Placebos and the Pipe Organ

    It is not often that the Indian organist gets to play a modern organ. The organs of India are almost all remnants of our former colonization and so the style of organ most commonly found here is the British Classical church organ. There are only a few exceptions and almost all in new organ installations, like the new American organ that replaced the former Hill & Sons organ at the Chapel of the Kodaikanal International School (https://pipeorgandatabase.org/instruments/67127)

    These instruments follow a tonal style rich in strong, warm diapason sounds but few reeds and even fewer mutations. This is a shame really because mutations might be one of the most interesting parts of the organ sound for the critical ear. I have written about dark chocolate and raw cocoa but what if your chocolate could change texture too? That too at will! That is basically what mutations achieve for the pipe organ. The science of organ tone and timbre are vast fields of study and would overwhelm the humble confines of my blog. While it is absolutely my intension to publish organ research of high scholarly value, I aim to only be the gateway drug to this magnificent instrument. I am a precursor. A preamble. A prelude.

    The matter of discussion for today is the Resultant Stop. These are sounds in the organ that function by simulating a note by representing the upper harmonics effectively. To put it in the simplest way, it is like making one believe that there is a fire by making smoke or that something is real by creating just its shadow. One need not be a physicist to figure out that something that does not exist cannot cast a shadow and so, if you are already thinking that this kind of organ stop/sound is just some acoustic illusion then I must congratulate you. You are spot on. This is an auditory illusion. What is most surprising is how convincing the illusion can be. Especially in the lower ranges where the depth of the notes in the music is physically felt more than it is heard. For this very reason, the best I can do for now is to share a video of how it would possibly sound. Bear in mind that the limitations of your speakers/ headphones will be the extent of the sound for this stop. The lowest notes are impossible to hear because they are below the range of sounds humans can hear and even the harmonics of the sound that are much higher up are still too low for most earphones and speakers. The true depth of this note will never be felt unless you are in the living presence of the speaking resultant stop.

    Seen in the video below is organist Felix Hell demonstrating the 64' VOIX DE BALEINE (Voice of the Whale) at the console of the largest Pipe Organ in Asia, the Klais organ at the WeiWuYing National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts, Taiwan

If you happened to visit the hall and the organ was being tuned and you heard these notes, would you think it was an organ or an oddly musical generator or car engine? It does make one think. Everything is music. It just needs context.