Personified Pipes and The Organ

    In today's post, I aim to talk about the parts that make up the flue pipe, the kind of pipe that is most common in the Pipe Organ. All organs have Reed pipes and Flue pipes (not to be confused with flute, which is a family of organ tone that falls under the broader category of Flue.) The distinction and details of both are for another post but today we focus especially on the names of the parts of the standard organ pipe, aided by my own (hopefully) humorous descriptions and an illustration by George Ashdown Audsley.

    This post was inspired by my recent reading of On vowel sounds, and on reed-organ pipes, a paper published in the Cambridge Philosophical Society in the year 1830 by Rev Robert Willis. (1800 – 1875) This was interesting to me because it makes me humanize the instrument. Since we are only focusing on the organ flue pipe today, we begin with the purpose of the pipe in the organ. It produces the sound that is controlled into music. However, an organ pipe is not described as sounding or even singing. It is described as speaking. I find it so curious that this word should be accepted by most organ-builders to describe an active pipe. Speaking places greater importance to the communication that music can facilitate. The organ makes music when wind passes through its pipes and makes them speak.

 Organ pipes speak.

    An organ pipe works by utilizing the wind that is pumped into it to speak and create music as the organist controls it. The bottom of the pipe sits on the valves that are connected to the organ keyboard. This bottom part is called a BOOT. This of course means that all organ pipes are prepared for rainy weather all the time since they always wear their boots. Some pipes are also extra prepared since they are closed off at the top with a stopper. Some prefer to say that they are capped pipes. These stopped ranks then, have CAPS and BOOTS!

    The wind smoothly gushing in finds its first exit through the side of the pipe and the wind is blocked in a particular way to cause undulations that end up as the sound we hear. The part that causes this constriction is called a languid. This name provides no personification even though it acts somewhat like the tongue for this opening. However, I am happy to share this opening is in fact called the MOUTH of the organ (The pipes get hungry too of course.)

    One can notice quite clearly the MOUTH in the pipes below and also that the slit through which air escapes from the mouth has four edges. The ones at the top and bottom are called the labia, Latin for LIPS! You mustn't laugh. The organ pipe has a MOUTH and LIPS to speak back at you if the pipe hears you commenting on its BOOT or its CAP. I am sure you are wondering how the pipe will hear you.

    Well, the pipe has EARS! You can notice the rectangular sheet that is seen clearly in the cross-section, flanking the slit and forming the left and right edges of the organ pipe mouth. I end this humorous look at some parts of the structure of the organ pipe by telling you about another term that adds to the personification. The BEARD. Yes! The cylinder that you see in front of the lower LIP that you can see indicated as a circle in the cross-section is technically known as a harmonic-bridge, a device used to change the tone produced by focusing the wind. The organ-builders do still perhaps affectionately call it a BEARD. I sincerely hope that my attempt at compiling a few of these terms personifying the pipes of the organ would make you, my dear reader grow fonder of this class of instrument, and I consider it a privilege that I get to share my love for this instrument with you all. 

Thank you, dearest readers.