Practical Organ Building

by W. E. Dickson

For two reasons. First, because they will afford a trial of patience, and involve a great deal of good joinery. Second, because until they are made, or, at any rate, until we know their precise dimensions, we cannot plot out with accuracy the very important sound-board, which is to carry them and the other pipes which are to follow. Either of these reasons is, to our mind, sufficient, apart from the other; and we strongly recommend the young beginner to set himself resolutely to the manufacture of the complete set of wooden pipes belonging to the commonest of all organ-stops, the Stopped Diapason, before taking any step in the direction of the machinery or apparatus which is to waken them into harmonious vibrations.

Our explanations will be much assisted here if we introduce a few definitions of terms in constant use. The pipes which we are about to make will give notes, when tuned, which are familiarly designated by certain names. Thus, the lowest note on the manual or key-board of modern organs is called Double C (printed CC). The note one octave above this is Tenor C; the octave of Tenor C is Middle C; and above this, again, we have Treble C (often called Foot C) and C in Alto. Some of the other notes of the scale, in a similar way, have convenient names. Thus, the first F in the bass is Double F, or FF; the next F, the F of the Tenor octave, is often called Clef F, as the Bass, or F Clef, stands upon this line in music; its sharp is FF sharp; but then we come at once to a single G, and this note is often called Gamut G. The octave above this note is called Fiddle G, as it sounds the same note as the fourth string of the violin. The note B, we may add, throughout the organ, is understood to mean B flat; the semitone above this is indicated by the musical symbol the Natural (♮).

We have not quite done with this. There is another way of referring to pipes, and to complete sets of pipes, which is in familiar use, and is part of the mother-tongue of the organ-builder. We have said that Treble C is often called Foot C. This is because the ordinary open pipe of that note (speaking now quite inexactly, and without precision), is 1 foot in length. In a similar way, CC is 8-foot C, or the 8-foot note, because the open pipe is 8 feet in length, speaking roundly or roughly. Tenor C is 4-foot C; Middle C, 2-foot C.

It will be easily understood that these convenient designations are retained, even though the construction of the pipes may render them strictly inapplicable. Thus, the lowest note of our first stop will still be 8-foot C, though, as we shall soon see, the stopping of the wooden tube enables us to reduce the actual length by one-half. Our CC will still be of 8-feet pitch, or tone, and by no means becomes a 4-foot C, because its actual measurement, when completed, will not exceed 4 feet in total length.

One step further. The theoretical length of the lowest note is not only used to designate that note and the pipes which belong to that note, but is extended to the designation of the whole set of pipes of which it is the lowest or longest. This whole set of pipes is called familiarly a Stop; thus we have at once the ready terms, 8-feet stops, 16-feet stops, 4-feet stops, 2-feet stops, &c.; and it will be understood that by an 8-feet stop, we mean a set of pipes yielding the common or ordinary pitch of the pianoforte, or of the human voice; while a 4-feet stop, when the very same keys are pressed down, will yield notes one octave higher than this ordinary or standard pitch; the 2-feet stop, notes two octaves higher; the 16-feet stop, notes one octave lower, or deeper. And if all these four stops are played at the same time, (tuning and other manipulations being now assumed), an effect will be produced highly agreeable to the ear, and vastly superior to that which would result from the mere multiplication of 8-feet stops only.

Our little organ of five stops, when completed, will probably be described with correctness if it is said to contain two 8-feet stops, two 4-feet stops, and one 2-foot stop: a ready and conventional way of speaking, we repeat yet once more, since the instrument will contain no open pipe 8 feet in length, and since, of the 4-feet stops, one will be only of 4-feet tone, or pitch, while even the 2-feet stop, for reasons which will be abundantly made clear, may possibly have no 2-feet pipe.

Some pains have been taken to explain all this, because we have met with young workmen whose comprehension of such rudimentary matters was far from complete, and who were misled by the fanciful and wholly unimportant names engraved upon the knobs which govern the stops, e.g. "Flute," "Dulciana," &c. If we have any such young beginners among our present readers, they will see that the names are quite of secondary concern, and that the essential thing is to have a clear understanding of the pitch of each stop, as represented by the length of the pipe, actual or virtual, corresponding to the lowest note of the manual.

And now we proceed to our work. What we have to do is to make fifty-four pipes, extending from CC to F in alto, and of the form or sort known in England as Stopped Diapason. One of these pipes, let us suppose Tenor C, is shown in Fig. 1. a is a block of mahogany or oak, or of some other wood faced with mahogany or oak, and about 3 inches in length. It has a throat or deep depression across it, formed by taking out the wood between two saw-cuts, or by boring adjacent holes with a centre-bit. b is a stopper, made of any wood, the exact size of the block, or a trifle less, to allow for a leather covering, and fashioned at top into a knob, or turned in the lathe, for convenient handling by the tuner. c is the pipe when put together by gluing three boards, namely, the back and the two sides, to the block, and one, namely the front board, to the edges of the sides. This fourth board is about 3 inches shorter than the others, and has a lip formed on its lower edge by bevelling the wood with a sharp chisel. d is a cap, 3 inches long, and as wide as the block with the side boards attached; it is hollowed in a wedge-shaped form as shown in the figure. e is a foot, turned in the lathe, bored from end to end, and 5 or 6 inches in length. f is the completed pipe, with the stopper inserted, the cap put on, and the foot in its place.

Fig. 1.