Planning Space for Pipe Organs: Variety in Pipe Organs

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The pipe organ can be designed and installed in a variety of ways depending on the style of the room and the musical needs of the organ purchaser. The following page illustrates a number of different possibilities of organ installations. Organ components can be housed in a case with compartments in which display pipes are mounted. (See photos A, B, and F) Or they can be arranged to create an open design. (See photos C, D, and E)

The components of the modem pipe organ can be divided into three main categories: 1) pipes/windchests, 2) console, and 3) blower. The pipes are placed on windchests which operate them. The pipes and windchests; must be located together. The console (keyboards and stop controls) operates the windchests. It may be attached to the pipes/windchests (in which situation it is often called a keydesk) or it may be in its own case a short distance away. Likewise, the blower may be housed with the pipes/windchests, but is often preferred to be in a remote location. While there are many other secondary components to the pipe organ, these three items are common to all instruments and are the most important to consider in planning space. Questions regarding specifics of the components are best left for discussion with specific builders, but some helpful information is presented on section 3.

The heart of every pipe organ is of course the wind-blown pipes which are arranged in an instrument by ranks. A rank is a set of pipes of the same tone. (e.g. a rank of oboes, or a rank of flutes.) Each pipe in the rank corresponds to a key on the keyboard. A rank may contain 32 pipes for pedal ranks or 61 pipes for manual ranks. The ranks of pipes stand on windchests, which are wooden boxes containing wind (air under pressure.) When valves in the windchests are activated by the organist at the console, the wind enters the pipes causing them to speak.

A rank of pipes is only capable of producing one type of sound at one volume. Therefore to provide a variety of sounds and volume levels, pipe organs consist of different ranks of pipes that can be played either alone or in combination with other ranks to create varying possibilities of sound.

The size of a pipe organ is stated in the number of ranks. The term stop (or voice or register) is often synonymous with rank, but sometimes a stop will comprise several ranks. Stop also refers to the controls on the console which turn on the ranks, hence "pulling out all the stops." The number of keyboards, called manuals, is also used to indicate the size of a pipe organ. Size varies significantly from one organ to the next and is generally governed by the size of the room. The chart on page 15 lists information concerning approximate recommended sizes, and is only to be used as a general guide.