organs , playing the organ before the invention of motors required at least one person to operate the bellows . When signaled by the organist, a calcant would operate a set of bellows, supplying

5472-506: The feet is a pedalboard (from the Latin pēs , pĕdis , meaning "foot"). Every organ has at least one manual (most have two or more), and most have a pedalboard. Each keyboard is named for a particular division of the organ (a group of ranks) and generally controls only the stops from that division. The range of the keyboards has varied widely across time and between countries. Most current specifications call for two or more manuals with sixty-one notes (five octaves, from C to c″″) and

5568-428: The first 32' contre-bombarde was installed in the great organ of Nancy Cathedral, France. Enclosed divisions became common, and registration aids were developed to make it easier for the organist to manage the great number of stops. The desire for louder, grander organs required that the stops be voiced on a higher wind pressure than before. As a result, a greater force was required to overcome the wind pressure and depress

5664-535: The full rank of pipes (now an extended rank ) is one octave longer than the keyboard. Special unpitched stops also appear in some organs. Among these are the Zimbelstern (a wheel of rotating bells), the nightingale (a pipe submerged in a small pool of water, creating the sound of a bird warbling when wind is admitted), and the effet d'orage ("thunder effect", a device that sounds the lowest bass pipes simultaneously). Standard orchestral percussion instruments such as

5760-532: The gate to central and southern Gaul and Muslim Spain. He continued his father's expansion of the Frankish church (missionary work in Germany and Scandinavia ) and the institutional infrastructure ( feudalism ) that would prove the backbone of medieval Europe. His rule was historically significant and greatly beneficial to the Franks as a people. Pepin's assumption of the crown and the title of Patrician of Rome were harbingers of his son's imperial coronation. He made

5856-496: The hands, and a pedal clavier played by the feet; each keyboard controls its own division (group of stops). The keyboard(s), pedalboard, and stops are housed in the organ's console . The organ's continuous supply of wind allows it to sustain notes for as long as the corresponding keys are pressed, unlike the piano and harpsichord whose sound begins to dissipate immediately after a key is depressed. The smallest portable pipe organs may have only one or two dozen pipes and one manual;

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5952-418: The heart of Waiofar's domains and captured major strongholds (Poitiers, Limoges, Angoulême, etc.), after which Waiofar counterattacked and war became bitter. Pepin opted to spread terror, burning villas, destroying vineyards, and depopulating monasteries. By 765, the brutal tactics seemed to pay off for the Franks, who destroyed resistance in central Aquitaine and devastated the whole region. The city of Toulouse

6048-460: The keys are connected to the windchests by only rods and levers is a mechanical or tracker action . When the organist depresses a key, the corresponding rod (called a tracker) pulls open its pallet, allowing wind to enter the pipe. In a mechanical stop action, each stop control operates a valve for a whole rank of pipes. When the organist selects a stop, the valve allows wind to reach the selected rank. The first kind of control used for this purpose

6144-434: The keys. To solve this problem, Cavaillé-Coll configured the English " Barker lever " to assist in operating the key action. This is, essentially, a servomechanism that uses wind pressure from the air plenum, to augment the force that is exerted by the player's fingers. Organ builders began to prefer specifications with fewer mixtures and high-pitched stops, more 8′ and 16′ stops and wider pipe scales. These practices created

6240-430: The largest organs may have over 33,000 pipes and as many as seven manuals. A list of some of the most notable and largest pipe organs in the world can be viewed at List of pipe organs . A ranking of the largest organs in the world—based on the criterion constructed by Michał Szostak , i.e. 'the number of ranks and additional equipment managed from a single console'—can be found in the quarterly magazine The Organ and in

6336-451: The magnates and had the power of a king, he now addressed to Pope Zachary a suggestive question: Hard pressed by the Lombards , Pope Zachary welcomed this move by the Franks to end an intolerable condition and lay the constitutional foundations for exercising royal power. The Pope replied that such a state of things is not proper. Under these circumstances, the wielder of actual power should be called King. After this decision, Childeric III

6432-405: The medieval period are evidenced by surviving keyboards and casings, but no pipes. Until the mid-15th century, organs had no stop controls. Each manual controlled ranks at many pitches, known as the "Blockwerk." Around 1450, controls were designed that allowed the ranks of the Blockwerk to be played individually. These devices were the forerunners of modern stop actions. The higher-pitched ranks of

6528-594: The online journal Vox Humana . The origins of the pipe organ can be traced back to the hydraulis in Ancient Greece , in the 3rd century BC, in which the wind supply was created by the weight of displaced water in an airtight container. By the 6th or 7th century AD, bellows were used to supply Byzantine organs with wind. A pipe organ with "great leaden pipes" was sent to the West by the Byzantine emperor Constantine V as

6624-458: The order of the manuals to make specific pieces easier to play. Enclosure refers to a system that allows for the control of volume without requiring the addition or subtraction of stops. In a two-manual organ with Great and Swell divisions, the Swell will be enclosed. In larger organs, parts or all of the Choir and Solo divisions may also be enclosed. The pipes of an enclosed division are placed in

6720-485: The organ as "the king of instruments", a characterization still frequently applied. The Halberstadt organ was the first instrument to use a chromatic key layout across its three manuals and pedalboard, although the keys were wider than on modern instruments. The width of the keys was slightly over two and a half inches, wide enough to be struck down by the fist, as the early keys are reported to have invariably been manipulated. It had twenty bellows operated by ten men, and

6816-569: The organ became more symphonic, capable of creating a gradual crescendo. This was made possible by voicing stops in such a way that families of tone that historically had only been used separately could now be used together, creating an entirely new way of approaching organ registration. New technologies and the work of organ builders such as Eberhard Friedrich Walcker , Aristide Cavaillé-Coll , and Henry Willis made it possible to build larger organs with more stops, more variation in sound and timbre, and more divisions. For instance, as early as in 1808,

6912-448: The organ with wind. Rather than hire a calcant, an organist might practise on some other instrument such as a clavichord or harpsichord . By the mid-19th-century bellows were also operated by water engines , steam engines or gasoline engines. Starting in the 1860s bellows were gradually replaced by rotating turbines which were later directly connected to electrical motors. This made it possible for organists to practice regularly on

7008-477: The organ. Most organs, both new and historic, have electric blowers , although some can still be operated manually. The wind supplied is stored in one or more regulators to maintain a constant pressure in the windchests until the action allows it to flow into the pipes. Each stop usually controls one rank of pipes, although mixtures and undulating stops (such as the Voix céleste ) control multiple ranks. The name of

7104-603: The organist precise control over the pipe speech. Schnitger's organs featured particularly distinctive reed timbres and large Pedal and Rückpositiv divisions. Different national styles of organ building began to develop, often due to changing political climates. In the Netherlands, the organ became a large instrument with several divisions, doubled ranks, and mounted cornets. The organs of northern Germany also had more divisions, and independent pedal divisions became increasingly common. Organ makers began designing their cases in such

7200-403: The pallet opens, wind pressure augments tension of the pallet spring, but once the pallet opens, only the spring tension is felt at the key. This sudden decrease of key pressure against the finger provides a "breakaway" feel. A later development was the tubular-pneumatic action , which uses changes of pressure within lead tubing to operate pneumatic valves throughout the instrument. This allowed

7296-489: The performance of classical music, sacred music , secular music , and popular music . In the early 20th century, pipe organs were installed in theaters to accompany the screening of films during the silent movie era; in municipal auditoria, where orchestral transcriptions were popular; and in the homes of the wealthy. The beginning of the 21st century has seen a resurgence in installations in concert halls. A substantial organ repertoire spans over 500 years. The organ

7392-653: The pipes, greatly expanding the possibilities in organ design. Electric stop actions were also developed, which allowed sophisticated combination actions to be created. Beginning in the early 20th century in Germany and in the mid-20th century in the United States, organ builders began to build historically inspired instruments modeled on Baroque organs. They returned to building mechanical key actions, voicing with lower wind pressures and thinner pipe scales, and designing specifications with more mixture stops. This became known as

7488-406: The portative and positive organs to the installation of larger organs in major churches such as the cathedrals of Winchester and Notre Dame of Paris. In this period, organs began to be used in secular and religious settings. The introduction of organ into religious settings is ambiguous, most likely because the original position of the Church was that instrumental music was not to be allowed. By

7584-476: The presence of by individual elements of important historic material in an organ. The British Organ Archive, accumulated by BIOS, is held at the Cadbury Research Library, University of Birmingham. Pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurised air (called wind ) through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard . Because each pipe produces

7680-458: The renewed revolt led by his half-brother and successfully restored the kingdom's boundaries. Under the reorganization of Francia by Charles Martel, the dux et princeps Francorum was the commander of the kingdom's armies, in addition to his administrative duties as mayor of the palace. As mayor of the palace, Pepin was formally subject to the decisions of Childeric III , who had only the title of king, with no power. Since Pepin had control over

7776-401: The same pitch as the keys played on the Great manual. Coupling allows stops from different divisions to be combined to create various tonal effects. It also allows every stop of the organ to be played simultaneously from one manual. Octave couplers , which add the pipes an octave above (super-octave) or below (sub-octave) each note that is played, may operate on one division only (for example,

7872-593: The sound of the organ: "among them bells outstanding in tone and size, and an organ [sounding] through bronze pipes prepared according to the musical proportions." This is one of the earliest accounts of organs in Europe and also indicates that the organ was large and more permanent than other evidence would suggest. The first organ documented to have been permanently installed was one installed in 1361 in Halberstadt , Germany. The first documented permanent organ installation likely prompted Guillaume de Machaut to describe

7968-448: The stop governing the pipe's rank must be engaged, and the key corresponding to its pitch must be depressed. Ranks of pipes are organized into groups called divisions. Each division generally is played from its own keyboard and conceptually comprises an individual instrument within the organ. An organ contains two actions, or systems of moving parts: the keys, and the stops. The key action causes wind to be admitted into an organ pipe while

8064-737: The stop reflects not only the stop's timbre and construction, but also the style of the organ in which it resides. For example, the names on an organ built in the north German Baroque style generally will be derived from the German language, while the names of similar stops on an organ in the French Romantic style will usually be French. Most countries tend to use only their own languages for stop nomenclature. English-speaking nations as well as Japan are more receptive to foreign nomenclature. Stop names are not standardized: two otherwise identical stops from different organs may have different names. To facilitate

8160-535: The support of Pope Zachary in 751. Not all members of the Carolingian family supported the decision, and Pepin had to put down a revolt led by Carloman's son, Drogo , and again by Grifo. As King of the Franks, Pepin embarked on an ambitious program to expand his power. He reformed the Franks' legislation and continued Boniface's ecclesiastical reforms. Pepin also intervened in favour of the Papacy of Stephen II against

8256-399: The wind pressure was so high that the player had to use the full strength of their arm to hold down a key. Records of other organs permanently installed and used in worship services in the late 13th and 14th centuries are found in large cathedrals such as Notre Dame , the latter documenting organists hired to by the church and the installation of larger and permanent organs. The earliest is

8352-455: The wind system passes through them. An action connects the keyboards to the pipes. Stops allow the organist to control which ranks of pipes sound at a given time. The organist operates the stops and the keyboards from the console . Organ pipes are made from either wood or metal and produce sound ("speak") when air under pressure ("wind") is directed through them. As one pipe produces a single pitch , multiple pipes are necessary to accommodate

8448-549: Was conquered by Pepin in 767, as was Waiofar's capital of Bordeaux . As a result, Aquitanian nobles and Gascons from beyond the Garonne also saw no option but to accept a pro-Frankish peace treaty (Fronsac, c. 768). Waiofar escaped but was assassinated by his frustrated followers in 768. Pepin died on campaign in 768 at the age of 54. He was interred in the Basilica of Saint Denis in modern-day Metropolitan Paris . His wife Bertrada

8544-400: Was a "flue-piped keyboard instrument, played with one hand while the other operated the bellows." Its portability made the portative useful for the accompaniment of both sacred and secular music in a variety of settings. The positive organ was larger than the portative organ but was still small enough to be portable and used in a variety of settings like the portative organ. Toward the middle of

8640-433: Was a draw stop knob , which the organist selects by pulling (or drawing) toward himself/herself. Pulling all of the knobs thus activates all available pipes, and is the origin of the idiom " to pull out all the stops ". More modern stop selectors, utilized in electric actions, are ordinary electrical switches and/or magnetic valves operated by a rocker tab. Tracker action has been used from antiquity to modern times. Before

8736-453: Was also interred there in 783. Charlemagne rebuilt the Basilica in honor of his parents and placed markers at the entrance. The Frankish realm was divided according to the Salic law between his two sons: Charlemagne and Carloman I . Historical opinion often seems to regard him as the lesser son and lesser father of two greater men, though a great man in his own right. He continued building up

8832-456: Was assisted by his friend Vergilius of Salzburg , an Irish monk who probably used a copy of the " Collectio canonum Hibernensis " (an Irish collection of canon law) to advise him to receive royal unction to assist his recognition as king. Anointed a first time in 751 in Soissons , Pepin added to his power after Pope Stephen II traveled to Paris to anoint him a second time in a lavish ceremony at

8928-741: Was begun by Peter le Huray and Mike Sayers in 1991. It was supported from 1992 to 1997 by the British Academy and by the British Institute of Organ Studies. Support for 1998 and 1999 was provided by the Pilgrim Trust . For many years, the NPOR resided on a computer system in the University of Cambridge provided by the Thriplow Charitable Trust . In 2009 it was transferred to the IT Department of

9024-531: Was deposed and confined to a monastery. He was the last of the Merovingians. Pepin was then elected King of the Franks by an assembly of Frankish nobles, with a large portion of his army on hand. The earliest account of his election and anointing is the Clausula de Pippino , written around 767. Meanwhile, Grifo continued his rebellion but was eventually killed in the battle of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne in 753. Pepin

9120-423: Was elaborately described by Dom Bédos de Celles in his treatise L'art du facteur d'orgues ( The Art of Organ Building ). The Italian Baroque organ was often a single-manual instrument, without pedals. It was built on a full diapason chorus of octaves and fifths. The stop-names indicated the pitch relative to the fundamental ("Principale") and typically reached extremely short nominal pipe-lengths (for example, if

9216-460: Was sent from Constantinople to the West by the Byzantine emperor Constantine V as a gift to Pepin the Short King of the Franks in 757. Pepin's son Charlemagne requested a similar organ for his chapel in Aachen in 812, beginning its establishment in Western European church music. From 800 to the 1400s, the use and construction of organs developed in significant ways, from the invention of

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