Questions tagged [organ]

A large musical instrument having ranks of tuned pipes sounded by air from a windchest, and played using one or more keyboards and commonly a pedalboard to produce a wide range of timbres. The ranks of pipes are controlled by stops around the keyboards.

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Nomenclature for pipe organ keyboard compass

When going through pipe organ specifications (such as this historic Arp Schnitger's organ in St. Jacobi), I came across a peculiar nomenclature for the manual / pedal compass (as of 1693): I ...
GratefulDisciple's user avatar
7 votes
1 answer
229 views

What is the minimum pedal keyboard compass needed to play ALL of J.S. Bach's pipe organ music?

Simple straightforward question: What is the minimum pedal keyboard range needed to play ALL of J.S. Bach's pipe organ music? Optional ways to embellish the answer: Did Bach ever write a piece for ...
GratefulDisciple's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
114 views

Realistically Replicating Organ Diapason Sounds on a Keyboard

(Bear with me, I'm not much of an organ expert.) So, I've always loved hearing organs in chruch, but never was interested in actually learning how to play one. So, I was wondering if there would be ...
Slender Tech's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
95 views

Keyboard Expression Pedal Position

I have a keyboard setup using a keyboard, a sustain pedal and an expression pedal. An image of my keyboard stand is below for reference. I am having trouble finding a good position for the expression ...
flxkrmr's user avatar
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3 votes
2 answers
323 views

How to access the lower manual and pedalboard on setBfree Organ emulator

I installed the organ emulator setBfree on a Debian GNU/Linux System. I run it with Jack connected to the simple USB MIDI controller keyboard. This is working fairly well to connect to the upper ...
nath's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
250 views

What does Arauxo mean by "primero/segundo/... tono"?

In Francisco Correa de Arauxo's Faculdad Organica, he titles his pieces like "Tiento de primero tono". A complete recording of the Faculdad Organica is here: https://open.spotify.com/album/...
Hinton's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
495 views

What is this dial on the organ in the Berliner Dom?

What is this dial on the organ in the Berliner Dom? I am guessing that the dial may have something to do with air pressure but why would it be needed and what units do the numbers represent? Here is ...
chasly - supports Monica's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
87 views

Are there general rules for playing a three-voice organ piece without pedals?

I've been fixing up an old reed organ, and would love to play some of Bach's organ works on it; for example, I've had my eye on the chorale prelude Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (BWV 645). The ...
Draconis's user avatar
  • 271
6 votes
2 answers
310 views

How does Durufle's Prelude and Fugue on the name of ALAIN translate to musical notes?

I love Maurice Durufle's Prelude and Fugue on the name ALAIN, but I don't understand the mapping of the name "A-L-A-I-N" to the musical notes "A-D-A-A-F". Various websites such as ...
William M.'s user avatar
8 votes
3 answers
2k views

What is the point of notes lower than human hearing

(Scientific pitch notation) For example: Organs can go down to C-1 Hyperbass Flute goes down to C0 And these notes have neglegible overtones on these instruments! Do they modulate other notes? They ...
Feliks_WR's user avatar
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-1 votes
1 answer
214 views

composing a piece for pipe organ [closed]

Basically I was asked to write a piece for pipe organ until tomorrow morning. I've played a pipe organ before, so I sort of know how it works, but I don't have an organ I can play on before tomorrow. ...
Neins's user avatar
  • 752
12 votes
1 answer
209 views

Unknown Ornament Notation - Three horizontal short lines

This nonation appears on Partite diverse sopra l'Aria 'Schweiget mir von Weiber nehmen' by Reincken, Johann Adam, IMSLP #04945.
极意自在's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
90 views

Why don't pipe organs have diaphragm stops?

Why don't pipe organs have stops operating by disk-shaped diaphragms like this?
Jonathan Dahlin's user avatar
4 votes
3 answers
473 views

When combining a mechanical and digital manual into a single organ, how would you handle the difference in delay?

When I combine 2 organ manuals, a mechanical and an electronical one into a single instrument, how would you setup the delay from the position of the organ player? Let's assume the mechanical manual ...
MeanGreen's user avatar
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2 votes
0 answers
243 views

Service Manual For Rodgers 770 [closed]

TLDR: Where can I find the service manual for the Rodgers Exeter 770 pipe organ? I am trying to repair a Rodgers Exeter 770 digital pipe organ, however, I do not have the service manual. I easily ...
Thoughtyness's user avatar
3 votes
3 answers
613 views

What to play on a Pump Organ

i have an old pump organ and want to learn playing it a bit. I hope that is the correct english word for it, it looks like the one on the WIki picture here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pump_organ I ...
Boldar's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
51 views

Can i switch to the original tone after the repeated part is over?

There is a repeated part in a song I'm playing, where I'm supposed to change the voices. It stays organ, but a different type both the times. The thing is that after the repetition is over, the ...
Ishan.J's user avatar
  • 340
4 votes
3 answers
267 views

what do IV or a I or a III with a 3 or 5 above it mean?

I am a professional organist who has been self -teaching improvisation from an organ improvisation textbook by Marcel Dupre, titled "Complete Course in Organ Improvisation, volume 1." At ...
Isabella Leonarda's user avatar
4 votes
0 answers
145 views

Choosing instrument played by midi pedalboard connected to keyboard

I got a 30 note pedalboard (with a 5-pin midi connector) that I want to use with my two keyboards (Yamaha P-155 and Kaway CA13) to play simultaneously on all three. The problem is that when I connect ...
Jelonek's user avatar
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16 votes
1 answer
631 views

How to tune a Roman water-organ (hydraulis)?

I am trying to reconstruct the tuning of the Roman water-organ (hydraulis) of Aquincum. The original instrument had 13 pipes for each of the 4 registers (three stopped pipe registers and one open pipe ...
user2227111's user avatar
4 votes
3 answers
109 views

What are the practical uses, what are the techniques that can be invented, for a pitch bender on a combo organ?

Look at this pedal's effects. I'm getting it to use with a combo organ; its delays, rotary simulator, chorus, drive, ring modulator, and reverbs are certainly all useful for an organ, as well as the ...
JohnnyApplesauce's user avatar
7 votes
2 answers
213 views

How do tonewheel organs sound coherent?

So there are notes that the key nominally doesn't play in an organ note if the drawbars are pulled out. Yet if I pull all the drawbars out and play a chord, it sounds like a coherent chord. A C minor ...
JohnnyApplesauce's user avatar
7 votes
2 answers
330 views

What do shorter-than-thirty-two-note MIDI pedalboards bar you from playing?

There have been questions before about what utility can be derived from a two-octave keyboard in terms of learning any keyboard idioms. Well, two five-octave MIDI controllers and a volume pedal seem ...
JohnnyApplesauce's user avatar
3 votes
3 answers
228 views

Difference between notes and recoding of performed BWV anhang 122

During the past weeks I've been studying BWV anhang 122, the march in D major. Sheet music can be found here. I'm more or less able to perform the piece, though not yet at the tempo indicated by the ...
MeanGreen's user avatar
  • 849
0 votes
1 answer
389 views

Can you/how would you hook up a vintage chord organ to an amp?

I want to make a 1/4" jack a permanent feature on an old chord organ (there's tons on Facebook Marketplace). Other than buying those mikes that you use to electrify acoustic instruments, how would I, ...
JohnnyApplesauce's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
667 views

Clef for the organ pedals

What type of bass clef is used for the organ pedals: regular bass clef, or 8va bassa?
Andrew's user avatar
  • 471
23 votes
9 answers
9k views

Why don't organs have weighted keys?

An organ (especially a pipe organ in a church) is the most expensive instrument in the world, I saw some even cost in the millions of dollars. I've read a lot of mixed things about weighted/unweighted ...
user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
980 views

Strange Ornamental Symbol on Bach Piece

This is from the marvelous andante from Bach’s organ trio sonata BWV 528. What does this symbol mean on the stave of the second keyboard? I am assuming it is ornamental. Is it just a strange version ...
The Lad of Leipzig's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
290 views

Could the organ I’m selling be a fire hazard?

I have an '80s electronic organ and have agreed to sell it come the end of this week. I dropped something inside it this morning and tried to take it out and noted that the organ is incredibly dusty ...
JohnnyApplesauce's user avatar
21 votes
1 answer
3k views

What does a long arrow pointing up and down mean in an organ score?

What is the meaning of this symbol (long vertical arrow) in old organ notation?
Josef Janovič's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
376 views

Slurred half circle symbol

As an organist-amateur I recently bought "An Easy Bach Organ Album". In BWV 691 there's a symbol which looks like a half of a circle, or a small letter c. Moreover, the symbol is connected with the ...
SirPL's user avatar
  • 83
0 votes
2 answers
457 views

What does "vox humana" mean in Organ building?

Reading a thesis about temperature in Organ construction I encountered this term and I didn't know anything about it before. So I wonder what you can tell us about "vox humana".
Albrecht Hügli's user avatar
20 votes
2 answers
2k views

Which accidental continues through the bar?

Messiaen's Prelude for Organ (no opus number, discovered posthumously in 1997, composed probably circa 1929) is rife with ambiguous accidentals. Some can be figured out by examining similar passages, ...
Camille Goudeseune's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
114 views

Digital home organ bass resonance

I got a home organ in my living room, and I get a lot of bass resonance. I'm looking for easiest ways how to get rid of these. The room is 350x590cm and 260cm high, the organ stands in the corner, ...
yo''s user avatar
  • 2,472
3 votes
2 answers
228 views

How do organists practice with manuals (keyboards)?

I've been playing piano/keyboard for many years and have some classical training but I've recently started playing with two keyboards placed on top of each other. Specifically a Korg SV1 (73 key) and ...
Rozgonyi's user avatar
  • 445
5 votes
1 answer
376 views

How to improvise on organ

I feel quite comfortable doing piano improvisations, but I am very limited when talking about the organ improvisations. Specifically, talking about the left hand, on the piano I can do the specific ...
Ionică Bizău's user avatar
10 votes
2 answers
538 views

How to deal with the extreme reverberation in big cathedrals when playing the pipe organs?

While playing the pipe organs in cathedrals or churches with huge echo/reverberation, I noticed that along with the delay/latency (when the pipes are not close enough to the ears) comes the second ...
Ionică Bizău's user avatar
5 votes
5 answers
1k views

Is there a noticeable difference in sound quality between a mechanical pipe organ and an electronic one?

What I'm trying to get a feeling for is how well an electronic organ can mimic the sound of a pipe organ. I know there are very advanced electronic organs where every single note for every stop is ...
MeanGreen's user avatar
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3 votes
4 answers
2k views

Is there such a thing as a portable chord organ?

I have recently been playing an inherited Chord Organ, with a full set of chord buttons for the left hand and the piano keys for the right hand, however it is not very portable, has a portable version ...
Michael's user avatar
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1 vote
3 answers
377 views

At what tempo would J.S.Bach play his fughettas?

As the title says, I'd like to know at what tempo should J.S.Bach's fughettas be played. I specifically speak about BWV 704 Fughetta: Lob sei dem allmächtigen Gott, but I believe it's applicable in ...
yo''s user avatar
  • 2,472
8 votes
4 answers
5k views

How to learn to play the pipe organ?

I have been playing piano for about 13 years now. I want to go to the next level: playing church pipe organs. A few weeks ago, my dream to play a church pipe organ became true, after a Catholic mass ...
Ionică Bizău's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
1k views

Playing Hammond B3 organ parts in rock music. Need advice!

I need advise about creating Hammond B3 parts in rock music. Recently I joined to rock in an rock-n-roll band. And here's the challenge in front of me: I do not know how to arrange and create my ...
wyazz's user avatar
  • 31
16 votes
2 answers
2k views

J.S.Bach's organ tablature notation

Is anyone familiar with some freely available guide explaining in detail how to read Bach's organ tablature notation? Apparently, Bach was very comfortable in using the tablature notation, ...
Kresimir's user avatar
  • 430
2 votes
1 answer
531 views

How to read a "Drawbar Organ" tab?

I found a tab format that I cannot decipher. And I know of different forms of piano tablatures, but I can't find this referenced anywhere. How is one supposed to read this kind of "organ" tablature ...
ZJR's user avatar
  • 207
2 votes
1 answer
85 views

Computer-controlled portable reed organ?

The "Melauton" is a computer-controlled reed organ built from a melodica. Is there any record of similar instruments being built?
Thom Smith's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
2k views

Cents vs semi-tones on guitar

I was wondering, since we can tune our guitars by cents we can make them sound anywhere close to the note we need. So we can have open A be not 440 but 448 for instance. What restrictions are there ...
SovereignSun's user avatar
  • 3,832
5 votes
1 answer
322 views

Numbers at the start of hymn [duplicate]

In my school hymn book I always see numbers and a name at the start of a hymn, eg Slane 10 11 10 10 Or 'irregular' What do these mean? Are they indications for the organist?
S.L's user avatar
  • 492
2 votes
1 answer
242 views

Why are pedal notes in the lower, not in the higher, register?

At church today I listened to an organ piece that had a constant pedal note from the beginning to the end of the piece. The strange (and very unpleasant) thing about this pedal note was, that it was ...
z8080's user avatar
  • 599
6 votes
7 answers
1k views

Why don't we see jazz music played on the church organ?

I'm just curious as to what about let's say a saxophone makes it very well suited to jazz music and what about the church organ makes it unsuitable for jazz music. Is there something innate to the ...
Neil Meyer's user avatar
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2 votes
3 answers
722 views

The Elusive sign of + in organ fingering

I am a pianist trying to learn organ and since there’s no funds for lessons I am reading old organ instruction books and came across one from Schneider in the public domain in London published 1875 ...
Macqueline's user avatar