So,
what does V/136 mean anyway?
V/136 – the short version: Five
manuals (keyboards) and 136 ranks (here's an example!)
So, what’s a manual? And what’s a rank? Here’s a short (read: “not
comprehensive”) list of terms all organists know before they sit down
to the organ!
Manual: It is one of the keyboards
of an organ console, and it usually
corresponds to a division of pipes.
Division: a group of pipes of various pitches, usually containing
an ensemble that will blend and contrast with its neighbor divisions. Most
divisions are playable from a single keyboard, but can be played on other keyboards
through the use of couplers. On some larger instruments, some divisions might
be designated as floating divisions. “Floating” means they do not
have a “home” keyboard, but are played on any keyboard through
the use of couplers.
A division of pipes is usually a roomful
of pipes; one common exception – the
pedal division, which may have pipes scattered through all of the other divisions.
Couplers: Couplers are designated as inter-manual and intra-manual.
Intra-manual couplers usually add the octave above or the octave below the
drawn stops. In the case of the unison off, it silences the stops at their
unison pitch; the unison off is usually drawn in conjunction with another coupler
that raises, lowers, or transfers the pitches of the stops to another keyboard.
Intra-manual couplers are usually found within in the stops of the divisions
they affect. For instance, on a stop-tab console, most intra-manual couplers
are to the right of the division’s row of stop-tabs. On drawknob consoles,
the intra-manual couplers usually appear as drawknobs at the top of each division’s
drawknobs.
Inter-manual couplers allow stops to be transferred to keyboards (or pedals)
other than the “home” keyboard on which a division normally plays.
On a stop-tab console, most intra-manual couplers are to the right of the division’s
row of stop-tabs, next to the intra-manual couplers. On most drawknob consoles,
the inter-manual
couplers are usually located in the center of the console,
between the upper-most manual and the music desk. Inter-manual couplers usually
allow the transfer of stops from one division to another at their original
unison pitch (8’ couplers) and also the octave above and below (4’ and
16’ respectively).
Ranks: A
rank is a set of pipes. On most American organs, the keyboards
are 61 notes, 5 octaves, from CC to c’’’. The pedal keyboard
is usually 32 notes. Depending on the historical model, some keyboards and
pedalboards might be shorter. The exception to this rule in the other extreme
is the organ console for Atlantic City Auditorium, which has 88, 76 and 61
note keyboards. If a rank plays the whole range of the keyboard (most do),
then it will have the same number of pipes as there are notes on the keyboard.
When a stop is drawn (via drawknob or stop-tab), it activates a set of pipes
that play when the organist depresses a key on that division’s keyboard.
Some stops activate multiple pipes per key. When a stop-knob
is engraved with a Roman numeral, it usually indicates the number of pipes that play per note
when that stop is drawn. A Mixture IV-V indicates that four pipes will play
when a note is depressed in one range of the stop, and five pipes will play
in another range of the stop. Most of the time, mixtures (known by a number
of names, but usually identifiable by the Roman numerals) use higher-pitched
pipes that add brilliance to the lower notes of the keyboard and body to the
upper range of the keyboard.
Stop: one or more ranks activated by a drawknob or stop-tab. A stop
can sometimes be several ranks, meaning more than one pipe plays per note.
In the “good ol’ days” (c. 1400) before stops, the organist
had no way to select which stops played – all of the stops played all
of the time (blockwerk) – thus eliminating any validity to the complaint “The
organist is playing too loudly!”
Pitch: On each stop-tab or drawknob, there is usually a pitch designation
to each stop. Unison pitch for the keyboards is 8’ and for the pedals,
16’. When an 8’ keyboard stop is drawn, the pipe that is played
from middle C on the keyboard will correspond in pitch to middle C on a piano.
The A above that will be around 440 Hrz. (as in “A-440”). The 8’ designation
is used because the bottom pipe of that rank, if it is an open pipe, will be
approximately 8’ in length. The octave above it will be approximately
4’ in length, and the octave below that will be approximately 16’ in
length. Placing a stopper at the top of the pipe will double its speaking length,
so an 8’ stopped pipe will speak roughly the same pitch as a 16’ open
pipe.
Flue: The way sound is produced in most of the pipes in
an organ. Flues produce sound in much the same way a flute or recorder produces
sound. Air is blown across a hole and the length of the pipe determines the
pitch at which it will speak. Tuning
the pipe is usually effected by raising or lowering a sleeve at the top of
the pipe, moving the stopper at the top
of the pipe, or manipulating a scroll cut toward the top of the pipe.
Reeds: The most brilliant (and usually, the loudest) stops
on a pipe organ are generated by reed
pipes. Reeds generate sound much in
the same way as a single reed instrument, such as a clarinet. A vibrating
reed is set into motion by compressed air inside the pipes “boot,” it
vibrates against a tube that is flat and open on one side (shallot), and
that sound is amplified by the pipe above it (resonator). They are tuned
by adjusting the length of reed that vibrates (by moving a tuning wire that
presses up against the reed) and also by lengthening/shortening the length
of the resonator. By manipulating both of these, the same pitch can be maintained,
but the reed can be made to speak louder or softer – known as regulation.
Family: There are four families of stops (Flutes, Principals,
Strings, Reeds) that are divided into two main categories of how their sound
is produced (flues and reeds). Within the flue category, there are three
families of stops. The stops that usually have the least harmonic development
(weakest overtones) are the flutes. The stops associated most with “organ” sound
are the principals, which have a more evenly tapered harmonic development.
The strings are the brightest of the flues, usually having a stronger set
of upper harmonics with relation to the pipe’s fundamental pitch.
Drawknobs: Knobs
located to the sides of the keyboards, arranged on stop-jambs. The stops are activated by pulling the drawknob out, usually 1-2
inches. The knobs are usually grouped in divisions that correspond to the keyboards.
On a typical American three-manual organ, the Pedal and Swell division drawknobs
would be located to the left of the keyboards, while the Great and Choir divisions
would be located to the right of the keyboards. Typically, the flue stops are
located toward the bottom of each division grouping, and are usually arranged
with the lowest pitches at the bottom and the higher pitched stops toward the
top. The reed stops and intra-manual couplers are usually located above those.
Stop-tabs: Serve the same function as drawknobs. Actuated by depressing
the tab. Tabs can be found either above
the keyboards or to the sides
of the keyboards.
Pedals: The “keyboard” located just above the floor and which are
played by the organist’s two feet. The pedal keyboard is usually arranged
in the same arrangement as the manuals (using naturals and flats/sharps), but
because they are played by the organist’s feet, each key is much larger,
there is more space between each key, and there are fewer of them. Most American
organ consoles have between 30 and 32 pedal notes, while most keyboards are
61 notes. Most pedal keyboards correspond to the bottom two and a half octaves
of the keyboards (from CC to g). Most of the pedal stops reinforce the 16’ pitch
of the division, which speaks an octave below the 8’ pitch of most manual
divisions. The largest and longest pipes of the organ are usually found in
the pedal division.
Combination actions – Since most organs have more stops than
the organist has fingers, a mechanical or electronic aid allows the organist
to pre-set combinations of stops, assigning them to a button (called “pistons”)
or a knob just above the pedalboard, to be actuated by the feet (called “toe
studs”). Sometimes, the toe studs duplicate some of the pistons, allowing
the organist the option of recalling a setting using either the piston or,
if a finger is not free, using a toe stud. With the advent of computers, the
organist can set all of the pistons and toe studs on an instrument several
times over. When an organist says “Our instrument has 256 levels of memory” – it
means they can reset all of the combinations on the instrument 256 times.
Expression – Some divisions of an instrument are enclosed in
a room that has only one outlet, and that opening is covered with a set of “swell
shades” – large boards that swivel open and closed in a motion
that resembles very large and heavy Venetian blinds. In much the same way Venetian
Blinds would control the amount of light that enters a room, the swell shades
would control the amount of sound that leaves the pipe chamber and enters the
main hall/sanctuary. The opening and closing of the shades is controlled by
large,
wide pedals at the center of the organ console and just above the pedalboard.
They resemble the gas and brake pedals on a city municipal bus.
More advanced stuff (that not EVERY organist needs to know, but might be helpful):
Hrz. – the number of times in a second a pipe vibrates, giving
us a sense of pitch. A stop that speaks at 8’ pitch will correspond to
those same pitches on a piano. Middle c will be approximately 256 hrz. (or
256 vibrations per second). The a above that would be approximately 440 hrz.
The bottom note of that stop would vibrate at about 64 cycles per second. A
16’ pipe, one octave below that would vibrate at about 32 cycles per
second, while a 32’ pipe, one octave below that one, would vibrate at
about 16’ cycles per second.
Harmonics/Overtones: The character of each stop is determined by the
pipes construction and manipulation (voicing). Each parameter of the pipe has
an effect on that pipes speech and its harmonic train, or overtones. Each pipe
has a set of harmonics which usually include the
fundamental (the perceived pitch of the pipe),
its second harmonic (the octave above that)
third harmonic (the fifth above that)
fourth harmonic (the octave above that – 2 octaves above the fundamental)
fifth (the third above that – 2 octaves and a major third above the fundamental)
sixth (2 octaves and a perfect fifth above the fundamental)
seventh (2 octaves and a flatted seventh above the fundamental)
eighth (3 octaves above the fundamental)
Harmonics above the eighth harmonic usually get progressively weaker as they
ascend. They also are close to or past the threshold of human hearing in their
pitch, and are sometimes referred to as “transients.”
The various pitches found on an organ that are not unison are designed to reinforce
the harmonics of the unison pitch.
The strength of the harmonics in relation to its fundamental give each pipe
its tonal character; according to this character, organists and organ builders
classify these stops in their various families.
The different terms harmonic vs. overtone, refer to roughly the same thing,
only one pitch difference. The fundamental is the first harmonic. The octave
above that is the second harmonic, or first overtone. The fifth above that
is the third harmonic, or second overtone. You get the drift!